“But I’m not a serpent, I tell you!” said Alice. “I’m a⁠—I’m a⁠—”

“Well! What are you?” said the Pigeon. “I can see you’re trying to invent something!”

“I⁠—I’m a little girl,” said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day.

“A likely story indeed!” said the Pigeon in a tone of the deepest contempt. “I’ve seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no! You’re a serpent; and there’s no use denying it. I suppose you’ll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!”