Alice in Wonderland part 8: Croquet with the Queen

Narrator: Hello! After all her adventures,

Alice has finally found the beautiful garden

she's been looking for all this time.

It's full of beautiful white roses. Alice wandered

through the flowers until she saw a gardener.

He was doing something very strange ...

Gardener: Oh no!

Alice: Why are you painting the roses red?

Gardener: The Queen wants red roses

and I put white roses in by mistake.

If the Queen finds them, she'll cut my

head off!

Oh no! Here comes the Queen!

Narrator: The gardener threw himself

to the ground and lay

with his face down. A line of soldiers and

courtiers came marching into the rose

garden. They didn't look like people at all.

They looked exactly like playing cards:

their bodies were square and flat with

their heads at the top and their hands

and feet in the four corners.

First came was a group of ten soldiers,

who were decorated with black clubs,

then came ten of the Queens servants,

who were covered in red diamonds.

Then came all the princes and princesses,

wearing red hearts. The Knave of Hearts

was carrying a crown on a cushion,

and last of all came the King and

Queen of Hearts.

When they got to Alice,

everybody stopped.

The Queen looked at Alice.

Queen: Who is this?

Alice: I'm Alice, Your Majesty.

Queen: Can you play croquet?

Alice: Yes!

Queen: Come on then!

Everyone get to your places!

Animals: I'm over here...

... and you are there. Are you there?

I am over here...

Narrator: Everyone began running

in different directions until

they got into place and the game began.

It was a very curious game: everything

seemed to be alive!

The balls were hedgehogs

and the croquet mallets were flamingos.

All the playing card-soldiers bent over so

they looked like arches.

The players had to catch the flamingos first,

which wasn't easy because

they kept flying away.

When the flamingos were caught,

each player held their flamingo

tightly under one arm, with the long neck

and head hanging down to the ground.

Then the hedgehogs curled up into spiky

balls ... and the players used

the flamingo's heads to hit

the hedgehogs so that they rolled through

the playing-card soldier arches.

Animals: Oh jolly jolly good shot!

It must be my turn now...

Very nicely played...

Very nicely played, it's your turn again,

Very good! Very good!

Alice: What a curious game!

I suppose I should play.

Narrator: It was a very curious game!

There didn't seem to be any rules.

Everyone played at the same time

and the hedgehogs kept running away.

Alice took a flamingo and tried to hit a

hedgehog with it. But the flamingo moved

its head and she missed. Soon the players

began arguing and fighting

for the hedgehogs and the Queen went

around stamping her feet

and shouting at everyone.

Queen: Off with your head!

Animals: I think you'll find that this is cheating!

(All speak at the same time.)

Alice: How will I get out of here?

Narrator: As Alice was looking around

for a way to escape,

suddenly the Cheshire-Cat appeared in the air.

He wasn't sitting on anything, he was just floating.

Cheshire-Cat: Are you enjoying the croquet?

Alice: No. I don't think they play fairly

at all. Everyone is arguing and there aren't

any rules.

Cheshire-Cat: How do you like the Queen?

Alice: Not at all! I suppose I should try

to play or she might cut off my head!

Narrator: Alice went to find her hedgehog.

She found it having a fight with another one.

While she was trying to pull the two

animals apart, her flamingo flew away.

Alice: Oh dear! I'm not doing very well at

this game. What will the Queen think?

Narrator: Alice was right to worry.

Most of the other players had made

the Queen angry

for one reason or another and the soldiers

took them away one by one. Soon there were

only the King, the Queen and Alice left in

the game.

The Queen turned to Alice.

Queen: You! Come here!

Who were you talking to?

Alice: If you please, your Majesty...

Voice: The trial is starting!

The trial is starting!

Queen: The trial! Oh good! I love trials!

Come along!

Narrator: Alice had no choice but to follow

the Queen. We'll leave her there for now.

Next time. I'll tell you all about

the Knave of Hearts, the stolen

jam tarts and what happened when Alice

met the Hatter, the cook and

The White Rabbit again.

Goodbye.