Page:Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.djvu/39

This page has been validated.

POOL OF TEARS


her lap as if she were saying lessons, and began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and the words did not come the same as they used to do:—

"How doth the little crocodile
     Improve his shining tail,
 And pour the waters of the Nile
     On every golden scale!

"And welcomes little fishes in, With gently smiling jaws!"

"How cheerfully he seems to grin,
     How neatly spread his claws,
 And welcomes little fishes in,
     With gently smiling jaws!"

"I'm sure those are not the right words," said poor Alice, and her eyes filled with tears again as she went on. "I must be Mabel after all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky little house, and have next to no toys to

21