"That's different from what _I_ used to say when I was a child," said
the Gryphon.

"Well, I never heard it before," said the Mock Turtle; "but it sounds
uncommon nonsense."

Alice said nothing; she had sat down again with her face in her hands,
wondering if anything would ever happen in a natural way again.

"I should like to have it explained," said the Mock Turtle.

"She can't explain it," said the Gryphon hastily. "Go on with the next
verse."

"But about his toes?" the Mock Turtle persisted. "How COULD he turn
them out with his nose, you know?"

"It's the first position in dancing," Alice said; but she was
dreadfully puzzled by the whole thing, and longed to change the
subject.

"Go on with the next verse," the Gryphon repeated impatiently; "it
begins 'I passed by his garden.'"

Alice did not dare to disobey, though she felt sure it would all come
wrong, and she went on in a trembling voice:

"I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye,
How the owl and the oyster were sharing the pie."