Alice in Wonderland (60)

Alice in Wonderland (60)

(12) ALICE'S EVIDENCE

" HERE ! " cried Alice.

She jumped up, quite forgetting how large she had grown in a last few minutes, and knocked over the jury-box with the edge of her skirt.



All the jurymen(※jurors) went sprawling into the crowd.

" Oh, I beg your pardon ! " she exclaimed and began picking them up and put them back into the box as quickly as she could.

She had a vague sort of idea that they must be collected at once and put back into the jury-box, or they would die.

" The trial cannot proceed, " said the king, " until all the jurymen are back in their proper placeーall, " and he looks hard at Alice.

Alice looked at the jury-box, and saw that she had put Bill the Lizard upside down and the poor little thing was unable to move waving its tail in a melancholy way.

So she put him back the right way. 

As soon as the jury had recovered from the accident and their slates and pencils had been found and handed back to them, they write out a history of that accident, all except the Lizard, who sit with its mouth open, gazing up into the roof of the court.

" What do you know about this business ? " the king said to Alice.

" Nothing, " said Alice.

" Nothing whatever ? " persisted the king.

" Nothing whatever, " said Alice.

(60/65)