The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on theirthrone when
they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them--allsorts
of little birds and beasts, as well as the whole packof cards:
the Knave was standing before them, in chains, with asoldier on
each side to guard him; and near the King was the WhiteRabbit,
with a trumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchmentin the
other.  In the very middle of the court was a table,with a large
dish of tarts upon it:  they looked so good, thatit made Alice
quite hungry to look at them--`I wish they'd get thetrial done,'
she thought, `and hand round the refreshments!' But there seemed
to be no chance of this, so she began looking at everythingabout
her, to pass away the time.

  Alice had never been in a court of justice before,but she had
read about them in books, and she was quite pleased tofind that
she knew the name of nearly everything there.  `That'sthe
judge,' she said to herself, `because of his great wig.'

  The judge, by the way, was the King; and as hewore his crown
over the wig, (look at the frontispiece if you want tosee how he
did it,) he did not look at all comfortable, and it wascertainly
not becoming.

  `And that's the jury-box,' thought Alice, `andthose twelve
creatures,' (she was obliged to say `creatures,' yousee, because
some of them were animals, and some were birds,) `I supposethey
are the jurors.'  She said this last word two orthree times over
to herself, being rather proud of it:  for she thought,and
rightly too, that very few little girls of her age knewthe
meaning of it at all.  However, `jury-men' wouldhave done just
as well.

  The twelve jurors were all writing very busilyon slates.
`What are they doing?'  Alice whispered to the Gryphon. `They
can't have anything to put down yet, before the trial'sbegun.'

  `They're putting down their names,' the Gryphonwhispered in
reply, `for fear they should forget them before the endof the
trial.'

  `Stupid things!' Alice began in a loud, indignantvoice, but
she stopped hastily, for the White Rabbit cried out,`Silence in
the court!' and the King put on his spectacles and looked
anxiously round, to make out who was talking.

  Alice could see, as well as if she were lookingover their
shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down `stupidthings!'
on their slates, and she could even make out that oneof them
didn't know how to spell `stupid,' and that he had toask his
neighbour to tell him.  `A nice muddle their slates'llbe in
before the trial's over!' thought Alice.

  One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This of course,
Alice could not stand, and she went round the court andgot
behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of takingit
away.  She did it so quickly that the poor littlejuror (it was
Bill, the Lizard) could not make out at all what hadbecome of
it; so, after hunting all about for it, he was obligedto write
with one finger for the rest of the day; and this wasof very
little use, as it left no mark on the slate.

  `Herald, read the accusation!' said the King.

  On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on thetrumpet, and
then unrolled the parchment scroll, and read as follows:--

    `The Queen of Hearts, she made sometarts,
         All on a summer day:
      The Knave of Hearts, hestole those tarts,
         And took them quite away!'

  `Consider your verdict,' the King said to the jury.

  `Not yet, not yet!' the Rabbit hastily interrupted. `There's
a great deal to come before that!'

  `Call the first witness,' said the King; and theWhite Rabbit
blew three blasts on the trumpet, and called out, `First
witness!'

  The first witness was the Hatter.  He camein with a teacup in
one hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the other. `I beg
pardon, your Majesty,' he began, `for bringing thesein:  but I
hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for.'

  `You ought to have finished,' said the King. `When did you
begin?'

  The Hatter looked at the March Hare, who had followedhim into
the court, arm-in-arm with the Dormouse.  `Fourteenthof March, I
think it was,' he said.

  `Fifteenth,' said the March Hare.

  `Sixteenth,' added the Dormouse.

  `Write that down,' the King said to the jury, andthe jury
eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, andthen
added them up, and reduced the answer to shillings andpence.

  `Take off your hat,' the King said to the Hatter.

  `It isn't mine,' said the Hatter.

  `Stolen!' the King exclaimed, turning to the jury,who
instantly made a memorandum of the fact.

  `I keep them to sell,' the Hatter added as an explanation;
`I've none of my own.  I'm a hatter.'

  Here the Queen put on her spectacles, and beganstaring at the
Hatter, who turned pale and fidgeted.

  `Give your evidence,' said the King; `and don'tbe nervous, or
I'll have you executed on the spot.'

  This did not seem to encourage the witness at all: he kept
shifting from one foot to the other, looking uneasilyat the
Queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece outof his
teacup instead of the bread-and-butter.

  Just at this moment Alice felt a very curious sensation,which
puzzled her a good deal until she made out what it was: she was
beginning to grow larger again, and she thought at firstshe
would get up and leave the court; but on second thoughtsshe
decided to remain where she was as long as there wasroom for
her.

  `I wish you wouldn't squeeze so.' said the Dormouse,who was
sitting next to her.  `I can hardly breathe.'

  `I can't help it,' said Alice very meekly: `I'm growing.'

  `You've no right to grow here,' said the Dormouse.

  `Don't talk nonsense,' said Alice more boldly: `you know
you're growing too.'

  `Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace,' said theDormouse:
`not in that ridiculous fashion.'  And he got upvery sulkily
and crossed over to the other side of the court.

  All this time the Queen had never left off staringat the
Hatter, and, just as the Dormouse crossed the court,she said to
one of the officers of the court, `Bring me the listof the
singers in the last concert!' on which the wretched Hatter
trembled so, that he shook both his shoes off.

  `Give your evidence,' the King repeated angrily,`or I'll have
you executed, whether you're nervous or not.'

  `I'm a poor man, your Majesty,' the Hatter began,in a
trembling voice, `--and I hadn't begun my tea--not abovea week
or so--and what with the bread-and-butter getting sothin--and
the twinkling of the tea--'

  `The twinkling of the what?' said the King.

  `It began with the tea,' the Hatter replied.

  `Of course twinkling begins with a T!' said theKing sharply.
`Do you take me for a dunce?  Go on!'

  `I'm a poor man,' the Hatter went on, `and mostthings
twinkled after that--only the March Hare said--'

  `I didn't!' the March Hare interrupted in a greathurry.

  `You did!' said the Hatter.

  `I deny it!' said the March Hare.

  `He denies it,' said the King:  `leave outthat part.'

  `Well, at any rate, the Dormouse said--' the Hatterwent on,
looking anxiously round to see if he would deny it too: but the
Dormouse denied nothing, being fast asleep.

  `After that,' continued the Hatter, `I cut somemore bread-
and-butter--'

  `But what did the Dormouse say?' one of the juryasked.

  `That I can't remember,' said the Hatter.

  `You MUST remember,' remarked the King, `or I'llhave you
executed.'

  The miserable Hatter dropped his teacup and bread-and-butter,
and went down on one knee.  `I'm a poor man, yourMajesty,' he
began.

  `You're a very poor speaker,' said the King.

  Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was immediately
suppressed by the officers of the court.  (As thatis rather a
hard word, I will just explain to you how it was done. They had
a large canvas bag, which tied up at the mouth with strings:
into this they slipped the guinea-pig, head first, andthen sat
upon it.)

  `I'm glad I've seen that done,' thought Alice. `I've so often
read in the newspapers, at the end of trials, "Therewas some
attempts at applause, which was immediately suppressedby the
officers of the court," and I never understood what itmeant
till now.'

  `If that's all you know about it, you may standdown,'
continued the King.

  `I can't go no lower,' said the Hatter:  `I'mon the floor, as
it is.'

  `Then you may SIT down,' the King replied.

  Here the other guinea-pig cheered, and was suppressed.

  `Come, that finished the guinea-pigs!' thoughtAlice.  `Now we
shall get on better.'

  `I'd rather finish my tea,' said the Hatter, withan anxious
look at the Queen, who was reading the list of singers.

  `You may go,' said the King, and the Hatter hurriedlyleft the
court, without even waiting to put his shoes on.

  `--and just take his head off outside,' the Queenadded to one
of the officers:  but the Hatter was out of sightbefore the
officer could get to the door.

  `Call the next witness!' said the King.

  The next witness was the Duchess's cook. She carried the
pepper-box in her hand, and Alice guessed who it was,even before
she got into the court, by the way the people near thedoor began
sneezing all at once.

  `Give your evidence,' said the King.

  `Shan't,' said the cook.

  The King looked anxiously at the White Rabbit,who said in a
low voice, `Your Majesty must cross-examine THIS witness.'

  `Well, if I must, I must,' the King said, witha melancholy
air, and, after folding his arms and frowning at thecook till
his eyes were nearly out of sight, he said in a deepvoice, `What
are tarts made of?'

  `Pepper, mostly,' said the cook.

  `Treacle,' said a sleepy voice behind her.

  `Collar that Dormouse,' the Queen shrieked out. `Behead that
Dormouse!  Turn that Dormouse out of court! Suppress him!  Pinch
him!  Off with his whiskers!'

  For some minutes the whole court was in confusion,getting the
Dormouse turned out, and, by the time they had settleddown
again, the cook had disappeared.

  `Never mind!' said the King, with an air of greatrelief.
`Call the next witness.'  And he added in an undertoneto the
Queen, `Really, my dear, YOU must cross-examine the nextwitness.
It quite makes my forehead ache!'

  Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled overthe list,
feeling very curious to see what the next witness wouldbe like,
`--for they haven't got much evidence YET,' she saidto herself.
Imagine her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out,at the top
of his shrill little voice, the name `Alice!'