“It’s twenty times as long as half again, and double the quarter wide,” said the cat.
“How large is that, if you please?” asked Mary Frances.
“If the length is multiplied by the thickness and then by breadth, it will give the correct volume,” said the cat; “at least, that’s according to tickle.”
“Tickle?” asked Mary Frances. “What is tickle?”
“Tickle is short for arithmetickle,” replied the cat.
“Oh?” said Mary Frances, “we don’t call it arithmetickle; we called it arithmetic.”
“That is nothing like so pretty a name,” said the cat, “and you get the same result.”
“But the size of the whale—” said Mary Frances, “what is it?”
“Can’t you do a simple little problem like that—when I’ve given you the rule?” asked the cat.
Mary Frances did not like to say that she had to give it up.