'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. 'You might just as well say that «I see what I eat» is the same thing as «I eat what I see»!’[64]
'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, who 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.
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'.[65]
'Two days wrong!’[66] sighed the Hatter. 'I told you butter wouldn't 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!’[67]
'Why should it?’ muttered the Hatter. 'Does your watch tell you what year it is?’
'Of course not', Alice replied very readily: 'but that's because it stays the same year for such a long time together.
'Which is just the case with mine, said the Hatter.
Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter's remark seemed to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. 'I don't quite understand you, she said, as politely as she could.
'The Dormouse is asleep again, said the Hatter, and he poured a little hot tea upon its nose.
The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without opening its eyes, 'Of course, of course; just what I was going to remark myself.
'Have you guessed the riddle yet?’ the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
'No, I give it up, Alice replied: 'what's the answer?’
'I haven't the slightest idea, said the Hatter.
'Nor I, said the March Hare.
Alice sighed wearily. 'I think you might do something better with the time, she said, 'than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.
'If you knew Time as well as I do, said the Hatter, 'you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him'.[68]
'I don't know what you mean, said Alice.
'Of course you don't!’ the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. 'I dare say you never even spoke to Time!’
'Perhaps not, Alice cautiously replied: 'but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.
'Ah! that accounts for it, said the Hatter. 'He won't stand beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he'd do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o'clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons: you'd only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!’
('I only wish it was, the March Hare said to itself in a whisper.)
'That would be grand, certainly, said Alice thoughtfully: 'but then-I shouldn't be hungry for it, you know.
'Not at first, perhaps, said the Hatter: 'but you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked.
'Is that the way you manage?’ Alice asked.
The Hatter shook his head mournfully. 'Not I!’ he replied. 'We quarrelled last March-just before he went mad, you know — (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,) — it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing
You know the song, perhaps?’
'I've heard something like it, said Alice.
'It goes on, you know, the Hatter continued, 'in this way: —
Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle — and went on so long that they had to pinch it to make it stop.
'Well, I'd hardly finished the first verse, said the Hatter, 'when the Queen jumped up and bawled out, 'He's murdering the time![70] Off with his head!
'How dreadfully savage!’ exclaimed Alice.
'And ever since that, the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, 'he won't do a thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now.
A bright idea came into Alice 's head. 'Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?’ she asked.
'Yes, that's it, said the Hatter with a sigh: 'it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.
'Then you keep moving round, I suppose?’ said Alice.
'Exactly so', said the Hatter: 'as the things get used up'.
'But what happens when you come to the beginning again?’ Alice ventured to ask.
'Suppose we change the subject, the March Hare interrupted, yawning. 'I'm getting tired of this. I vote the young lady tells us a story.
'I'm afraid I don't know one, said Alice, rather alarmed at the proposal.
'Then the Dormouse shall!’ they both cried. 'Wake up, Dormouse!’ And they pinched it on both sides at once.
The Dormouse slowly opened his eyes. 'I wasn't asleep, he said in a hoarse, feeble voice: 'I heard every word you fellows were saying.
'Tell us a story!’ said the March Hare.
'Yes, please do!’ pleaded Alice.
'And be quick about it, added the Hatter, 'or you'll be asleep again before it's done.
'Once upon a time there were three little sisters, the Dormouse began in a great hurry;’and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie:[71] and they lived at the bottom of a well'
'What did they live on?’ said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.
'They lived on treacle', said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.
'They couldn't have done that, you know, Alice gently remarked;’they'd have been ill.
'So they were, said the Dormouse;’very ill'.
Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary ways of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went on: 'But why did they live at the bottom of a well?’
'Take some more tea', the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
'I've had nothing yet, Alice replied in an offended tone, 'so I can't take more'.
64
«Why, you might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!» — в этом абзаце Кэрролл продолжает игру в логические перевертыши.
65
«What day of the'month is it?»… Alice considered a little, and then said, «The fourth.» — по наблюдению М. Гарднера, ответ Алисы позволяет определить точную дату приключений Алисы в Стране чудес. В конце прошлой главы мы узнаем, что дело происходит в мае (Р. 92), — следовательно, это 4 мая. Это был день рождения Алисы (она родилась в 1852 г.). Когда Кэрролл впервые рассказал свою сказку, Алисе было десять лет, однако, судя по всему, героине сказки — около семи. Об этом свидетельствует, в частности, фотография Алисы, приклеенная автором в конце подаренной им Алисе рукописи, — на этой фотографии, снятой Кэрроллом в 1859 г., Алисе семь лет.
66
«Two days wrong!» — A. JI. Тейлор (Taylor) отмечает, что 4 мая 1862 г. разница между лунным и солнечным месяцами была ровно два дня. Это позволяет, по его мнению, предположить, что часы Шляпника показывают лунное время, и объясняет его слова: «отстали на два дня». Трудно, однако, сказать, насколько Кэрролл имел все это в виду при написании сказки.
67
«What a funny watch!.. It tells the day of the month, and doesn’t tell what o’clock it is!» — проблема времени с юных лет волновала Кэрролла. Среди его логических задач находим рассуждение о том, что остановившиеся часы вернее, чем те, которые отстают на минуту в день. Первые показывают точное время дважды в сутки, в то время как вторые — лишь раз в два года. «Возможно, — продолжает Кэрролл, — ты спросишь: „Как же мне все-таки узнать, что сейчас — восемь часов? Ведь по моим часам я этого не узнаю“. Терпение! Ты знаешь: когда наступит восемь часов, твои часы будут верны. Прекрасно! Значит, ты должен держаться следующего правила: гляди, не отрываясь, на свои часы, как только они покажут правильное время, настанет восемь» (см. «Трудность вторую» в кн.: Л. Кэрролл. История с узелками. Пер. Ю. А. Данилова. М., 1973).
68
«If you knew Time as well as I do… you wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him» — по традиции абстрактные понятия (Время, Смерть, Любовь и пр.) персонифицируются в английском языке как существа мужского рода. В последующем абзаце Кэрролл «реализует» выражение «to beat time» («отбивать такт»): Алиса употребляет его именно в этом смысле, в то время как Шляпник разлагает идиому на составные части и трактует их буквально.
69
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!.. — песня Шляпника пародирует первую строфу известного стихотворения «Звезда», принадлежащего перу английской детской поэтессы Джейн Тейлор (Taylor, 1783–1824).
70
«He is murdering the time!» — To murder the time — здесь означает «врать», «фальшивить», «искажать мелодию или ритм».
71
Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie — три сестрички, жившие на дне колодца, — это Алиса и ее сестры. «Elsie» — это инициалы Лорины Шарлотты (L. С., т. е. «Lorina Charlotte»); «Tillie» — сокращение от Матильды (Matilda), шуточного имени, присвоенного в семействе Лидделлов Эдит; a «Lacie» — не что иное, как анаграмма имени Алисы («Alice»).