keeping so close to her: first, because the
Duchess was _very_ ugly; and secondly, because she was exactly the right
height to rest her chin on Alice's shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably
sharp chin. However, she did not like to be rude, so she bore it as well
as she could. "The game's going on rather better now," she said, by way
of keeping up the conversation a little.

"'Tis so," said the Duchess: "and the moral of that is--'Oh, 'tis love,
'tis love, that makes the world go round!'"

"Somebody said," Alice whispered, "that it's done by everybody minding
their own business!"

"Ah, well! It means much the same thing," said the Duchess, digging her
sharp little chin into Alice's shoulder as she added, "and the moral of
_that_ is--'Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of
themselves.'"

"How fond she is of finding morals in things!" Alice thought to herself.

"I dare say you're wondering why I don't put my arm round your waist,"
the Duchess said after a pause: "the reason is, that I'm doubtful about
the temper of your flamingo. Shall I try the experiment?"

"He might bite," Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all anxious to
have the experiment tried.

"Very true," said the Duchess: "flamingoes and mustard both bite. And
the moral of that is--'Birds of a feather flock together.'"

"Only mustard isn't a bird," Alice remarked.

"Right, as usual," said the Duchess: "what a clear way you have of
putting things!"

"It's a mineral, I _think_," said Alice.

"Of course it is," said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to
everything that Alice said: "there's a large mustard-mine near here. And
the moral of that is--'The more there is of mine, the less there is of
yours.'"

"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last remark.
"It's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it is."

"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that
is--'Be what you would seem to be'--or if you'd like it put more
simply--'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might
appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise
than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"

"I think I should understand that better," Alice said very politely, "if
I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it."

"That's nothing to what I could say if I chose," the Duchess replied, in
a pleased tone.

"Pray don't troub