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“You must be,” said the Cat, “you are here.”

“And how do you know that you’re mad?” she went on.

“A dog is not mad,” said the Cat, “Do you believe that?”

“I suppose so,” said Alice.

“Well, then,” the Cat went on, “you see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad. Do you play croquet with the Queen today?”

“With pleasure,” said Alice, “but I do not have an invitation.

“You’ll see me there,” said the Cat, and vanished.

Alice was not much surprised at this. While she was looking at the place where the cat was, it suddenly appeared again.

“And what became of the baby?” said the Cat. “I forgot to ask.”

“It turned into a pig,” Alice quietly said.

“Of course,” said the Cat, and vanished again.

Alice waited a little, but the Cat did not appear, and after a minute or two she walked on in the direction in which the March Hare lived.

“I saw hatters,” she said to herself; “the March Hare is more interesting.”

As she said this, she looked up, and there was the Cat again. It was sitting on a branch of a tree.

“Did you say pig, or fig?” said the Cat.

“I said pig,” replied Alice; “can you appear and vanish not so fast, please?”

“All right,” said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly. It began with the end of the tail, and ended with the grin.

“Well! I saw a cat without a grin,” thought Alice; “but a grin without a cat! How curious!”

She went farther and she saw the house of the March Hare. The chimneys were like ears and the roof was thatched with fur. It was a large house, and she ate a bit of the mushroom, and raised herself to about two feet high.

Chapter VII

A Mad Tea-Party[46 - A Mad Tea-Party – Безумное чаепитие]

There was a table under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea: a Dormouse[47 - Dormouse – Мышь-соня] was sitting between them, fast asleep.

“Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,” thought Alice; “but it’s asleep, so, I suppose it doesn’t mind[48 - it doesn’t mind – ей всё равно].