On the other side of Underland, Alice stood on the parapet of the White Queen's castle with Bayard and the White Queen. They were watching the stars come out in the evening sky, each with their own growing sense of unease.

"I had hoped to have a champion by now," the White Queen said, a little pointedly¹.

"Why don't you slay² the Jabberwocky yourself?" Alice asked. "You must have the power," she said.

"In the healing arts," said the Queen, shaking her head. "It is against my vows³ to bring harm to any living creature," she added with a hint of melodrama⁵ in her voice. Alice shrugged⁶ and looked back out at the landscape below. The Queen spotted⁷ a hideous⁸ bug⁹ flying near her face, and swiped it away, then pretended to pirouette so as not to be caught breaking her "vow⁴."

Then something caught the Queen's eye in the distance. She lifted her spyglass.

"We have company," she said, handing her spyglass to Alice.

Alice focused the spyglass on the bluffs¹⁰. Her heart leaped as she saw the Hatter, the Dormouse, and a host of other creatures running over the rise. They were safe! She hadn't left them to die after all!

She also spotted something else. "Have a look, Bayard," she said.

The bloodhound's long ears drooped¹¹ on either side of the instrument as he peered through. It took him a moment, but finally he spotted the female bloodhound and pups who were running with the rest of them.

"Bielle!" he cried, overwhelmed with joy. He spun¹² around to race down to the entrance courtyard, and Alice followed him, her golden hair flying out behind her as she ran.

Bayard reached the courtyard first, just as the group came across the drawbridge. He galloped¹³ up to his wife and pups, and they all leaped around, whinnying and nuzzling each other joyfully¹⁴. The White Rabbit pressed his paws together with delight.

The Tweedles rushed to the White Queen, who was happy to see them. She kissed each of them, leaving lipstick¹⁵ marks on their foreheads.

Alice's eyes went straight to the Hatter. His clothes were bright and happy, reflecting the delight on his face. She ran up and threw her arms around him. "I'm so happy to see you!" she cried. "I thought they were going to—"

"So did I!" he interrupted her enthusiastically. "But they didn't." His voice started to speed up again, and he clutched her hands as if he might never let go. "And now, here I am … still in one piece … and I'm rather glad about that now that I'm seeing you again … I would have regretted not seeing you again … especially now that you're you and the proper size … and it's a good size … it's a great size … it's a right-proper Alice size …"

"Hatter," Alice said kindly¹⁶. He snapped back into the moment.

"Size, Fez … I'm fine," he said, blinking strange eyes at her. And it was true, he was fine, even though Alice had been afraid she'd never see him again. She felt too full of happiness to say what she really wanted to.

"Where's your hat?" she asked. She curiously¹⁷ touched his curly red hair.

They both jumped as the top hat suddenly materialized in the air beside them, followed slowly by the head of the Cheshire Cat underneath¹⁸ it, then the rest of him.

"Chessur?" Alice said.

"How's the arm, luv?" the Cat purred.

"All healed," she said, showing him how the swelling¹⁹ had gone down. The scratches were already almost entirely²⁰ gone.

The Hatter held out his hand for the hat, and the Cheshire Cat reluctantly returned it. "Good-bye, sweet hat," he murmured.

As the Hatter replaced it in its rightful place on his head, he glanced at Alice again, and they shared a smile that said more than any words could have.

Night had fallen again, and the escaped creatures from the Red Queen's castle were safely tucked away in various corners of the White Queen's home. Up on a high tower, beneath the stars, Alice sat with the Hatter, their legs swinging over a long drop below.

"Have you any idea why a raven's like a writing desk?" the Hatter asked dreamily.

"Let me think about it!" Alice said, smiling.

He shifted to gaze into her eyes. "You know what tomorrow is, don't you?" he said.

"Frabjous Day," Alice said with a sigh. The whole castle had been murmuring and whispering and chattering²¹ about it all day. "How could I forget? I wish I'd wake up!"

The Hatter looked bemused. "You still believe this is a dream? Do you?"

"Of course. This has all come from my own mind."

The Hatter thought about that for a moment. "Which would mean that I'm not real."

"I'm afraid so," said Alice, shaking her head. "You're just a figment of my imagination. I would dream up someone who's half mad."

"Yes, yes. But you would have to be half mad to dream me up," the Hatter observed.

"I must be, then," Alice said.

Alice laughed.

"I'll miss you when I wake up," she said.

 

在地下世界的另一边，爱丽丝和贝亚德、白皇后一同站在城堡的护墙上。他们注视着夜空中的繁星，每个人的内心都越来越焦虑。

“我真希望勇士已经出现了。”白皇后略有所指地对爱丽丝说。

“为什么您自己不去斩杀炸脖龙呢？”爱丽丝问道。接着又说：“您绝对有这个能力。”

“在治疗艺术中，”白皇后摇着头说，“伤害任何生灵都有违我的誓言。”她带着一丝夸张的语气补充道。爱丽丝无奈地耸耸肩，又转身望着城堡外边城墙下的夜景。白皇后发现有一只令人讨厌的虫子在她面前飞来飞去，立马挥手去打，但她立马旋转着脚尖假装在跳芭蕾舞，这样就不会被发现自己违背的“誓言”了。

就在这时，远处有什么东西引起了白皇后的注意。她举起望远镜观察。

“我们有帮手了！”她说道，随即把望远镜递给了爱丽丝。

爱丽丝举着望远镜盯着断崖。她看到疯帽子、睡鼠和其他一大群动物慢慢出现在视线中时，内心一阵狂喜。他们都还活着！她从来都没有对他们的安危置之不顾！

她还看到了其他人。“快看，贝亚德！”她说道。

贝亚德盯着望远镜遥望远方时，两只大耳朵垂挂在望远镜两侧。花了好一会儿工夫，他终于看到了跟着其他人一起奔向城堡的母猎犬和他的幼崽们。

“比耶勒！”他欣喜若狂地大喊着，立马转身往楼下的庭院门口跑去，爱丽丝也紧跟着他跑了下来。爱丽丝奔跑时，金色的长发在她身后飞舞。

大伙儿刚跨过那座吊桥，贝亚德就早已跑到院子里。他朝妻子和孩子飞奔而去，一家人激动地跳来跳去，互相用鼻子爱抚着，并发出喜悦的嘶鸣声。看到眼前的这一幕，白兔子欣慰地合起了他的双爪。

双胞胎兄弟高兴地冲向白皇后，白皇后见到他们也很高兴，白皇后亲了每个人一下，在他们的额头上留下了一道唇印。

爱丽丝的眼睛直直地看着疯帽子。疯帽子的一身装扮让他看起来光彩照人、快乐无比，衬托着他喜气洋洋的脸庞。爱丽丝跑上去张开双臂抱住他，哽咽着说：“见到你真高兴！我以为他们把你……”

“我也是！”疯帽子激动地打断了她的话。“但是他们没有得逞。”他的语速又开始加快了，并紧紧地握住爱丽丝的手，似乎永远也不会松开。“现在我回来了……安然无恙……非常高兴还能见到你……如果再也见不到你我会抱憾终身……尤其是如今的你又是原来的你，高矮正合适……这身高正好……这身高太棒了……这才是适合爱丽丝的身高……”

“疯帽子。”爱丽丝温柔地叫道。他迅速回到现实中来。

“身高，土耳其毡帽……我很好。”疯帽子用奇怪的眼神看着爱丽丝说。的确，他是很好，即使爱丽丝一直担心自己再也见不到他。此刻爱丽丝被幸福冲昏了头脑以至于忘记了自己真正想要说的话。

“你的帽子呢？”爱丽丝问道。她好奇地摸着疯帽子卷曲的红发。

高顶礼帽突然出现在他们身旁，两人吓得跳了起来。紧接着帽子下缓缓出现了柴郡猫的脑袋，然后是整个身子。

“妙妙猫？”爱丽丝惊讶地喊道。

“胳膊怎么样了，亲爱的？”柴郡猫轻声问道。

“全好了。”她说完便卷起衣袖给他看已经消退的肿块，划伤的口子也差不多都愈合了。

疯帽子伸手去取帽子，柴郡猫不情愿地还给了他。“再见了，亲爱的帽子！”柴郡猫小声嘀咕道。

疯帽子重新把帽子戴回到它最合适的位置，接着又瞥了爱丽丝一眼，两人会心地笑了，这一笑胜过千言万语。

夜幕再次降临，从红皇后城堡逃出来的动物们安心地在白皇后城堡的各个角落里大快朵颐。此时在高高的塔楼上，爱丽丝和疯帽子坐在星空下，他们悬空的双腿自由地晃来晃去。

“你知道为什么乌鸦像书桌吗？”疯帽子梦呓般地问道。

“让我想想！”爱丽丝笑着回答。

疯帽子转身盯着爱丽丝的眼睛说：“你知道明天是什么日子，对吧？”

“辉煌之日，”爱丽丝叹着气回答。大家整天在城堡里或是窃窃私语，或是小声嘀咕，都在喋喋不休地谈论这件事。“我怎么会忘记呢？我真希望我可以醒过来！”

疯帽子一脸茫然地看着爱丽丝，问道：“你仍然相信这只是一场梦，对吗？”

“当然了，这一切都是我的想象。”

疯帽子思考了一会儿爱丽丝的话，接着问：“也就是说我也不是真的？”

“恐怕是的，”爱丽丝摇着头说，“你只是我凭空想象出来的，我梦到过一个近乎疯狂的人。”

“对，对。但是能梦到我说明你也快疯了。”疯帽子评论道。

“肯定的。”爱丽丝说。

她笑了起来。

“梦醒后我会想你的。”她说道。

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