Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll pg.138-

The queen wakes the gryphon and tells it to take Alice to see the Mock Turtle.  The gryphon tells Alice that all the people the queen orders to be executed, don't really end up being killed.  When he brings her to the Mock Turtle, the Turtle seems upset.  Alice asks him what is wrong, but he just looks at her.  The Turtle says that no one is allowed to speak until he is finished with his story.  The first words of the Mock Turtle's story are "Once, I was a real turtle".  The Turtle doesn't say anything for a while, he just cries and the gryphon keeps yelling.  The Turtle finally continues to tell his story, and Alice asks questions.