03-01-05-爱丽丝镜中世界奇遇记 [12]
， where shefound the White King sitting on the ground， busily writing inhis notebook．
‘I've sent them all！’the King cried happily when he sawAlice．‘Did you happen to meet any soldiers， my dear， as youcame through the wood？’
‘Yes，I did，’said Alice．‘Several thousand，I think．’
‘Four thousand two hundred and seven，’ the King said，looking at his book．‘I couldn't send all the horses，becausetwo of them are wanted in the game．And I haven't sent theMessengers， Haigha and Hatta．I need them myself， of course-to come and go．One to come，and one to go．’
‘I don't think I understand，’ said Alice．‘Why one to comeand one to go？’
‘I've told you，’the King said crossly．‘I must have two-to fetch and carry．One to fetch， and one to carry．’
At that moment Haigha，one of the Messengers，arrived．He had very large hands and great eyes，which were alwaysmoving wildly from side to side．
‘What's the news from town？’ said the King．
‘I'll whisper it，’said Haigha， putting his mouth close tothe King's ear．
Alice was sorry about this，because she wanted to hear thenews too．But，instead of whispering，Haigha shouted at thetop of his voice，‘They're at it again！’
‘Do you call that a whisper？’ cried the poor King， jumpingup and shaking himself．‘Don't do that again！’
‘Who are at it again？’ Alice asked．
‘The Lion and the Unicorn，of course，’said the King．
‘Fighting for the crown？’
‘Yes， and it's my crown that they're fighting about！’saidthe King．‘Amusing， isn't it？ Let's run and see them．’
They began to run，and as they went，Alice repeated to her-self the words of the old song．
The Lion and the Unicorn
were fighting for the crown；
The Lion beat the Unicorn
all round the town．
Some gave them white bread
and some gave them brown；
Some gave them plum-cake
and drummed them out of town．
Soon they saw a great crowd in front of them， and in themiddle the Lion and the Unicorn were fighting． Hatta， theother Messenger， was standing at the edge of the crowd，witha cup of tea in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in theother．He looked very unhappy．
‘He's only just come out of prison，’ Haigha whispered inAlice's ear，‘so he's very hungry and thirsty，you see．Howare you，dear child？’ he said to Hatta，in a friendly voice．
Hatta looked round， but went on eating his bread and butterand drinking his tea．
‘Come，tell us the news！’ cried the King．‘How are theygetting on with the fight？’
‘They're getting on very well，’Hatta said through amouthful of bread and butter．‘Each of them has been down about eighty-seven times．’
‘Then I suppose they'll soon bring the white bread and thebrown，’ Alice said．
‘It's waiting for them now，’said Hatta．‘I'm eating a bitof it myself．’
The fight stopped just then，and the Lion and the Unicornsat down，looking tired．
The King called out，‘Ten minutes for tea！’，and Haighaand Hatta began to carry round plates of white and brownbread．Alice took a piece to taste， but it was very dry.
‘I don't think they'll fight any more today，’the King saidto Hatta．‘Go and order the drums to begin．’
As Alice watched him go，she suddenly saw somebody run-ning out of the wood．
‘Look！’she cried excitedly．‘There's the White Queen！She came flying out of the wood．How fast those Queens canrun！’
‘There's probably an enemy after her，’said the King， notlooking round．‘That wood's full of them. ’
‘But aren't you going to help her？’asked Alice，very sur-prised．
‘No use， no use！’said the King．‘She runs so terriblyquickly．You can't catch a Queen when she's running．’
At that moment the Unicorn came past，with his hands inhis pockets．When he saw Alice，he stopped and looked at herfor some minutes．He did not seem to like what he saw．
‘What- is- this？’ he said at last．
‘This is a child！’Haigha said helpfully，coming forward tointroduce Alice．‘We only found it today．It's as large as life，and twice as natural！’
‘I always thought they were fantastic monsters，’said theUnicorn．‘Is it alive？’
‘It can talk，’said Haigha．
The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice．‘Talk， child．’
Alice smiled
‘I've sent them all！’the King cried happily when he sawAlice．‘Did you happen to meet any soldiers， my dear， as youcame through the wood？’
‘Yes，I did，’said Alice．‘Several thousand，I think．’
‘Four thousand two hundred and seven，’ the King said，looking at his book．‘I couldn't send all the horses，becausetwo of them are wanted in the game．And I haven't sent theMessengers， Haigha and Hatta．I need them myself， of course-to come and go．One to come，and one to go．’
‘I don't think I understand，’ said Alice．‘Why one to comeand one to go？’
‘I've told you，’the King said crossly．‘I must have two-to fetch and carry．One to fetch， and one to carry．’
At that moment Haigha，one of the Messengers，arrived．He had very large hands and great eyes，which were alwaysmoving wildly from side to side．
‘What's the news from town？’ said the King．
‘I'll whisper it，’said Haigha， putting his mouth close tothe King's ear．
Alice was sorry about this，because she wanted to hear thenews too．But，instead of whispering，Haigha shouted at thetop of his voice，‘They're at it again！’
‘Do you call that a whisper？’ cried the poor King， jumpingup and shaking himself．‘Don't do that again！’
‘Who are at it again？’ Alice asked．
‘The Lion and the Unicorn，of course，’said the King．
‘Fighting for the crown？’
‘Yes， and it's my crown that they're fighting about！’saidthe King．‘Amusing， isn't it？ Let's run and see them．’
They began to run，and as they went，Alice repeated to her-self the words of the old song．
The Lion and the Unicorn
were fighting for the crown；
The Lion beat the Unicorn
all round the town．
Some gave them white bread
and some gave them brown；
Some gave them plum-cake
and drummed them out of town．
Soon they saw a great crowd in front of them， and in themiddle the Lion and the Unicorn were fighting． Hatta， theother Messenger， was standing at the edge of the crowd，witha cup of tea in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in theother．He looked very unhappy．
‘He's only just come out of prison，’ Haigha whispered inAlice's ear，‘so he's very hungry and thirsty，you see．Howare you，dear child？’ he said to Hatta，in a friendly voice．
Hatta looked round， but went on eating his bread and butterand drinking his tea．
‘Come，tell us the news！’ cried the King．‘How are theygetting on with the fight？’
‘They're getting on very well，’Hatta said through amouthful of bread and butter．‘Each of them has been down about eighty-seven times．’
‘Then I suppose they'll soon bring the white bread and thebrown，’ Alice said．
‘It's waiting for them now，’said Hatta．‘I'm eating a bitof it myself．’
The fight stopped just then，and the Lion and the Unicornsat down，looking tired．
The King called out，‘Ten minutes for tea！’，and Haighaand Hatta began to carry round plates of white and brownbread．Alice took a piece to taste， but it was very dry.
‘I don't think they'll fight any more today，’the King saidto Hatta．‘Go and order the drums to begin．’
As Alice watched him go，she suddenly saw somebody run-ning out of the wood．
‘Look！’she cried excitedly．‘There's the White Queen！She came flying out of the wood．How fast those Queens canrun！’
‘There's probably an enemy after her，’said the King， notlooking round．‘That wood's full of them. ’
‘But aren't you going to help her？’asked Alice，very sur-prised．
‘No use， no use！’said the King．‘She runs so terriblyquickly．You can't catch a Queen when she's running．’
At that moment the Unicorn came past，with his hands inhis pockets．When he saw Alice，he stopped and looked at herfor some minutes．He did not seem to like what he saw．
‘What- is- this？’ he said at last．
‘This is a child！’Haigha said helpfully，coming forward tointroduce Alice．‘We only found it today．It's as large as life，and twice as natural！’
‘I always thought they were fantastic monsters，’said theUnicorn．‘Is it alive？’
‘It can talk，’said Haigha．
The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice．‘Talk， child．’
Alice smiled