The two Queens looked at each other, and the Red Queen remarked,
with a little shudder, `She SAYS she only said "if" - '
`But she said a great deal more than that!' the White Queen moaned,
wringing her hands. `Oh, ever so much more than that!'
`So you did, you know,' the Red Queen said to Alice. `Always speak
the truth -- think before you speak -- and write it down afterwards.'
`I'm sure I didn't mean -- ' Alice was beginning, but the Red Queen
interrupted her impatiently.
`That's just what I complain of! You SHOULD have meant! What do
you suppose is the use of child without any meaning? Even a joke
should have some meaning -- and a child's more important than a joke,
I hope. You couldn't deny that, even if you tried with both hands.'
`I don't deny things with my HANDS,' Alice objected.
`Nobody said you did,' said the Red Queen. `I said you couldn't if
you tried.'
`She's in that state of mind,' said the White Queen, `that she
wants to deny SOMETHING -- only she doesn't know what to deny!'
`A nasty, vicious temper,' the Red Queen remarked; and then there
was an uncomfortable silence for a minute or two.
The Red Queen broke the silence by saying to the White Queen, `I
invite you to Alice's dinner-party this afternoon.
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