and they sat down again in a ring, and begged the Mouse to tell them something more. ‘You promised to tell me your history, you know,’ said Alice, ‘and why it is you hate--C and D,’ she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again. ‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!’ said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. ‘It IS a long tail, certainly,’ said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?’ And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:-- ‘Fury said to a mouse, That he met in the house, “Let us both go to law: I will prosecute YOU.--Come, I’ll take no denial; We must have a trial: For really this morning I’ve nothing to do.” Said the mouse to the cur, “Such a trial, dear Sir, With no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath.” “I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,” Said cunning old Fury: “I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.”’ ‘You are not attending!’ said the Mouse to Alice severely. ‘What are you thinking of?’ ‘I beg your pardon,’ said Alice very humbly: ‘you had got to the fifth bend, I think?’ ‘I had NOT!’ cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily. ‘A knot!’ said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously about her. ‘Oh, do let me help to undo it!’ ‘I shall do nothing of the sort,’ said the Mouse, getting up and walking away. ‘You insult me by talking such nonsense!’ ‘I didn’t mean it!’ pleaded poor Alice. ‘But you’re so easily offended, you know!’ The Mouse only growled in reply. ‘Please come back and finish your story!’ A