Алиса в Стране чудес / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Алиса в Зазеркалье / Through the Looking-glass, and What Alice Found There

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“Well, it must be removed,[134 - it must be removed – его надо убрать]” said the King very decidedly and called the Queen.

The Queen knew only one way. “Off with his head!” she said, without even looking.

“I’ll bring the executioner myself,” said the King, and hurried away.

Alice decided to go back and watch the game. When she caught her flamingo there were no hedgehogs or arches around. So she went back to talk with her friend a little more.

When she got back to the Cheshire Cat, she was surprised to see a large crowd around him.

Alice could only say “He belongs to the Duchess: ask HER about him.”

“She’s in prison,” the Queen said to the executioner: “bring her here.” And the executioner went off.

At that moment the Cat’s head began fading away[135 - began fading away – начала бледнеть и таять] and when the executioner was back with the Duchess, it had disappeared completely.

So the King and the executioner began looking for it while all the others went back to the game.

Chapter 9. The Mock Turtle’s Story

“You can’t imagine how glad I am to see you again, my dear!” said the Duchess when she and Alice walked off together.

Alice was very glad to see her so pleasant, and she thought to herself that perhaps only the pepper had made her so angry when they met in the kitchen.

“When I’M a Duchess,[136 - When I’M a Duchess – Когда я буду герцогиней…]” she said to herself, (but not in a very hopeful tone), “I won’t have any pepper in my kitchen AT ALL.

She quite forgot about the Duchess, and was a little frightened when she heard her voice close to her ear. “You’re thinking about something, my dear, and you forget to talk.”

Alice did not like very much to be so close to the Duchess: first, because the Duchess was VERY ugly; and secondly, because she put her chin on Alice’s shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin.

“Are you wondering why I don’t put my arm round your waist,” the Duchess said after a pause: “the reason is, I’m afraid of your flamingo.”

“HE can bite,” Alice replied.

“Very true,” said the Duchess: “flamingoes and mustard both bite. And the moral of that is – �Birds of a feather flock together.