The next morning, everyone gathered in the White Queen's courtyard at dawn. A sense of fear and exhilaration filled the air. This was the Frabjous Day. Today everything would change … but whether for better or for worse, no one could say.

The White Rabbit drew out a gleaming gold trumpet¹ and sounded a summoning call that hushed the milling crowd.

"Who will step forth² to be champion for the White Queen?" he cried.

"That would be I!" said the Mad Hatter, stepping forward valiantly³.

The Cheshire Cat snorted. "You have very poor evaporating skills. I should be the one."

"No, me!" cried Tweedledum.

"No, me!" shouted Tweedledee, pushing his brother behind him.

The White Rabbit held up the Oraculum and the illustration of Alice slaying⁴ the Jabberwocky. Everyone fell quiet.

"No other slayer⁵, no-how," murmured Tweedledum.

"If it ain't Alice, it ain't dead," agreed Tweedledee.

All the eyes in the courtyard turned to Alice. The weight of their gazes, all their expectations, reminded her of the pressure she felt under the gazebo as Hamish proposed marriage to her with the entire garden party looking on.

"Alice," said the White Queen, "you cannot live your life to please others. The choice must be yours because when you step out to face that creature, you will step out alone."

Alice stared at the picture of the horrible monster that was winging its way toward them. She saw her golden hair flying as she wielded⁶ the Vorpal Sword, but she still couldn't imagine how it would feel—the thunk of the blade slicing into flesh, the scrape of its long sharp claws against her pale skin. She was not a killer⁷. How could she kill anything … let alone Underland's most dreaded⁸ creature?

Overwhelmed, Alice turned and ran out of the courtyard. She bolted through the castle and out into the gardens until she found the hedge maze⁹, where she threw herself onto a garden bench and wept.

"Nothing was ever accomplished¹⁰ with tears," observed a voice. Alice lifted her tear-streaked face and looked around.

"Absolem?"

She peered at the nearest hedge and saw him hanging upside down on a leaf, spinning a silvery green web around himself.

"Why are you upside down?" she asked.

"I've come to the end of this life," he explained calmly.

Alice didn't know why she felt so upset; she barely knew him. "You're going to die?" she said.

"Transform," he answered, although it wasn't much of an answer. The web already covered half of his body.

"Don't go," Alice pleaded. "I need your help. I don't know what to do!"

"I can't help you if you don't even know who you are, stupid girl."

Now Alice was angry. "I'm not stupid! My name is Alice. I live in London. I have a mother named Helen and a sister named Margaret. My father was Charles Kingsleigh. He had a vision that stretched halfway¹¹ around the world, and nothing ever stopped him. He probably would have liked it here." She paused, realizing what she was saying. It felt like an epiphany dawning upon her. All she needed was her father's strength and vision and faith in himself. Slowly she said, "I'm his daughter. I'm Alice Kingsleigh."

"Alice at last!" cried the Caterpillar¹². "You were just as dim-witted the first time you were here. You called it ‘Wonderland,' as I recall."

"Wonderland …" Alice echoed. Her dream came flooding back with all of its details. Young Alice in Wonderland … Alice in the room of doors, Alice with the Cheshire Cat, Alice at the mad tea party … Alice with the Red Queen and Playing Cards, painting the roses red … young Alice with the Caterpillar …

"It wasn't a dream at all!" Alice burst out. "It was a memory! This place is real! And so are you." Her heart leaped. "And so is the Hatter."

"And the Jabberwocky," the Caterpillar reminded her. "Remember, the Vorpal Sword knows what it wants. All you have to do is hold on to it. Fairfarren, Alice. Perhaps I will see you in another life."

He disappeared inside the green chrysalis, swallowed up even more thoroughly¹³ than he'd vanished into his clouds of smoke.

Alice sat for a moment, thinking. Finally she got to her feet and wiped away the last traces of her tears.

She knew what she had to do.

The Red Queen's army marched steadily¹⁴ across the Crimson¹⁵ Desert, red banners fluttering high over their heads. The Queen rode in the lead on a black charger, the Knave¹⁶ of Hearts at her side. The JubJub Bird flew ahead, and far above them, a monstrous¹⁷ winged shadow soared.

On they came, unstoppable, formidable, and terrifying.

The mood in the White Queen's courtyard was somber¹⁸. Without Alice, how could they have any chance of winning the coming battle? The Tweedles stood with their arms around each other, heads bowed in despair. The March Hare wrung¹⁹ his paws and ears, his eyes darting²⁰ nervously²¹ from side to side.

The Mad Hatter leaned against the wall, waiting. He knew Alice. He believed in her. He refused to give up hope.

Suddenly there was a resounding²² clatter²³ from inside the castle. The Bandersnatch loped out into the courtyard, drool dripping from its squashed bulldog face. A White Knight²⁴ rode on his back, and for a moment the eyes of the crowd were dazzled by the sun gleaming off the shiny silver armor.

Then they saw the blond hair hanging down from the helmet, and the Vorpal Sword raised high in Alice's hand. A rousing cheer rose from the crowd … their champion had arrived.

 

第二天黎明，所有人都聚集在白皇后的庭院里，空气中夹杂着恐惧和兴奋的气息。今天是辉煌之日，一切都将发生改变……但究竟是福是祸，谁也不清楚。

白兔子取出一个闪闪发光的金喇叭，吹响召唤的号角，急得团团转的人们立马平静了下来。

“谁愿意担当勇士为白皇后挂帅？”白兔子高声问道。

“我来！”疯帽子应声回答，勇敢地走上前去。

柴郡猫轻蔑地哼了一声说：“就你那两下子，还是让我来吧！”

“不，我来！”咚咚嚷着。

“不，我来！”叮叮吼着把弟弟挤到身后。

白兔子举起神谕，上面浮现出爱丽丝斩杀炸脖龙的图片，所有人都沉默了。

“无论如何，没有其他人能杀得了炸脖龙。”咚咚小声嘀咕。

“如果不是爱丽丝，炸脖龙就死不了。”叮叮附和道。

院子里所有人都齐刷刷地盯着爱丽丝。大伙的目光中充满了热切的希望，这让爱丽丝想起派对上哈米什在所有宾客的注视下，在凉亭下向她求婚时她所感受到的压力。

“爱丽丝，”白皇后说，“你不需要为了取悦别人而活。你必须自己做出抉择，因为当你站出来面对那个怪物时，你将是孤军奋战。”

爱丽丝注视着图中那头朝他们飞过来的可怕的怪物。她也看到自己挥舞屠龙剑时飞扬起来的金色长发。可她还是无法想象那是什么感觉——刀刃划破皮肉沉闷的声响，炸脖龙锋利的长爪刮破她苍白的皮肤的声响。她不是屠夫，又怎么会去杀生？更不用说去杀地下世界最可怕的怪物……

不知所措的爱丽丝转身跑出庭院。她穿过城堡冲到外面的花园里，跑到树篱迷宫才停下来。爱丽丝扑到花园的长椅上小声哭了起来。

“眼泪一向都无济于事。”一个声音说道。爱丽丝闻声抬起她那布满泪水的脸颊，四处寻望。

“阿布索伦？”

她注视着离自己最近的树篱，发现阿布索伦倒挂在一片叶子上，吐出银绿色的丝网把自己包了起来。

“你为什么倒挂着？”爱丽丝问。

“我已经走到了生命的尽头。”他平静地解释道。

爱丽丝不知道自己为什么会如此沮丧；她和阿布索伦也不熟。“你要死了吗？”爱丽丝问。

“是蜕变。”阿布索伦回答，尽管这个答案并没有回答她的问题。此时丝网已经包住了阿布索伦的半截身子。

“别走，”爱丽丝乞求道，“我需要你的帮助。我不知道该怎么办！”

“如果你连自己是谁都不知道，我也帮不了你，傻孩子。”

这下爱丽丝可生气了。“我才不傻！我叫爱丽丝，住在伦敦。我母亲叫海伦，姐姐叫玛格丽特，查尔斯·金斯利是我父亲。他见多识广，无所畏惧。如果他还在，应该也会喜欢这里。”她顿了一下，意识到自己刚才说的话。这让她茅塞顿开。她所需要的就是父亲的意志力、远见和自信。接着她又慢慢地说，“我是他的女儿。我叫爱丽丝·金斯利。”

“终于承认自己是爱丽丝了！”毛毛虫高声说道，“你还是跟第一次来这里时一样傻。我记得你当初称这里为‘仙境’。”

“仙境……”爱丽丝重复道。那个梦如潮水般涌来，梦中的一切都历历在目。幼小的爱丽丝来到仙境……她来到了四周都是门的那个房间，遇到过柴郡猫，去过疯子茶话会……遇到过红皇后，跟她一起玩纸牌，把白玫瑰涂成红色……遇到过蓝毛虫……

“这根本就不是梦！”爱丽丝大叫起来。“这是我的回忆！这个地方是存在的！你也是真实的！”她激动得心跳加速。“疯帽子也是真实的！”

“还有炸脖龙，”毛毛虫提醒她，“记住，屠龙剑知道自己的使命。你要做的就是握紧它。永别了，爱丽丝。蜕变之后或许还能再见。”

阿布索伦说完便消失在绿色的蛹里。跟以前隐没在那团烟雾里相比，这回的蛹把他笼罩得更彻底。

爱丽丝坐着思索了一会儿。最终，她站起身来，用手抹掉脸上最后一道泪痕。

她知道自己该做什么了。

红皇后的军队径直穿过红色沙漠向白皇后的城堡挺进，红色的战旗在他们头顶高高飘扬。身居阵首的红皇后骑着一匹黑色战马，黑骑士跟在她的侧边，炸脖鸟则在阵前。在他们头顶，一只长着翅膀的幽灵在高空中翱翔。

红皇后的军队一路挺进，势如破竹，锐不可当，让人胆战心惊。

白皇后庭院里充斥着阴沉的气氛。没有爱丽丝，他们哪有机会赢得即将来临的战斗？双胞胎兄弟手挽着手站着，心灰意冷地垂着头。三月兔一会儿搓搓爪子，一会儿拧拧耳朵，紧张得眼珠子都滴溜乱转。

疯帽子靠着墙，静静地等待着。他了解爱丽丝，他信任她，所以他不肯放弃希望。

城堡里突然传出一阵响亮的当啷声。大毛兽跑了出来冲进院子里，涎水从它那斗牛犬般扁平的脸上往下滴。它的背上骑着一个白骑士，瞬间，所有人都被耀眼的银色铠甲上反射的阳光刺得睁不开眼。

就在这时，他们看见了从白骑士头盔里垂下的金色长发，还有爱丽丝手中高举的屠龙剑。人群中顿时爆发出一阵激动人心的欢呼声——他们的勇士来了。

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