University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

Page 39 text:

THE L1NcU1s'r 37 The old man looked at her in surprise. You have to wait- until they yogill tO play before you find that out. Then you arrange the rest accord- lngly- The important thing is, first, East is East. The second most Ullpcrtant thing is,'West is West. Then he paused for so long a time that Alice began to be afraid he had forgotten all about her. Just as she was frying to make up her mind whether to speak to him again or to go away, he Went on. And that's what the game's aboutf, What game ? i' said Alice. Oh, all this, said the old man, waving his arms about. You FGG, they want to meet, and Mr. Kipling says they never can, but then he 'Suit here any more. VVe're all in it, he added. f'You see, the West EGGS clockwise, and the East goes counterclockwise, and there is a lot of Stuff in between. What kind of stuff 2 asked Alice, and between where? Between the East and the West,- all kinds of stuff. Red Tape and Manners and Chopsticks and Joss sticks and Jazz. But they are gradually getting it cleared away. They send the chopsticks west and the jazz east and countercloekwise. Then they invert the reviser and proceed as in multiplication. It takes a long time to learn to play. How do you begin? i' asked Alice. You begin by breaking the wall, replied the old 1113111- Just at this point, the same loud voice that Alice had heard before, ' l . Y Called out, Ol' man Jesse,-I say,-where are you? fha dice have finished their tiffin, and it's time to begin! whereupon the old man hurried away, which Alice thought was very exasperating since she was just beginning to get interested. The voice began again Womiogly: The Wall's going to break! You'd better stand off a bit. Alice hurried away as fast as she could, and was really making very good headway when She Cilllght her foot in the root of a tree, and very nearly fell headlong- This will never do,'i she heard the voice Say, H1111 lookins down She Perceived that she had tripped in a loop of the GFGG11 DFQSOWS tail' Oh, I'm very sorry, said Alice apologetically- I Clldnili know yOU Were there. 1 ' a I'n1 11Otg 1,111 here, said the Green Dragon' HI m olW5YySl101'0-H Not always, ventured Alice, because when I Saw y011 before you werent here, you know. . N Mm, R M' s'-N, r

Page 38 text:

36 EAST AND WEST VVhat is your honorable name? l' My honorable name is Alice, said she, whereupon the dragon shook his head mournfully, and sighed. You should have said, 'My humble name is Alice,' he remarked. Why didn't you ask me that? Alice replied. But the dragon only sighed again. If I should say- began the dragon. I haven't decided yet whether I shall or not, but I might, you know. Might what ? said Alice after a long pause. I might remarkf' continued the dragon, that your dress is very pretty. If I should, what would you say? V I should say that I was glad you thought so, for I thought so too, replied Alice without any hesitation. The dragon hcavcd a long sigh at this, and said, It is evident that you have no manners. If you are going to stay here I shall have to take you in hand. You should have said, ' Oh, not at all! It is really very uglyindeed. ' But that wouldn't be true, Alice objected. It might, replied the dragon. 5' Anyhow, it's manners. Now, try once more. Don't you think 1ny tail is graceful ?f' Not at all, said Alice, congratulating herself that this time she had managed to tell the truth and give the right answer, both at the same time. But thc poor dragon began clicking and snorting and sobbing so distressfully that Alice became quite alarmed, and tried to pat it onthe back. This was difficult for the dragon was very long, and very narrow, and growing longer and narrower every minute. In fact, his head was quite out of sight in one direction, and his tail was quite out of sight in the other. lnstead of scales, Alice saw a double row of even squares that grew more and more to look like Mah Jongg tiles. At the same time, she heard a loud voice calling, Look out, Abner! East Wind is going to break the wall. 'A Oh dear! i' thought Alice, I wonder where he is going to break it. Not here, I hope. I wonder which is East. I do wish there was some one to tell me. She looked around dubiously, and was very much relieved to see an old man hobbling along on two canes, and mumbling to l1iI1lS0lf. She ran toward him, and pulling his sleeve to attract his atten- tion, said, Please, sir, can you tell me which direction is East? 5'

Page 40 text:

3S EAST AND WEST Yes, I was,', returned the Green Dragon, because this wasn't here then. It was there. There is where I always was, And here is where I always am, And where I was, you always are, And where l are, you never am. Thats science, said the Green Dragon. 'But now it's time for tea. Won't you waste your precious time in my untidy house for a few moments, and taste a little of my very poor tea ? Without waiting for an answer, he led the way toward a small house that Alice had not noticed before. Alice found the house very neat and tidy. Her attention was at- tracted, however, by a large bunch of keys hanging on the wall,-quite the largest bunch of keys that she had ever seen. Then she observed that everything in the room had a lock on it. The table was padloeked to the floor, and the pictures were locked to the walls, and even the waste paper basket had a straw cover, and a padlock attached to one side. How do you like my untidy and inconvenient house, inquired the Green Dragon. Really, replied Alice, I think it is very pleasant, but I should like to know what all these locks are for. The Green Dragon got up, and drawing his chair close to hers began to whisper in her ear. Alice was not accustomed to having dragons whisper in her ear, but she bore it as well as she could, for she really wanted very much to know about the locks. You see, began the dragon, my servant is very dishonest. I have had such a time with him. And he became worse and worse. Besides being very dishonest., he is also very clever, so I was always unable to find him out. So, of course, I eouldn't send him away. U Why not? asked Alice. Why not? repeated the dragon. Why not? What a question! Why, because I didn't see him take the things, of course. But you knew he took them, argued Alice. The dragon sighed. Yes, I knew he took them, but then, he alwayg said he didn't, and he invented such clever tales that nobody would have believed me if I had said they were false. And then the dragon sighed again. But presently he brightened up and went on. But I have out-