that did not sneeze, were the cook, and a large cat which was sitting
on the hearth and grinning from ear to ear.
Please would you tell me, said Alice, a little timidly, for she was
not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, why
your cat grins like that?
It s a Cheshire cat, said the Duchess, and that s why. Pig!
She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite
jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the
baby, and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again:
I didn t know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn t
know that cats _could_ grin.
They all can, said the Duchess; and most of em do.
I don t know of any that do, Alice said very politely, feeling quite
pleased to have got into a conversation.
You don t know much, said the Duchess; and that s a fact.
Alice did not at all like the tone of this remark, and thought it would
be as well to introduce some other subject of conversation. While she
was trying to fix on one, the cook took the cauldron of soup off the
fire, and at once set to work throwing everything within her reach at
the Duchess and the baby the fire-irons came first; then followed a
shower of saucepans, plates, and dishes. The Duchess took no notice of
them even when they hit her; and the baby was howling so much already,
that it was quite impossible to say whether the blows hurt it or not.
Oh, _please_ mind what you re doing! cried Alice, jumping up and down
in an agony of terror. Oh, there goes his _precious_ nose! as an
unusually large saucepan flew close by it, and very nearly carried it
off.
If everybody minded their own business, the Duchess said in a hoarse
growl, the world would go round a deal faster than it does.
34