remember the rule. You must be very happy, living in this wood, and
being glad whenever you like!
Only it is so _very_ lonely here! Alice said in a melancholy voice;
and at the thought of her loneliness two large tears came rolling down
her cheeks.
Oh, don t go on like that! cried the poor Queen, wringing her hands
in despair. Consider what a great girl you are. Consider what a long
way you ve come to-day. Consider what o clock it is. Consider anything,
only don t cry!
Alice could not help laughing at this, even in the midst of her tears.
Can _you_ keep from crying by considering things? she asked.
That s the way it s done, the Queen said with great decision: nobody
can do two things at once, you know. Let s consider your age to begin
with how old are you?
I m seven and a half exactly.
You needn t say exactually, the Queen remarked: I can believe it
without that. Now I ll give _you_ something to believe. I m just one
hundred and one, five months and a day.
I can t believe _that_! said Alice.
Can t you? the Queen said in a pitying tone. Try again: draw a long
breath, and shut your eyes.
Alice laughed. There s no use trying, she said: one _can t_ believe
impossible things.
I daresay you haven t had much practice, said the Queen. When I was
your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I ve
believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes
the shawl again!
The brooch had come undone as she spoke, and a sudden gust of wind blew
the Queen s shawl across a little brook. The Queen spread out her arms
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