92: Alice in Wonderland: Gen
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vocab_drabblesTitle: Alice and the Selcouth Tea Party
Fandom: Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Rating: Gen
Length: 700
Prompt: Selcouth
Notes: Puzzle is from Alice in Wonderland Puzzles by Gareth Moore
Summary: Alice attends another tea party.
The last time Alice had attended a tea party in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse had cried, “No room! No room!” when she had approached—despite the table being a large one set for at least twenty or more guests and the three guests who were in attendance being crowded at one end.
This time, the table was much the same, the many settings much the same, but the reaction of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare to Alice’s arrival were very different. The March Hare rushed towards her, crying,
“He is dead! The Dormouse is dead!”
“Are you certain he isn’t just sleeping?” asked Alice. The Dormouse was in the pose he’d been in when she’d first seen him, giving every appearance of being fast asleep.
“He just drank poison!” cried the Hatter. “He is dead—dead as a Dormouse!” He then added, “Though I don’t suppose he could be as dead as anything else.”
The March Hare pointed and, indeed, on the table was a bottle clearly marked poison. It was a violet-coloured bottle, and the liquid in the teacup in front of the Dormouse was the same violet colour.
“Well, that was a silly thing to do,” said Alice. “If you give someone a drink from a bottle labeled ‘Poison’ and they drink it, it is sure to disagree with them, sooner or later. Who gave it to him?”
The Mad Hatter sank his hands in his pockets and shifted on his feet and looked away and began to whistle.
“Are you a murderer?” accused Alice.
“No, I’m only a Hatter!”
“Aunty Dote is here, somewhere,” cried the March Hare.
It was then that Alice noticed the many bottles surrounding the clearing where the table was set.
“Aunty Dote is in one of those bottles!” cried the March Hare.
“Who is Aunty Dote?” asked Alice.
“Aunty Dote can reverse the poison! Don’t you know anything?”
“But there is only one Aunty Dote in one bottle,” said the Mad Hatter. “The rest are of no consequence.”
“But which one?” cried the March Hare. “They are all the same.”
Indeed, the bottles, though legion, appeared identical.
“We shall have to pour them all in him, one-by-one and see,” said the Hatter.
“But by that time, he will be Very Dead,” said the March Hare pouting.
Alice thought. Then she said, “I have a plan if you have a dropper.”
“Dropper?” echoed the Mad Hatter.
“Drop her, more likely,” muttered the March Hare suspiciously.
But the Mad Hatter began to empty his pockets: a thimble, a sixpence, a stick of chewing gum, a cork, and, at last, a dropper.
“How many bottles are there?” asked Alice.
“A thousand,” replied the Hatter.
“All right,” said Alice as she took up one of the empty teacups. Then she put one drop from each of five hundred bottles in a single cup.
“Open his mouth,” she ordered, and the Hatter and March Hare complied, tilting the Dormouse back and tugging down its jaw. Alice tilted the cup so the liquid poured down the Dormouse’s throat.
And then they waited.
Nothing happened.
“Those aren’t Aunty Dote!” cried the March Hare.
“That’s all right,” said Alice. “Set those five hundred aside.”
As the other two did as bid, Alice took one drop from two hundred and fifty of the remaining bottles.
The process was repeated.
“Not Aunty!”
“Set those aside,” said Alice.
Two hundred and fifty became one hundred twenty-five and that became sixty-three, and that became sixteen, which became eight, then four, with Alice taking one drop from half the bottles and pouring the combined liquid down the Dormouse—all to no effect.
Finally, there were only two bottles.
“It’s this or that, now,” said Alice.
And it turned out to be ‘that.’
Alice poured the last bottle down the Dormouse’s throat. The poor creature started violently, then hiccupped and licked his lips and said,
“Cherry cordial.”
When Alice was much older, she recounted this tale to her maths tutor who pronounced it a ‘most curious and selcouth experience,’ but he was so impressed with Alice’s logic that he forbore to give her extra sums for the day.
Fandom: Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Rating: Gen
Length: 700
Prompt: Selcouth
Notes: Puzzle is from Alice in Wonderland Puzzles by Gareth Moore
Summary: Alice attends another tea party.
The last time Alice had attended a tea party in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse had cried, “No room! No room!” when she had approached—despite the table being a large one set for at least twenty or more guests and the three guests who were in attendance being crowded at one end.
This time, the table was much the same, the many settings much the same, but the reaction of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare to Alice’s arrival were very different. The March Hare rushed towards her, crying,
“He is dead! The Dormouse is dead!”
“Are you certain he isn’t just sleeping?” asked Alice. The Dormouse was in the pose he’d been in when she’d first seen him, giving every appearance of being fast asleep.
“He just drank poison!” cried the Hatter. “He is dead—dead as a Dormouse!” He then added, “Though I don’t suppose he could be as dead as anything else.”
The March Hare pointed and, indeed, on the table was a bottle clearly marked poison. It was a violet-coloured bottle, and the liquid in the teacup in front of the Dormouse was the same violet colour.
“Well, that was a silly thing to do,” said Alice. “If you give someone a drink from a bottle labeled ‘Poison’ and they drink it, it is sure to disagree with them, sooner or later. Who gave it to him?”
The Mad Hatter sank his hands in his pockets and shifted on his feet and looked away and began to whistle.
“Are you a murderer?” accused Alice.
“No, I’m only a Hatter!”
“Aunty Dote is here, somewhere,” cried the March Hare.
It was then that Alice noticed the many bottles surrounding the clearing where the table was set.
“Aunty Dote is in one of those bottles!” cried the March Hare.
“Who is Aunty Dote?” asked Alice.
“Aunty Dote can reverse the poison! Don’t you know anything?”
“But there is only one Aunty Dote in one bottle,” said the Mad Hatter. “The rest are of no consequence.”
“But which one?” cried the March Hare. “They are all the same.”
Indeed, the bottles, though legion, appeared identical.
“We shall have to pour them all in him, one-by-one and see,” said the Hatter.
“But by that time, he will be Very Dead,” said the March Hare pouting.
Alice thought. Then she said, “I have a plan if you have a dropper.”
“Dropper?” echoed the Mad Hatter.
“Drop her, more likely,” muttered the March Hare suspiciously.
But the Mad Hatter began to empty his pockets: a thimble, a sixpence, a stick of chewing gum, a cork, and, at last, a dropper.
“How many bottles are there?” asked Alice.
“A thousand,” replied the Hatter.
“All right,” said Alice as she took up one of the empty teacups. Then she put one drop from each of five hundred bottles in a single cup.
“Open his mouth,” she ordered, and the Hatter and March Hare complied, tilting the Dormouse back and tugging down its jaw. Alice tilted the cup so the liquid poured down the Dormouse’s throat.
And then they waited.
Nothing happened.
“Those aren’t Aunty Dote!” cried the March Hare.
“That’s all right,” said Alice. “Set those five hundred aside.”
As the other two did as bid, Alice took one drop from two hundred and fifty of the remaining bottles.
The process was repeated.
“Not Aunty!”
“Set those aside,” said Alice.
Two hundred and fifty became one hundred twenty-five and that became sixty-three, and that became sixteen, which became eight, then four, with Alice taking one drop from half the bottles and pouring the combined liquid down the Dormouse—all to no effect.
Finally, there were only two bottles.
“It’s this or that, now,” said Alice.
And it turned out to be ‘that.’
Alice poured the last bottle down the Dormouse’s throat. The poor creature started violently, then hiccupped and licked his lips and said,
“Cherry cordial.”
When Alice was much older, she recounted this tale to her maths tutor who pronounced it a ‘most curious and selcouth experience,’ but he was so impressed with Alice’s logic that he forbore to give her extra sums for the day.
