The sound of the sword hitting the stone was still reverberating¹ through the courtyard. The executioner stepped back, wincing² and touching³ his muscles where the shock had jarred him.

The Tweedles stared at each other in disbelief, almost daring one another to disagree about what had just happened.

Then, the Rabbit looked up. Before him was what looked like a floating head, with no body attached at all. Then it all became clear. It was the Cheshire Cat's disembodied head wearing the Hatter's hat! He hovered⁴ there before them all and grinned. "Good morning, everyone!"

"Chess, you dog!" the Dormouse cried in delight.

He winked⁵ at her. The sound of the Hatter's familiar laugh drifted across the courtyard, and everyone turned to find him perched on a balustrade near the Queen's courtiers.

"Madam," the Hatter called cheerfully. "You are being heinously⁶ bamboozled⁷ by these lickspittle toadies⁸ you surround yourself with!" He reached out and tugged⁹ lightly on Lady Long Ears' nearest ear. It promptly¹⁰ came off in his hand, and Lady Long Ears screamed. The Hatter held up the ear and the Red Queen squinted¹¹ at it from her balcony.

"What is that?" she demanded.

Terrified, Lady Long Ears lashed¹² out to defend herself. "I'm not the only one, Majesty," she shrieked¹³. "Look!" She grabbed the enormous nose of the woman beside her and pulled. It came off with a noisy squck, revealing her real, ordinary-size nose underneath¹⁴.

"A counterfeit¹⁵ nose!" blustered¹⁶ Big Belly¹⁷ Man. "You should be ashamed!"

"Me?" Lady Large Nose yelled. "What about that big belly you're so proud of?" Before he could escape her prying¹⁸ hands, she grabbed his shirt and pulled it up to reveal his fake belly. As the Hatter had expected, they were remarkably¹⁹ quick to turn on each other.

And as he'd also expected, the Red Queen was mightily²⁰ displeased²¹ to find her courtiers were conspiring²² against her. In fact, she was nearly apoplectic²³ with rage by this point. "Liars²⁴! Cheats! Falsifiers! Off with their heads!"

Pandemonium²⁵ broke out. The Hatter leaped to a high ledge²⁶ and called to the creatures below. "To the abused and enslaved of the Red Queen's court, stand up and fight! Rise up against the bloody²⁷ Red Queen!"

Monkeys threw off their tabletops and chair seats, screeching²⁸ their defiance³⁰. A frog holding a tray of tarts³¹ tossed them up into the air. Birds dropped their lamps and coasted down to land on their legs, resting their exhausted³² wings. All across the courtyard and inside the palace, creatures threw off their bonds and took up the battle cry.

"Downal wyth Bluddy Behg Hid!" they shouted. The phrase echoed off the flagstones and filled the morning air. "Downal wyth Bluddy Behg Hid!"

Infuriated, the Red Queen clutched the balcony railing and stamped her foot. "RELEASE THE JUBJUB BIRD!" she screamed.

A bloodcurdling screech²⁹ cut through the cries of defiance as the JubJub Bird swooped³³ down from his aerie. He clawed and snapped indiscriminately, sowing death through the panicked onlookers³⁴ below. The Queen watched with a vengeful smile.

"You're right, Stayne," she said fiercely. "It is far better to be feared than loved."

But what she did not see in the chaos³⁵ below was a small crowd, including the Hatter, the Dormouse, the White Rabbit, and the Tweedles, gathering³⁶ to escape.

"Come boys, quickly," the Hatter called.

Hatter!" said the Dormouse.

"Come on, Mally. Quickly! Come on! Come on!" he responded.

They darted³⁷ away from the JubJub Bird's deathdealing talons³⁸ and made for the drawbridge … and freedom.

"Prepare the Jabberwocky for battle," the Queen commanded. "We're going to visit my little sister."

 

刀砍到石头上的“当当”声依然在庭院里回荡。刽子手吓得连连倒退，刀震到了他的胳膊，痛得他龇牙咧嘴，赶紧伸手揉了揉。

双胞胎兄弟难以置信地对视着，量谁也不敢相信刚才发生的事。

就在这时，白兔子抬起了头。他前面像是飘浮着一颗脑袋，却不见身子。然后一切都真相大白，原来这是柴郡猫那与身体分离的脑袋,还戴着疯帽子的那顶帽子!早在所有人到来之前他就盘旋在这里。然后他咧着嘴笑道：“早上好，各位！”

“妙妙，你这家伙！”睡鼠高兴地嚷道。

柴郡猫朝他眨了眨眼睛。疯帽子熟悉的笑声突然飘荡在院子里，所有人都转过身去，却发现他坐在侍臣旁边的栏杆上。

疯帽子高兴地喊着：“夫人，您身边宠幸的这群溜须拍马的马屁精可把您骗惨了！”说完便伸手轻轻拽了拽长耳朵女士离他最近的那只耳朵，那只假耳朵一下子就掉到他手上，长耳朵女士尖叫了起来。疯帽子举起假耳朵，红皇后眯着眼睛从高高的露台上向疯帽子看过来。

“那是什么？”她质问道。

惊慌失措的长耳朵女士急忙为自己辩护，她大叫：“不只我一个，陛下！您看！”说着便抓住旁边大鼻子女士那只巨大的鼻子往下扯。伴随着一阵嘈杂的喧闹声，假鼻子掉了下来，露出了下面那个真实的、普通大小的鼻子。

“一个假鼻子！”大肚子先生恶狠狠地说，“你真不害臊！”

“我？”大鼻子女士大声呵斥，“那你引以为傲的大肚子呢？”大肚子先生还没来得及躲开她那双揭露真相的手，大鼻子女士就抓住他的衬衫掀开来，露出里面那个假肚子。不出疯帽子所料，眨眼间他们就相互大打出手。

正如疯帽子同样预料的那样，红皇后发现自己的侍臣都串通一气欺骗她，感到极其不满。事实上，此刻她已是怒不可遏，咆哮起来：“骗子！欺上瞒下！弄虚作假！把他们的脑袋通通砍下来！”

人群中一片混乱。疯帽子跳上一个高高的平台，对着下面的动物大喊：“被红皇后压迫奴役的人们啊，起来战斗吧！站起来推翻血腥的红皇后！”

顿时，猴子们扔掉了它们头顶的桌面和椅座，发出反抗的尖叫声。一只端着一盘馅饼的青蛙也把手中的盘子抛到空中。鸟儿们扔掉挂在身上的吊灯，缓缓地落在地上，让自己疲惫不堪的翅膀休息休息。整个院子乃至整个皇宫里，动物们都急不可耐地摆脱掉红皇后的束缚，开始为这场战斗呐喊助威。

“打倒血腥红皇后！”他们大吼着。口号声在石板上的回音弥漫在清晨的天空——“打倒血腥红皇后！”

气急败坏的红皇后抓着阳台的栏杆，愤懑地跺着脚吼道：“放炸脖鸟！”

当炸脖鸟从巢中猛冲而下，它那令人毛骨悚然的啼鸣压倒了反抗者的呐喊声。它肆意地抓住并撕咬着下面的人群，惊慌失措的围观者都在劫难逃。红皇后带着报复性的冷笑看着这一切。

“你说得对，斯塔亚尼！”她恶狠狠地说，“让人爱慕远不如让人畏惧！”

但在眼下的混乱中她并未察觉到有一小伙人，包括疯帽子、睡鼠、白兔子和双胞胎，正聚在一起准备逃跑。

“快跟我来，双胞胎！快点！”疯帽子急匆匆地喊着。

“疯帽子！”睡鼠惊慌地叫道。

“快来，麦莉！快点！快快快！”疯帽子对睡鼠说。

他们飞快地躲过炸脖鸟的夺命魔爪，奔向吊桥……奔向自由。

“准备让炸脖龙战斗，”红皇后命令道，“我们要去会会我妹妹。

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