This was the beginning Alice liked best, for it meant that a fairy tale would follow. And Nurse would perhaps continue:
“—a little hare lived on the island of Oki. It was a beautiful island, but the hare was not satisfied: he wished to get to the mainland. He did not know how to manage this; but one day he thought of a plan. Hopping down to the shore, he waited till a crocodile came out to sun himself, then opened a conversation with him.
“‘There are, I suppose, many crocodiles in the sea,’ he began.
“‘Many, many!’ the crocodile answered.
“‘Not so many, however, as there are hares on the island of Oki,’ returned the little hare.
“‘The crocodiles in the sea outnumber the hares of Oki as the drops in the sea outnumber the trees of the island,’ declared the crocodile, in his deepest voice.
“‘It does not seem right for a little bit of a creature like myself to differ with your lordship,’ said the hare, politely, ‘but I should like to see a proof of your statement.’
“‘How can we prove it?’ the crocodile questioned.
“‘You can call all your friends and place them from here to the mainland, each with his nose on the tail of the neighbor before him; then I can easily jump from one to the other, counting as I go.’
“The crocodile agreed to this plan, thinking it a good one. ‘But how can we count the hares?’ he asked.