Алиса в стране чудес / Alice in Wonderland

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“I’ll tell it her,” said the Mock Turtle in a deep, hollow tone: “sit down, both of you, and don’t speak a word. I’ll tell a story.”

So they sat down, and nobody spoke for some minutes. Alice waited patiently.

“Once,” said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, “I was a real Turtle.”

Next was a very long silence. The Mock Turtle was only sobbing. Alice was going to get up and say, “Thank you for your interesting story,” but she sat still and said nothing.

“When we were little,” the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, “we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle—we called him Tortoise—”

“Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” Alice asked.

“We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle angrily, “and really you are very silly!”

“Yes, don’t ask such simple questions,” added the Gryphon; and then they both sat silent and looked at poor Alice.

And the Mock Turtle went on in these words:

“Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you don’t believe it—”

“Why? I didn’t say that!” interrupted Alice.

“You did,” said the Mock Turtle.

“Hold your tongue[75 - Hold your tongue! – Придержи язык!]!” added the Gryphon.

The Mock Turtle went on.

“We had the best educations— in fact, we went to school every day—”

“So what?” asked Alice; “I go to school everyday, too. Why are you so proud?”

“With extras[76 - With extras? – С дополнительными уроками?]?” asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously.

“Yes,” said Alice, “we learned French and music.”

“And washing?” said the Mock Turtle.

“Certainly not!” said Alice indignantly.

“Ah! then your school isn’t a really good school,” said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief.

“What for?” asked Alice; “You were living at the bottom of the sea.”

“Yes, I was,” said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. “I only took the regular course[77 - regular course – основной курс, обязательные предметы].”

“What was that?” inquired Alice.