--- title: Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 2: Alice's Evidence (sentence first, a pack of cards, and waking up) — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 2: Alice's Evidence (sentence first, a pack of cards, and waking up)», a lesson of the books course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The White Rabbit reads the verses: six muddled verses full of «h --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/) [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 XII, part… # Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 2: Alice's Evidence (sentence first, a pack of cards, and waking up) Lesson 24 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 27 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/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/0/) — The White Rabbit reads the verses: six muddled verses full of «he», «she», «they» and «you», where you can never tell who is who. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/1/) — The King calls them the most important evidence yet. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/2/) — Alice, who has grown so large she isn't a bit afraid, offers sixpence to anyone who can explain them: «I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.» - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/3/) — The King finds «meaning» anyway: «said I could not swim» fits the Knave, who is made of cardboard; «they all returned from him to you» — why, there are the tarts on the table! - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/4/) — When the Queen says she never had fits, he jokes «Then the words don't fit you», and nobody laughs until he explains it was a pun. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/5/) — «Let the jury consider their verdict,» says the King, for about the twentieth time. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/6/) — «No, no!» says the Queen. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/8/) — «Off with her head!» screams the Queen — and nobody moves. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/9/) — Alice, now her full size, says: «Who cares for you? - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/11/) — The whole pack flies up and comes down on her, and she finds herself lying on the river bank with her head in her sister's lap, while her sister brushes falling leaves off her face. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/12/) — It was all a dream. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/13/) — Alice tells her sister all her adventures, then runs in to tea. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/14/) — Her sister sits on, half-dreaming Wonderland too, and hears each strange noise turn into an ordinary farm sound; she pictures Alice grown up, telling these tales to children of her own. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/15/) — Looking back over the whole book: a bored girl followed a White Rabbit down a hole, grew and shrank, cried a pool of tears, met creatures who argued, gave orders and talked nonsense, and slowly learned to keep her temper, to hold her tongue when it would hurt, and in the end to stand up to unfairness and say «Nonsense!» — before waking to tea-time on a summer afternoon. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/16/) — The verses begin «They told me you had been to her, And mentioned me to him: She gave me a good character, But said I could not swim.» (a good character = a good report about someone). - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/18/) — The six verses are full of «he», «she», «they», «you» and «it», so nobody can tell who anyone is; that is Carroll's joke about evidence that sounds important and means nothing. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/20/) — I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.» (sixpence = an old coin; an atom = the tiniest bit). - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/21/) — The jury all write down «She doesn't believe there's an atom of meaning in it», but none of them tries to explain the paper. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/23/) — «You can't swim, can you?» the King asks the Knave; «Do I look like it?» — he is made entirely of cardboard. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/24/) — The King says «they all returned from him to you» means the tarts on the table, and «Nothing can be clearer than that». - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/25/) — «You never had fits, my dear?» «Never!» says the Queen, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard; Bill uses the ink trickling down his face to write again. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/28/) — Alice: «Stuff and nonsense! - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/29/) — The idea of having the sentence first!» - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/30/) — «Hold your tongue!» — «I won't!» — «Off with her head!» — «Nobody moved.» - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/32/) — She wakes on the bank, her head in her sister's lap; the «cards» were dead leaves fluttering down from the trees onto her face. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/36/) — In the sister's half-dream, Wonderland's sounds turn back into real ones: the rattling teacups into tinkling sheep-bells, the Queen's shrill cries into the voice of the shepherd boy, the Mock Turtle's sobs into the lowing (mooing) of cattle. - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/24-alice-alices-evidence-2/37/) — The sister pictures Alice as a grown woman who keeps «the simple and loving heart of her childhood» and tells other children strange tales, «perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago». - ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 1: Alice's Evidence (Rule Forty-two and the unsigned letter)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/) - next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 1: The River Bank (the Mole leaves his spring-cleaning and meets the Rat)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river/) - ↑ back to [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/)