The Complete Alice in Wonderland (21 page)

May 4, 1859 (Morning):
Alice celebrates her seventh birthday by going to a picnic with her sister Lorina on the bank of the River Isis. (Quite possibly, they boat there with Lewis Carroll.)
 
Alice sees the White Rabbit and chases it down the rabbit-hole into Wonderland.

May 4, 1859 (Mid- to Late Morning):
Alice falls down the well, explores the Hall of Doors, falls into the Pool of Tears, and runs in the caucus-race.

May 4, 1859 (Late Morning to Noon):
Alice explores White Rabbit’s house and escapes, evades the enormous puppy, talks to the Caterpillar, explains herself to the Pigeon, and comes to the house of the Duchess.

May 4, 1859 (Noon):
The Queen of Hearts sends out invitations for the day’s game of croquet.

May 4, 1859 (Early Afternoon):
Alice meets the Duchess, the Cook, the Pig-Baby and the Cheshire-Cat.

May 4, 1859 (Mid-Afternoon):
Alice meets the March Hare, Dormouse and Hatter at the Mad Tea-Party. (Technically, there was a “time warp” holding this repeating event eternally at 6:00 PM, as the tea-party had been going on since March. But from Alice’s perspective, the party took place in the afternoon.)

May 4, 1859 (Late Afternoon):
Alice enters the royal gardens and plays croquet. She then goes to the seashore, and meets the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle.

May 4, 1859 (Early Evening):
Alice attends the trial in the royal court.

May 4, 1859 (6:00 PM):
Alice wakes, leaving Wonderland and returning to the shores of the River Isis, just in time for tea. (In regards to Victorian convention, this may have been 5:00 or 6:00 PM. 6:00 PM is more likely, considering the Hatter’s comments during the Mad Tea-Party. The intervention of a mischievous Father Time, restarting time at 6:00 PM just where he last froze it, is likely!)

October?, 1859:
The Hatter and the March Hare flee into Looking-Glass Land, and become Anglo-Saxon Messengers for the White King. (The month is guessed at, based on allusions in
Through the Looking-Glass
, where we are about to continue our journey.)

Introduction

CONSIDERING the wild success enjoyed by the release of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
beginning in 1865, it may (to the outside observer) be something of a wonder in itself that the sequel did not appear until 1871. The practical reason for the delay, of course, was that Carroll maintained his position at Oxford, and this (compounded by several other hobbies, such as photography, invention and logical theory) gave him precious little “free” time in which to write the sequel. Making matters even more difficult, there were problems with his illustrator Tenniel’s schedule, printing mishaps, and various other considerations as well.

The true heart of the matter, however, is deeper still. Carroll had a falling out with the Liddell family (the reasons for which are still unclear, but seem to center on his relationship with the maturing Alice and Lorina), and it must have pained him to know that the world was pining for an “Alice” whose company he himself was no longer able to enjoy. Fate has a way of arranging the inevitable, however, and events were conspiring to bring Alice’s adventures to the fore once again.

In 1867, Carroll had an intriguing meeting with an entirely
different
Alice, a young girl named Alice Raikes. The themes of this conversation certainly informed the writing of
Through the Looking-Glass
. Ms. Raikes later recalled this encounter as follows:

“One day, hearing my name, he [Lewis Carroll] called me to him saying, ‘So you are another Alice. I’m very fond of Alices. Would you like to come and see something which is rather puzzling?’ We followed him into the house which opened, as ours did, into a room full of furniture with a tall mirror standing across one corner.

“‘Now,’ he said, giving me an orange, ‘First tell me which hand you have got that in.’ ‘The right,’ I said. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘go and stand before that glass, and tell me which hand the little girl you see there has got it in.’ After some perplexed contemplation, I said, ‘The left hand.’ ‘Exactly,’ he said, ‘and how do you explain that?’ I couldn’t explain it, but seeing that some solution was expected, I ventured, ‘If I was on the other side of the glass, wouldn’t the orange still be in my right hand?’ I remember his laugh. ‘Well done, little Alice,’ he said. ‘The best answer I’ve had yet.’”

A fuller account of the creative forces driving the creation of
Through the Looking-Glass
can be found in the Chronology at the end of this work, and in the Reflections following the text. For now, it is enough for the reader to understand that the themes of
Through the Looking-Glass
are somewhat darker, and reflect upon Carroll’s mindset at this time in his life: the loss of old friends, the hurry of children to grow up (and the further urgency the industrial world puts upon them), hints of death and mortality and the inevitability of Time. There is humor to be found, certainly, and the logical wit of
Through the Looking-Glass
is even more clever and incisive than that in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. For the reader who is exploring these stories in rapid sequence however, these encroaching themes of darkness will be all the more apparent.

And with that, I welcome you to the train-threaded world of Looking-Glass Land. All aboard, and pleasant journey!

THROUGH THE

LOOKING-GLASS,

AND WHAT

ALICE FOUND THERE

By

LEWIS CARROLL

With Illustrations By

JOHN TENNIEL

THE CHESS PROBLEM

White Pawn (Alice) to play, and win in eleven moves.

Alice, 1st Move:
Alice meets Red Queen.

Chessmen, 1st Move:
Red Queen to King Rook’s 4th square.

Alice, 2nd Move:
Alice through White Queen’s 3rd square (by railway).

Chessmen, 2nd Move:
White Queen to Queen Bishop’s 4th square (after shawl).

Alice, 3rd Move:
Alice meets White Queen (with shawl).

Chessmen, 3rd Move:
White Queen to Queen Bishop’s 5th square (becomes sheep).

Alice, 4th Move:
Alice to White Queen’s 5th square (shop, river, shop).

Chessmen, 4th Move:
White Queen to King Bishop’s 8th square (leaves egg on shelf).

Alice, 5th Move:
Alice to White Queen’s 6th square (Humpty Dumpty).

Chessmen, 5th Move:
White Queen to Queen Bishop’s 8th square (flying from Red Knight).

Alice, 6th Move:
Alice to White Queen’s 7th square (forest).

Chessmen, 6th Move:
Red Knight to Red King’s 2nd square (check).

Alice, 7th Move
(White Knight, acting chivalrously on Alice’s behalf): White Knight takes Red Knight.

Chessmen, 7th Move:
White Knight to King Bishop’s 5th square.

Alice, 8th Move:
Alice to White Queen’s 8th square (coronation).

Chessmen, 8th Move:
Red Queen to Red King’s square (examination).

Alice, 9th Move:
Alice becomes Queen.

Chessmen, 9th Move:
Red and White Queens castle.

Alice, 10th Move:
Alice castles (feast).

Chessmen, 10th Move:
White Queen to Queen Rook’s 6th square (soup).

Alice, 11th and Final Move:
Alice takes Red Queen and wins.

PREFACE TO 1896 EDITION

AS THE CHESS-PROBLEM, given on the previous page, has puzzled some of my readers, it may be well to explain that it is correctly worked out, so far as the
moves
are concerned. The
alternation
of Red and White is perhaps not so strictly observed as it might be, and the “castling” of the three Queens is merely a way of saying that they entered the palace; but the “check” of the White King at move 6, the capture of the Red Knight at move 7, and the final “checkmate” of the Red King, will be found, by any one who will take the trouble to set the pieces and play the moves as directed, to be strictly in accordance with the laws of the game.

The new words, in the poem “Jabberwocky,” have given rise to some differences of opinion as to their pronunciation; so it may be well to give instructions on
that
point also. Pronounce “slithy” as if it were the words “sly, the”: make the “g”
hard
in “gyre” and “gimble”: and pronounce “rath” to rhyme with “bath.”