Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Chapter 11
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Hello! Welcome to Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Weldon. Today's story is a chapter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a classic novel written for you by Lewis Carroll.

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so you show up more often to more people in global search engine results. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, squarespace.com slash dragon to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash dragon for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are designed to outlast and outlive.

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The Tacoma is designed for those who go beyond the trails. Stay ahead of the pack with available off-road features like crawl control, or break out your tunes with the available portable JBL speaker. Toyota trucks are built to last, year after year, mile after mile. So outlast every adventure and outlive the moment. Buy a Tundra or Tacoma today. Visit BuyAToyota.com, Toyota's official website for deals,

Or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Thanks! Enjoy the episode! Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Chapter 11 Who Stole the Tarts?

The king and queen of hearts were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them. All sorts of little birds and beasts, as well as the whole pack of cards. The knave was standing before them in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard him. And near the king was the white rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand and a scroll of parchment in the other. In the very middle of the court was a table, with

with a large dish of tarts upon it. They looked so good that it made Alice quite hungry to look at them. I wish they'd get the trial done, she thought, and hand round the refreshments. But there seemed to be no chance of this, so she began looking at everything about her to pass away the time.

Alice had never been in a court of justice before, but she had read about them in books, and she was quite pleased to find she knew the name of nearly everything there. That is the judge, she said to herself, because of his great wig. The judge, by the way, was the king, and as he wore his crown over the wig, he did not look at all comfortable, and it was certainly not becoming.

And that's the jewelry box, thought Alice. And those twelve creatures? She was obliged to say creatures, you see, because some of them were animals and some were birds. I suppose they are the jurors. She said this last word two or three times over to herself, being rather proud of it, for she thought, and rightly so, that very few little girls of her age knew the meaning of it at all. However, jurymen would have done just as well.

The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates. What are they doing? Alice whispered to the griffin. They can't have anything to put down yet before the trial's begun. They're putting down their names, the griffin whispered in reply, for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial. Stupid things, Alice began in a loud, indignant voice. But she stopped herself hastily, for the white rabbit cried out, Silence in the court!

and the king put on his spectacles and looked anxiously round to make out who was talking. Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down stupid things on their slates. And she could even make out that one of them didn't know how to spell stupid, and that he had to ask his neighbor to tell him. A nice muddle their slates will be in before the trial's over, thought Alice.

One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This, of course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that the poor little juror, it was Bill, the lizard, could not make out at all what had become of it.

So, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day, and this was of very little use, as it left no mark on the slate. "'Herald, read the accusation,' said the king. On this the white rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and then unrolled the parchment scroll and read as follows.

The queen of hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summer's day. The knave of hearts, he stole those tarts and took them quite away. Consider your verdict, the king said to the jury. Not yet, not yet, the rabbit hastily interrupted. There's a great deal to come before that. Call the first witness, said the king. And the white rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet and called out, First witness!

The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in the other. Pardon, your majesty, he began, for bringing these in, but I hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for. You ought to have finished, said the king. When did you begin? The Hatter looked at the March Hare who had followed him into the court arm in arm with the Dormouse. 14th of March, I think it was, he said.

"'Fifteenth,' said the March Hare. "'Sixteenth,' said the Dormouse. "'Write that down,' the King said to the jury. And the jury eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then added them up and reduced the answer to shillings and pence.

Now for a quick ad break. We'll be back with the rest of the story after this. If you'd like Stories Podcast and other favorite kid podcasts ad-free, subscribe to Wondery Plus Kids on Apple Podcasts. This episode of Stories Podcast is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online.

Whether you're just launching a new venture or managing a successful business, Squarespace makes it possible to create a beautiful website and engage with your audience. And Squarespace makes it so easy to sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place, all on your terms with Squarespace Payments. Onboarding is fast and simple. Get started in just a few clicks and start receiving payments right away. It's

It's even easy to invoice clients and create proposals, estimates, and contracts. Simplify your workflow and manage your business on one platform. Also, Squarespace has integrated SEO tools. Every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, an auto-generated site map, and more, so you show up more often to more people in global search engine results.

Head to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, squarespace.com slash dragon to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash dragon for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are designed to outlast and outlive, combining raw power with precision engineering, all backed by Toyota's legendary reputation for reliability. Climb inside a Tundra and experience the uncompromising strength. With its available i-FORCE MAX engine, the Tundra delivers exceptional power, torque, and towing capacity. Plus, the spacious and high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the run.

or check out a Tacoma. Agile, dependable, and unstoppable, the Tacoma's designed for those who go beyond the trails. Stay ahead of the pack with available off-road features like crawl control, or break out your tunes with the available portable JBL speaker. Toyota trucks are built to last, year after year, mile after mile.

So outlast every adventure and outlive the moment. Buy a Tundra or Tacoma today. Visit buyatoyota.com, Toyota's official website for deals, or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. Thanks, and now back to the story. Take off your hat, the king said to the hatter. It isn't mine, said the hatter.

Stolen! the king exclaimed, turning to the jury who instantly made a memorandum of the fact. I keep them to sell, the hatter added as an explanation. I've none of my own. I'm a hatter.

Here the queen put on her spectacles and began staring hard at the hatter, who turned pale and fidgeted. Give your evidence, said the king, and don't be nervous or I'll have you executed on the spot. This did not seem to encourage the witness at all. He kept shifting from one foot to the other, looking uneasily at the queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out of his teacup instead of the bread and butter.

Just at this moment, Alice felt a very curious sensation, which puzzled her a great deal until she made out what it was. She was beginning to grow larger again. And she thought at first she would get up and leave the court, but on second thoughts, she decided to remain where she was as long as there was room for her. I wish you wouldn't squeeze so, said the dormouse who was sitting next to her. I can hardly breathe.

I can't help it, said Alice very meekly. I'm growing. You've no right to grow here, said the Dormouse. Don't talk nonsense, said Alice more boldly. You know you're growing too. Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace, said the Dormouse. Not in that ridiculous fashion. And he got up very sulkily and crossed over to the other side of the court.

All this time the queen had never left off staring at the hatter, and just as the dormouse crossed the court she said, to one of the officers of the court, Bring me a list of the singers in the last concert, on which the wretched hatter trembled so that he shook off both his shoes. Give your evidence, the king repeated angrily, or I'll have you executed whether you're nervous or not.

"'I'm a poor man, your majesty,' the hatter began in a trembling voice. "'And I hadn't begun my tea, not above a week or so. And what with the bread and butter getting so thin, and the twinkling of the tea?' "'The twinkling of what?' said the king. "'It began with the tea,' the hatter replied. "'Of course twinkling begins with a tea,' said the king sharply. "'Do you take me for a dunce? Go on!'

I'm a poor man, the Hatter went on, and most things twinkled after that. Only the March Hare said, I didn't, the March Hare interrupted in a great hurry. You did, said the Hatter. I deny it, said the March Hare. He denies it, said the King. Leave out that part.

Well, at any rate, the Dormouse said. The Hatter went on, looking anxiously round to see if he would deny it too. But the Dormouse denied nothing, being fast asleep. After that, continued the Hatter, I cut some more bread and butter. But what did the Dormouse say? One of the jury asked. That I can't remember, said the Hatter.

You must remember, remarked the king, or I'll have you executed. The miserable hatter dropped his teacup and bread and butter and went down on one knee. I'm a poor man, your majesty, he began. You're a very poor speaker, said the king.

Here, one of the guinea pigs cheered and was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court. As that is rather a hard word, I will just explain to you how it was done. There was a large canvas bag which tied up at the mouth with strings. Into this, they slipped the guinea pig, head first, and then sat upon it.

I'm glad I've seen that done, thought Alice. I've so often read newspapers at the end of trials, there was some attempt at applause which was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court, and I never understood what it meant till now. If that's all you know about it, you may step down, continued the king. I can't go no lower, said the hatter. I'm on the floor as it is. Then you may sit down, the king replied.

Here, the other guinea pig cheered and was suppressed. Come, that finishes the guinea pigs, thought Alice. Now we shall get on better. I'd rather finish my tea, said the hatter, with an anxious look at the queen who was reading the list of singers. You may go, said the king, and the hatter hurriedly left the court without even waiting to put his shoes on.

And just take his head off outside, the queen added to one of the officers. But the hatter was out of sight before the officer could get to the door. Call the next witness, said the king. The next witness was the duchess's cook. She carried the pepper box in her hand, and Alice guessed who it was even before she got into the court. By the way, the people near the door began sneezing all at once.

Give your evidence, said the king. Shant, said the cook. The king looked anxiously at the white rabbit, who said in a low voice, Your majesty must cross-examine this witness. Well, if I must, I must, the king said with a melancholy air. And after folding his arms and frowning at the cook till his eyes were nearly out of sight, he said in a deep voice, What are tarts made of?

Peppa mostly, said the cook. Trickle, said a sleepy voice behind her. Dormouse, the queen shrieked out. Behead that dormouse. Turn that dormouse out of court. Suppress him. Pinch him. Off with his whiskers.

Never mind, said the king with an air of great relief. Call the next witness. And he added in an undertone to the queen. Really, my dear, you must cross-examine the next witness. It quite makes my forehead ache. Alice watched the white rabbit as he fumbled over the list, feeling very curious to see what the next witness would be like.

For they haven't got much evidence yet, she said to herself. Imagine her surprise when the white rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name Alice. Today's story was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a classic novel written for you by Lewis Carroll. It was edited and produced for you by Andrew Martin and performed for you by me, Amanda Weldon.

If you would like to support Stories Podcast, you can leave us a five-star review on iTunes. Check out all of our merch available at storiespodcast.com slash shop, commission a special video on Cameo, follow us on Instagram at storiespodcast, or simply tell your friends about us.

In case you missed it, Dan and I have a new show. On Stories RPG, we play games just like Starsworn with all your Max Goodname friends and Giga City Guardians featuring the brilliant Firefly. Click the link in the episode description or go to patreon.com slash stories RPG to get ad-free episodes, play along games, and coloring books. We've already got a bunch of episodes over there, so check them out now. Thanks for listening.

The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are designed to outlast and outlive, combining raw power with precision engineering, all backed by Toyota's legendary reputation for reliability. Climb inside a Tundra and experience the uncompromising strength. With its available i-FORCE MAX engine, the Tundra delivers exceptional power, torque, and towing capacity. Plus, the spacious and high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the run.

or check out a Tacoma. Agile, dependable, and unstoppable, the Tacoma's designed for those who go beyond the trails. Stay ahead of the pack with available off-road features like crawl control, or break out your tunes with the available portable JBL speaker. Toyota trucks are built to last, year after year, mile after mile.

So outlast every adventure and outlive the moment. Buy a Tundra or Tacoma today. Visit buyatoyota.com, Toyota's official website for deals, or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more. Toyota. Let's go places.