Chapter: There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the
March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it; a Dormouse was sitting
between them, fast asleep.

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at
one corner of it. "No room! No room!" they cried out when they saw Alice
coming. "There's _plenty_ of room!" said Alice indignantly, and she sat
down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this, but all he said
was "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"

"I'm glad they've begun asking riddles--I believe I can guess that," she
added aloud.

"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said the
March Hare.

"Exactly so," said Alice.

"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."

"You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, which seemed to be
talking in its 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 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."

[Illustration]

"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 gave a weary sigh. "I think you might do something better with the
time," she said, "than wasting it in asking riddles that have no
answers."

"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."

"You mean you can't take _less_," said the Hatter; "it's very easy to
take _more_ than nothing."

At this, Alice got up and walked off. The Dormouse fell asleep instantly
and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she
looked back once or twice; the last time she saw them, they were
trying to put the Dormouse into the tea-pot.

[Illustration: The Trial of the Knave of Hearts.]

"At any rate, I'll never go _there_ again!" said Alice, as she picked
her way through the wood. "It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in
all my life!" Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees
had a door leading right into it. "That's very curious!" she thought. "I
think I may as well go in at once." And in she went.

Once more she found herself in the long hall and close to the little
glass table. Taking the little golden key, she unlocked the door that
led into the garden. Then she set to work nibbling at the mushroom (she
had kept a piece of it in her pocket) till she was about a foot high;
then she walked down the little passage; and _then_--she found herself
at last in the beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and the
cool fountains.

 In front of the house is a tree, under which is set a table for a tea party. March Hare and the Mad Hatter are having tea. Between them is seated the Dormouse who is fast asleep and the other two are using the dormouse as a cushion for resting their elbows on it and they talk over its head. On seeing Alice, both of them  exclaim that there is no place for her. However, Alice is adamant and takes a chair saying that there is a lot of place at the table. After a round of not very pleasant talks Alice and the others compel the dormouse to tell them a story. The chapter is replete with events that display the beauty that lies in the use of language. Linguistic acrobatics begin with the Hatter pointing out that it is not possible to say that, the statements, "I see what I eat" and "I eat what I see" could mean the same. Therefore, by the same logic one cannot say that the statements "I say what I mean" and "I mean what I say" is true. Alice is further puzzled when she notices that the Dormouses watch can say the day of the month but does not say the time. This brings them to a discussion on the concept of time. While Alice perceives time as being a concept , Hatter speaks of him as if Time were a living being. Alice realizes that time has come to stop at the Hatters house and therefore it is always six oclock . It is time now for the Dormouse to tell his story. The dormouse wakes up to tell then the story of three little sisters who lived in a treacle well and were learning to draw all that started with a "M". He is hardly able to go on with the story beyond a certain point since Alice consistently stops him with questions of various sorts. This irritates the dormouse who refuses to go on with the story. She is asked by the others to keep quiet and unable to take this rude behavior she leaves the place. The last thing that she happens to see, is the sight of March Hare and the Mad Hatter trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot. Just as she tells herself that she would never set foot at the house again, she spots a door in one of the tree trunks. She goes through the door and finds herself in the long hall that she was hurled into when she at first followed the White Rabbit through the rabbit hole. She picks up the golden key and then nibbling at the mushroom she manages to reach the size that would take her through the door leading to the garden. Once she is on the other side of the door, she finds herself among bright flower-beds and cool fountains.

