4 Tweedledum and Tweedledee

　　Alice knew immediately which one was which，because each had his name on his shirt．They were standing very still，with their arms round each other，and Alice forgot that they were alive．‘They look just like schoolboys，’she said aloud．Then one of them spoke，and Alice jumped in sur-prise.

　　‘You've begun wrong！’cried the one called Tweedledum．‘The first thing in a visit is to say“How do you do？” and shake hands．’And here the brothers held out the two hands that were free，to shake hands with her．

　　Alice did not know which hand to shake first，so she took hold of both hands at once．The next moment they were all three dancing round in a circle．This seemed very natural at the time，and Alice was not even surprised to hear music play-ing.

　　The two brothers were fat，and soon got tired．‘Four times round is enough for one dance，’Tweedledee said，and they stopped as suddenly as they had begun．Then they stood look-ing at Alice in silence．

　　Alice did not know what to say.How do you begin a con-versation with people that you have just been dancing with？she wondered．

　　‘I hope you're not too tired？’she said at last．

　　‘Not at all．And thank you very much for asking，’said Tweedledum．

　　‘Very kind of you，’added Tweedledee．‘Do you like po-ems？’

　　‘Ye-es… well，some poems，’Alice said carefully．‘Would you tell me which road to take out of the wood？’

　　‘What shall I repeat to her？’Tweedledee said to Tweedle-dum，not noticing Alice's question．

　　‘The Walrus and the Carpenter is the longest，’Tweedle-dum replied，putting a friendly arm round his brother．

　　‘If it's very long，’Alice said politely，‘would you tell me first which road-’

　　Tweedledee smiled gently and began his poem．It was a very long poem indeed-all about a Walrus and a Carpenter，who went for a walk along a beach and invited lots of young Oysters to go with them. The Oysters accepted happily．

　　‘Perhaps that wasn't very sensible of them，’Alice said．

　　Tweedledee only smiled，and continued：

　　The Walrus and the Carpenter

　　Walked on a mile or so，

　　And then they rested on a rock

　　Conveniently low；

　　And all the little Oysters stood

　　And waited in a row.

　　‘The time has come，’the Walrus said，

　　‘To talk of many things：

　　Of shoes-and ships-and sealing-wax-

　　Of cabbages-and kings-

　　And why the sea is boiling hot-

　　And whether pigs have wings．’

　　Alice waited with interest to hear about this conversation，but it never happened，because the Walrus and the Carpenter went on to eat all the Oysters instead．

　　At the end Alice said，‘I like the Walrus best，because he said he felt sorry for the poor Oysters．’

　　‘He ate more of them than the Carpenter，’said Tweedledee．‘He ate faster，you see．’

　　‘Oh！’said Alice．‘Well then，I like the Carpenter best．’

　　‘But he ate as many as he could get，’said Tweedledum．

　　‘Well，they were both very unkind-’Alice began，then stopped when she heard a noise in the wood．It sounded like a wild animal．‘What's that？’she asked，afraid．

　　‘It's only the Red King snoring，’said Tweedledee．‘Come and look at him．’

　　The brothers each took one of Alice's hands and they went through the wood to where the King was sleeping．

　　‘Doesn't he look lovely？’said Tweedledum．

　　Alice really couldn't agree．The King was lying in a very untidy way，and was snoring loudly．

　　‘He's dreaming now，’said Tweedledee，‘and what do you think he's dreaming about？’

　　‘Nobody can guess that，’said Alice．

　　‘Why，about you！’Tweedledee said．‘And if he stops dreaming about you，where do you think you will be？’

　　‘Where I am now，of course，’said Alice．

　　‘Oh no！’said Tweedledum．‘You'll be nowhere．You're only a kind of thing in his dream！If he wakes up，you'll go out-bang！-just like a light！’

　　‘What nonsense！’Alice said crossly．‘And if I'm only a kind of thing in his dream，what are you，I'd like to know．’

　　‘The same！’the brothers cried together．

　　‘Shhh！Don't make so much noise，’Alice said．‘You'll wake him up．’

　　‘How can you wake him，’said Tweedledum，‘when you're only one of the things in his dream？You know very well that you're not real．’

　　‘I am real！’said Alice，and began to cry．

　　‘I don't know why you're crying，’Tweedledee said un-kindly．‘You won't become real that way．’

　　‘I know they're talking nonsense，’Alice thought to herself，‘and there really isn't anything to cry about．’She gave herself a little shake，then said，‘I think I must find my way out of the wood now，because it's getting very dark．Do you think it's going to rain？’

　　‘Possibly，’Tweedledum said，opening a large umbrella．

　　It was now getting very dark indeed and Alice thought there must be a storm coming．‘What a thick black cloud that is！’she said．‘And how fast it comes！Why，I do believe it’got wings！’

　　‘It's the crow！’Tweedledee shouted fearfully．The two brothers turned to run and had disappeared in a moment．

　　Alice ran too，and hid under some low trees．‘It can't get me under here，’she thought，‘but I wish its wings didn't make so much wind．It's blowing everything around terribly-and look！Here's somebody's shawl flying through the air！’

　　4．特威丹与特威帝

　　爱丽丝一下子就把这对孪生兄弟辨认出来了，因为衬衫上都标明了名字。他们纹丝不动地站在那儿，手挽着手，爱丽丝因此竟忘了他们是活的。她大声地说：“他们看起来就像小男学生。”接着两个中的一个讲话了，爱丽丝惊奇地跳起来。

　　叫特威丹的那位叫道：“你开头就错了。拜访朋友，第一件事是打招呼‘你好！’同时握手。”这时，两兄弟伸出了闲着的两只手，与她握手。

　　爱丽丝搞不清楚要先握哪只手，于是就同时抓住了两只手。随后，他们就围成一个圈跳舞。当时这似乎非常自然，爱丽丝听见音乐奏起，也不感到奇怪。

　　这两兄弟长得胖墩墩的，一会儿就疲惫不堪了。特威帝说：“一曲跳四圈就够了。”他们停下来就像开始时那样突然，然后他们站在那儿，静静地看着爱丽丝。

　　爱丽丝不知道该说些什么。如何开始同刚刚与你跳过舞的人谈话呢？她拿不准。

　　她终于开了口，说：“希望你们不会太累。”

　　“一点也没有。谢谢你的关心。”特威丹答道。

　　“你太好了。你喜欢诗歌吗？”特威帝补充说。

　　爱丽丝非常谨慎地答道：“是……是的，有些诗歌。劳驾你告诉我哪条路可以走出树林？”

　　“我该给她背诵什么？”特威帝对特威丹说，没有注意到爱丽丝的发问。

　　特威丹很友好地搂住自己的兄弟，说：“海象与木匠这首诗是最长的。”

　　“如果这首诗很长，劳驾你先告诉我哪条路……”爱丽丝很有礼貌地恳求道。

　　特威帝微微一笑，就背诵起诗来了。那真是首长诗，讲的是海象与木匠去海边散步，并邀请许多小牡蛎同往。小牡蛎很高兴地接受了邀请。

　　爱丽丝说：“它们恐怕不太明智吧。”

　　特威帝只笑了笑，又继续背：

　　海象与木匠

　　步行一英里，

　　要坐岩石上

　　石头低又矮；

　　牡蛎站成排

　　等待又等待。

　　海象先开言：

　　“时光已来临，”

　　“谈论许多事：

　　鞋、船与封蜡--

　　甘蓝与国王--

　　大海怎滚烫--

　　猪猡有无翼。”

　　爱丽丝觉得非常有趣，等着听海象与木匠的对话，但就是没声响，因为他们接着忙着吃牡蛎了。

　　最后爱丽丝说：“我最喜欢海象，因为他说他为可怜的牡蛎感到难过。”

　　特威帝说：“他比木匠吃得还多，还快。”

　　“哦，是这样。那么我最喜欢木匠。”爱丽丝改口说。

　　但特威丹说：“其实木匠也在拚命地吃。”

　　“哦，他们两个都不是什么好人--”爱丽丝刚一出口，就住了口，这时她突然听见树林里传来好像是野兽的吼叫。她害怕了，忙问：“那是什么声音？”

　　特威帝答道：“那只是红方国王在打呼噜。来，我们去看看他。”

　　两兄弟每人拉住爱丽丝的一只手，他们穿过树林，来到国王睡觉的地方。

　　特威丹问：“他够可爱的，是吧？”

　　爱丽丝真是不敢苟同。国王躺在那儿，邋里邋遢，呼噜打得山响。

　　特威帝说：“他在做梦呢。你说他在做什么梦？”

　　“谁也不会知道的，”爱丽丝答道。

　　特威帝说：“他在梦见你呢！如果他不再梦见你，你说你会在哪儿？”

　　爱丽丝答道：“当然还是在这儿。”

　　“哦，不！你将不在任何地方。你只是他梦中的一种东西！他一醒来，你就出去了--就像一道光！”特威丹说。

　　爱丽丝生气地说：“一派胡言！如果我只是他梦中的某种东西，那么我倒想知道，你又是什么呢？”

　　“同样的东西！”兄弟俩异口同声道。

　　爱丽丝说：“嘘！别嚷嚷了，否则会把他吵醒的。”

　　“你只是他梦境中的一件东西，你又怎么能把他吵醒呢？你并不是真实的，这你很清楚。”特威丹说。

　　爱丽丝说：“我是真实的！”说完就哭了起来。

　　特威帝不友好地说：“我不明白你为什么哭了。这并不能使你变为真实的。”

　　爱丽丝思忖着，“我清楚他们在胡言乱语，不过确实没什么好哭的。”她轻微抖动一下身子，说：“我想眼下我必须要找到走出树林的路。因为天越来越暗了。你认为要下雨了吗？”

　　“可能的”。特威丹说着，打开了一把大伞。

　　天空一片漆黑，爱丽丝揣测一定会有场暴风雨。她说：“那云团又密又黑，来势多凶猛！我肯定它长了翅膀。”

　　特威帝吓得惨叫一声：“那是乌鸦！”俩兄弟转身拔腿就跑，一会儿就不见了。