At the Tea Table

    At the Tea Table
There was a tree in front of the house. A big table under the tree had places for a lot of people, but there were only three at it: the Hatter, the March Hare¹, and a dormouse. The Dormouse was asleep, and the other two were sitting very near to it, one on each side, and speaking over its head.
    When they saw Alice, the Hatter and the March Hare cried out, "No, no! There isn't a place for you!""There are a lot of places," Alice said, and she sat down in a big chair.
    The Hatter looked at her and took a watch out of his pocket. "What day is it?" he asked.
    Alice thought. Then she said, " Wednesday, I think.""It's Friday by my watch," the Hatter said to the March Hare, looking unhappy. "I told you that butter wasn't good for a watch.""It was the best butter," the March Hare said.
    " Yes, but you put it in with the bread knife. Some bread got in, perhaps."The March Hare took the watch and looked at it sadly². Then he put it in his tea; took it out; looked at it sadly again; and said again, " It was the best butter."Alice looked at the watch. "It tells the day," she said, "but it doesn't tell you the time of day.""Why should it?" the Hatter asked. "Does your watch tell you what year it is?"" No," Alice answered, " but that's because it's the same year for a very long time.""And my watch doesn't tell the time because it's always tea time."Alice wondered about that, but she said nothing.
    "Take some more tea," the March Hare said to her.
    Alice said. "Thank you. But I haven't had any yet, so I can't take more.""Yes, you can," the Hatter said. "Anybody can take more than nothing."Alice did not like the way the Hatter spoke³ to her. "I don't think he should speak to me like that," she thought. And she began to tell him: " I don't think--""Then you shouldn't speak," the Hatter said.
    Alice was angry. She walked away from the table. " Perhaps they'll call me back," she thought. "And then they'll be nice to me and give me some tea and bread-and-butter."But they did not say anything. She looked back once. The Dormouse was still asleep, and the Hatter and the March Hare were trying to put it into the teapot⁴.
    "I'll never go there again," Alice said. And she tried to tell herself, " I didn't want any tea or bread-and-butter."Just as she said that, she saw a door in one of the trees.
    I have never seen a door in a tree before," she thought. "I wonder where it goes." And she went in. She found herself in the long hall, near the little glass table.
    "I'll get through the little door into the garden this time," she said to herself. She took the little golden⁵ key and opened the little door. Then she took very small bites⁶ from the bit of mushroom⁷ that made her smaller. When she was not too big and not too small, she walked through the door. At last she was in the beautiful garden.

1 hare   

n.野兔

参考例句：

• The tortoise wins the race while the hare is sleeping.兔子正睡觉时，乌龟赢得了比赛。
• I saw a hare in my backyard this morning.今天早晨我看见后院有一只野兔。

2 sadly   

adv.悲痛地，悲惨地，悲伤地

参考例句：

• She looked at him sadly.她难过地看着他。
• Sadly the good times aren't returning any time soon.遗憾的是，好时光不会很快就回来。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 teapot   

n.茶壶

参考例句：

• This kind of teapot is very expensive.这种茶壶相当贵。
• The boy broke the teapot.这男孩把茶壶打破了。

5 golden   

adj.金的，含金的，可贵的，金色的，贵重的，繁盛的

参考例句：

• My teacher is an Englishman with golden hair.我的老师是一个金黄色头发的英国人。
• It's a balmy evening,the golden time for lovers.这是一个暖和的夜晚，是恋人们的黄金时光。

6 bites   

v.咬，叮( bite的第三人称单数 )；刺痛；有咬（或叮）的习性；（人）上当

参考例句：

• This cream contains a mild analgesic to soothe stings and bites. 这种乳膏含有一种性能平和的止痛剂，能缓解被螫咬后的疼痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When a fish bites the hook, the float bobs. 当鱼上钩时，鱼漂上下跳动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 mushroom   

n.草，蘑菇；暴发户；vi.迅速生长，迅速增加，采蘑菇；adj.蘑菇形的，迅速生长的

参考例句：

• Mushroom can grow very quickly.蘑菇可以生长地很快。
• The mushroom is a speciality here.蘑菇是这里的特色菜。