--- title: Alice in Wonderland, chapter VII, part 1: A Mad Tea-Party (no room, riddles and Time) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Alice in Wonderland, chapter VII, part 1: A Mad Tea-Party (no room, riddles and Time)», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Alice reaches the March Hare's house and finds a tea-table under a tree. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/) / Alice in Wonderland, chapter VII, part… # Alice in Wonderland, chapter VII, part 1: A Mad Tea-Party (no room, riddles and Time) Lesson 13 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 23 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/0/) — Alice reaches the March Hare's house and finds a tea-table under a tree. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/1/) — The March Hare and the Hatter are squashed into one corner, leaning their elbows on a sleeping Dormouse as if it were a cushion. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/2/) — No room!» they shout, though the table is huge, so Alice sits down in a big arm-chair anyway, cross. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/3/) — Everything they say is rude or upside down. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/4/) — The March Hare offers her wine that is not there, the Hatter says her hair needs cutting, then he asks a riddle: «Why is a raven like a writing-desk?» Alice says she can guess it, and they tease her for mixing up «saying what you mean» and «meaning what you say». - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/6/) — The March Hare dips it in his tea and gloomily repeats that it was the best butter. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/7/) — When Alice asks the answer to the riddle, the Hatter says he has not the slightest idea. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/8/) — Alice grumbles that they are wasting time, and the Hatter says Time is a person, «him», who will move the clock for you if you are friends. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/9/) — But the Hatter quarrelled with Time last March, at the Queen of Hearts' concert, while he was singing «Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/10/) — How I wonder what you're at!» Alice feels puzzled all through: the words are English, but the sense keeps slipping away. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/11/) — The Cheshire Cat told Alice in chapter VI that a Hatter and a March Hare live nearby and that «they're both mad»; she chose the March Hare. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/12/) — At the table sit the March Hare, the Hatter and the Dormouse, who is fast asleep and used as a cushion. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/13/) — They cry «No room! - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/14/) — No room!»; Alice answers «There's plenty of room!» and sits in a large arm-chair at one end. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/15/) — The March Hare offers wine, but there is only tea; Alice says it «wasn't very civil» (civil = polite) to offer it, and he says it wasn't civil of her to sit down without being invited. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/16/) — «Your hair wants cutting» means your hair needs cutting; Alice tells the Hatter not to make personal remarks, rude comments about someone's looks. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/19/) — For the Dormouse, «I breathe when I sleep» and «I sleep when I breathe» really are the same, because he is nearly always asleep. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/22/) — «The Dormouse is asleep again,» says the Hatter, and he pours a little hot tea upon its nose. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/23/) — The Hatter talks of Time as a person: «It's him.» If you kept on good terms with him, he says, Time would jump the clock from nine o'clock lessons to half-past one, dinner-time (dinner = the midday meal in old English homes); when Alice says she wouldn't be hungry yet, he answers «you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked». - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/24/) — «Beat time» in music means tapping the beat; the Hatter pretends it means hitting Time, who «won't stand beating». - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/25/) — «I dare say» means I suppose; «that accounts for it» means that explains it; «in a twinkling» means in a flash. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/27/) — How I wonder what you're at!» (it goes on «Up above the world you fly, Like a tea-tray in the sky») is a silly copy of the children's song «Twinkle, twinkle, little star», just as Alice's poems in chapters II and V came out wrong. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/13-alice-a-mad-tea-party-1/28/) — Talk in this lesson: «innit» (London) = isn't it; «no cap» = no lie, honestly; «mardy» (North and Midlands England) = sulky; «yinz» (Pittsburgh, USA) = you lot; «canny» (North East England) = quite, or nice. - ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VI, part 2: The baby, the pig and the Cheshire Cat](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/12-alice-ch6-part2-the-cheshire-cat/) - next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter VII, part 2: A Mad Tea-Party (the treacle-well and the garden at last)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/14-alice-a-mad-tea-party-2/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)