`Don't let us quarrel,' the White Queen said in an anxious tone.
`What is the cause of lightning?'
`The cause of lightning,' Alice said very decidedly, for she felt
quite certain about this, `is the thunder -- no, no!' she hastily
corrected herself. `I meant the other way.'
`It's too late to correct it,' said the Red Queen: `when you've
once said a thing, that fixes it, and you must take the
consequences.'
`Which reminds me -- ' the White Queen said, looking down and
nervously clasping and unclasping her hands, `we had SUCH a
thunderstorm last Tuesday -- I mean one of the last set of Tuesdays,
you know.'
Alice was puzzled. `In OUR country,' she remarked, `there's only
one day at a time.'
The Red Queen said, `That's a poor thin way of doing things. Now
HERE, we mostly have days and nights two or three at a time, and
sometimes in the winter we take as many as five nights together --
for warmth, you know.'
`Are five nights warmer than one night, then?' Alice ventured to
ask.
`Five times as warm, of course.'
`But they should be five times as COLD, by the same rule -- '
`Just so!' cried the Red Queen. `Five times as warm, AND five
times as cold -- just as I'm five times as rich as you are, AND five
times as clever!'
Alice sighted and gave it up.
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