ALICE AND THE LIBERAL PARTY

Quite a number of them were going past, and the noise was considerable, but they were marching in sixes and sevens and didn’t seem to be guided by any fixed¹ word of command, so that the effect was not so imposing² as it might have been. Some of them, Alice noticed, had the letters “I.L.” embroidered³ on their tunics⁴ and headpieces and other conspicuous⁵ places (“I wonder,” she thought, “if it’s marked on their underclothing as well”); others simply had a big “L,” and others again were branded with a little “e.” They got dreadfully in each other’s way, and were always falling over one another in little heaps, while many of the mounted ones did not seem at all sure of their seats. “They won’t go very far if they don’t fall into better order,” thought Alice, and she was glad to find herself the next minute in a spacious⁶ hall with a large marble staircase at one end of it. The White King was sitting on one of{24} the steps, looking rather anxious and just a little uncomfortable under his heavy crown, which needed a good deal of balancing to keep it in its place.

THE PRIMROSE⁷ MESSENGER.
“Out of reach.”
    THE UNKHAKI MESSENGER.
“Out of touch.”

“Did you happen to meet any fighting men?” he asked Alice.

“A great many—two or three hundred, I should think.{25}”

“Not quite two hundred, all told,” said the King, referring to his note-book.

“Told what?” asked Alice.

“Well, they haven’t been told anything, exactly—yet. The fact is,” the King went on nervously⁸, “we’re rather in want of a messenger just now. I don’t know how it is, there are two or three of them about, but lately they have always been either out of reach or else out of touch. You don’t happen to have passed any one coming from the direction of Berkeley Square?” he asked eagerly.

Alice shook her head.

“There’s the Primrose Courier, for instance,” the King continued reflectively, “the most reliable Messenger we have; he understands all about Open Doors and Linked Hands and all that sort of thing, and he’s quite as useful at home. But he frightens some of them nearly out of their wits by his Imperial Anglo-Saxon attitudes. I wouldn’t mind his skipping about so if he’d only come back when he’s wanted.”

“And haven’t you got any one else to carry your messages?” asked Alice sympathetically.

“There’s the Unkhaki Messenger,” said the King, consulting his pocket-book.

“I beg your pardon,” said Alice.{26}

“You know what Khaki means?” I suppose.

“It’s a sort of colour,” said Alice promptly⁹; “something like dust.”

“Exactly,” said the King; “thou dost—he doesn’t. That’s why he’s called the Unkhaki Messenger.”

Alice gave it up.

“Such a dear, obliging creature,” the King went on, “but so dreadfully unpunctual. He’s always half a century in front of his times or half a century behind them, and that puts one out so.”

Alice agreed that it would make a difference.

“It’s helped to put us out quite six years already,” the King went on plaintively¹⁰; “but you can’t cure him of it. You see he will wander about in byways and deserts, hunting for Lost Causes, and whenever he comes across a stream he always wades¹¹ against the current. All that takes him out of his way, you know; he’s somewhere up in the Grampian Hills by this time.”

“I see,” said Alice; “that’s what you mean by being out of touch. And the other Messenger is—”

“Out of reach,” said the King. “Precisely.”

“Then it follows——” said Alice.

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘it,’” interrupted the King sulkily. “No one follows. That{27} is why we stick in the same place. DON’T!” he suddenly screamed, jumping up and down in his agitation¹². “Don’t do it, I say.”

“Do what?” asked Alice, in some alarm.

“Give advice. I know you’re going to. They’ve all been doing it for the last six weeks. I assure you the letters I get——”

“I wasn’t going to give you advice,” said Alice indignantly, “and as to letters, you’ve got too much alphabet as it is.”

“Why, you’re doing it now,” said the King angrily. “Good-bye.”

As Alice took the hint and walked away towards the door she heard him calling after her in a kinder tone: “If you should meet any one coming from the direction of Berkeley Square{29}{28}——”

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

3 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

4 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

5 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

6 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

7 primrose   

n.樱草，最佳部分，

参考例句：

• She is in the primrose of her life.她正处在她一生的最盛期。
• The primrose is set off by its nest of green.一窝绿叶衬托着一朵樱草花。

8 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

9 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

10 plaintively   

adv.悲哀地，哀怨地

参考例句：

• The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死，其鸣也哀；人之将死，其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 wades   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A lumi wields a golden morningstar with trained ease as it wades into melee. 光民熟练地挥舞钉头锤加入战团。

12 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。