should learn not to make personal remarks," Alice said with some
severity; "it's very rude."

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he _said_
was "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"

"Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've
begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that," she added aloud.

"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said
the March Hare.

"Exactly so," said Alice.

"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.

"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least--at least I mean what I
say--that's the same thing, you know."

"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "Why, you might just as
well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I
see'!"

"You might just as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I
get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!"

"You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, which seemed to be
talking in his sleep, "that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing
as 'I sleep when I breathe'!"

"It _is_ the same thing with you," said the Hatter; and here the
conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice
thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks,
which wasn't much.

[Illustration: _A Mad Tea Party_]

The Hatter was the first to break the silence. "What day of the month
is it?" he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his
pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then,
and holding it to his ear.

Alice considered a little, and then said "The fourth."

"Two days wrong!" sighed the Hatter. "I told you butter would not suit
the works!" he added, looking angrily at the March Hare.

"It was the _best_ butter," the March Hare meekly replied.

"Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well," the Hatter grumbled:
"you shouldn't have put it in with the bread-knife."

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then he dipped
it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again: but he could think of
nothing better to say than his first remark, "It was the _best_ butter,
you know."

Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. "What a
funny watch!" she remarked. "It tells the day of the month, and doesn't
tell what o'clock it is!"

"Why should it?" muttered the Hatter. "Does _your_ watch tell you what
year it is?"

"Of course not," Alic