How Does The Cheshire Cat Only Show His Smile?

If I've understood your question correctly, you're talking about the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland? If so, you can see what Carroll means if you get hold of the book and find the illustration of the Cat disappearing.

What happens is that Alice is talking to this cat, which has an enormous grin - the biggest smile she's ever seen on a cat, which I think is where the phrase "grinning like a Cheshire cat" comes from (it could be the other way round though - I'm not sure.) When the cat wants to leave it gradually fades away from sight; the big smiling mouth is the last thing left visible, until at last that fades too. (of course it doesn't make much sense, but the thing is that Alice is having a dream.)

But the best thing is to look in the book and see.

Add Comment

Report