n. 'You've missed the soup and fish,' she
said. 'Put on the joint!' And the waiters set a leg of mutton before
Alice, who looked at it rather anxiously, as she had never had to carve
a joint before.

'You look a little shy; let me introduce you to that leg of mutton,'
said the Red Queen. 'Alice--Mutton; Mutton--Alice.' The leg of mutton
got up in the dish and made a little bow to Alice; and Alice returned
the bow, not knowing whether to be frightened or amused.

'May I give you a slice?' she said, taking up the knife and fork, and
looking from one Queen to the other.

'Certainly not,' the Red Queen said, very decidedly: 'it isn't etiquette
to cut any one you've been introduced to. Remove the joint!' And the
waiters carried it off, and brought a large plum-pudding in its place.

'I won't be introduced to the pudding, please,' Alice said rather
hastily, 'or we shall get no dinner at all. May I give you some?'

But the Red Queen looked sulky, and growled 'Pudding--Alice;
Alice--Pudding. Remove the pudding!' and the waiters took it away so
quickly that Alice couldn't return its bow.

However, she didn't see why the Red Queen should be the only one to give
orders, so, as an experiment, she called out 'Waiter! Bring back the
pudding!' and there it was again in a moment like a conjuring-trick. It
was so large that she couldn't help feeling a LITTLE shy with it, as she
had been with the mutton; however, she conquered her shyness by a great
effort and cut a slice and handed it to the Red Queen.

'What impertinence!' said the Pudding. 'I wonder how you'd like it, if I
were to cut a slice out of YOU, you creature!'

It spoke in a thick, suety sort of voice, and Alice hadn't a word to say
in reply: she could only sit and look at it and gasp.

'Make a remark,' said the Red Queen: 'it's ridiculous to leave all the
conversation to the pudding!'

'Do you know, I've had such a quantity of poetry repeated to me to-day,'
Alice began, a little frightened at finding that, the moment she opened
her lips, there was dead silence, and all eyes were fixed upon her; 'and
it's a very curious thing, I think--every poem was about fishes in some
way. Do you know why they're so fond of fishes, all about here?'

She spoke to the Red Queen, whose answer was a little wide of the mark.
'As to fishes,' she said, very slowly and solemnly, putting her mouth
close to Alice's ear, 'her White Majesty knows a lovely riddle--all in
poetry--all about f