Chapter 10 The End of the Trial

' Here!' cried Alice and stood up quickly. But she was tall now, and chairs, tables and people fell here, there and everywhere.

' Put everything and everybody back!' said the King loudly. Alice put them all back in their places. Then the King asked, ' What do you know about these tarts?'

' Nothing,' answered Alice.

' That's very important,' said the King.

' You mean, unimportant, Sir,' said the White Rabbit.

' Unimportant — of course,' said the King. ' Important — unimportant — important — unimportant,' he repeated.

He looked at Alice carefully. He took a book and read from it. 'Alice is more than a kilometre high. So she has to leave the room!' he said.

' I'm not more than a kilometre high —'Alice began.

' You are,' said the King.

' More than two kilometres high,' said the Queen.

'Well, I'm not leaving this room,' said Alice.

The King's face went white.

'Cut off her head!' shouted the Queen. Nobody moved.

' You stupid woman,' said Alice. She was very large now and she wasn't afraid of anybody.

' Cut off her head!' shouted the Queen.

'Don't be stupid!' Alice said. 'Who's afraid of you? I'm not. You're only cards!'

The cards — all fifty-two of them — came down on top of Alice. She felt afraid and angry and started to fight them. Then she opened her eyes...

♦

She saw a tree, a big old tree. She was under it, next to her sister. Her sister's hand was on her hair.

'Wake up, Alice dear,' her sister said. 'You slept for a long time!'

' Oh!' said Alice, and then she understood. She sat up and told her sister about the White Rabbit and the rabbit-hole. When she finished her story, her sister laughed.

' Let's go home to tea,' she said.' It's getting late.'

'Oh yes! I'd like some tea!' cried Alice. And she got up and ran home.