You see, geese are rather vulgar kinds of fowls, and so they speak a
vulgar language--about as different from the aristocratic bat's as a
London costermonger's is from that of a well-brought-up young person.
So that, if you can imagine a gander and a bat proposing each to the
lady of his choice, the goose would say, "'Lizer, be my disy;" whereas
the bat would lay one claw upon its velvet coat over its heart and
begin, "Miss Elizabeth," or "Miss Vespertilio,"--for that is the bat's
surname--"if the devotion of a lifetime can atone for----" and so on, in
the most elegant of phrases.
At any rate, the geese understood the Queen, and the Queen understood
the geese, which is the main thing.
"Now what shall I do?" the Queen said
And the geese consulted among themselves. Then an elderly gander spoke
up for the rest.
"Ma'am," he said, or rather hissed, "you have saved our lives."