What story does the Dormouse tell at the tea party?

The Dormouse tells a story about three sisters living in a treacle well. During the Mad Hatter’s tea party, the sleepy Dormouse describes the sisters as Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie, who live at the bottom of a well and survive by eating treacle.

The story becomes increasingly nonsensical when Alice asks why the sisters draw things beginning with the letter “M.” The Dormouse mentions objects and ideas such as mousetraps, memory, and muchness. The Hatter and March Hare interrupt and question the logic, but the Dormouse continues drifting in and out of sleep.

The episode’s names are often understood as playful references to the real Liddell sisters, who inspired Alice. Elsie represents Lorina Charlotte Liddell’s initials, Lacie is an anagram of Alice, and Tillie refers to Edith Liddell’s family nickname, Matilda.

Treacle is an old British term for a sweet syrup, usually associated with molasses or golden syrup. It is not the same as honey, jam, butter, or an ordinary well of water, which makes the answer’s food and setting especially distinctive.