Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Chapter 1 Down the Rabbit Hole Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank,
And of having nothing to do.
Once or twice,
She had peeped into the book her sister was reading,
But it had no pictures or conversations in it.
And what is the use of a book,
Thought Alice,
Without pictures or conversations?
So she was considering in her own mind,
As well as she could,
For the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid,
Whether the pleasure of making a daisy chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies,
When suddenly,
A white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so very remarkable in that,
Nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the rabbit say to itself,
Oh dear,
Oh dear,
I shall be late.
When she thought it over afterwards,
It occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this,
But at the time,
It all seemed quite natural.
But when the rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat pocket and looked at it and then hurried on,
Alice started to her feet,
For it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat pocket or a watch to take out of it.
And burning with curiosity,
She ran across the field after it,
And fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit hole under the hedge.
In another moment,
Down went Alice after it,
Never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.
The rabbit hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way,
And then dipped suddenly down,
So suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.
Either the well was very deep,
Or she fell very slowly,
For she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next.
First,
She tried to look down and make out what she was coming to,
But it was too dark to see anything.
Then she looked at the sides of the well and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves.
Here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs.
She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed,
It was labeled orange marmalade,
But to her great disappointment it was empty.
She did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody underneath,
So managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
Well,
Thought Alice to herself,
After such a fall as this,
I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs.
How brave they'll all thank me at home.
Why,
I wouldn't say anything about it,
Even if I fell off the top of the house,
Which was very likely true.
Down,
Down,
Down,
Would the fall never come to an end?
I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time,
She said aloud.
I must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth.
Let me see,
That would be four thousand miles down,
I think.
For you see,
Alice had learned several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom,
And though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge,
As there was no one to listen to her,
Still it was good practice to say it over.
Yes,
That's about the right distance,
But then I wonder what latitude or longitude I've got to.
Alice had no idea what latitude was or longitude either,
But thought they were nice grand words to say.
Presently,
She began again.
I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth.
How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards.
The antipathies,
I think.
She was rather glad there was no one listening this time,
As it didn't sound at all the right word.
But I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is,
You know.
Please,
Ma'am,
Is this New Zealand or Australia?
And she tried to curtsy as she spoke.
Fancy curtsying as you're falling through the air.
Do you think you could manage it?
And what an ignorant little girl,
She'll thank me for asking.
No,
It'll never do to ask.
Perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.
Down,
Down,
Down.
There was nothing else to do,
So Alice soon began talking again.
Dinah will miss me very much tonight,
I should think.
Dinah was the cat.
I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea time.
Dinah,
My dear,
I wish you were down here with me.
There are no mice in the air,
I'm afraid.
But you might catch a bat,
And that's very like a mouse,
You know.
But do cats eat bats,
I wonder?
And here Alice began to get rather sleepy,
And went on saying to herself,
In a dreamy sort of way,
Do cats eat bats?
And sometimes,
Do bats eat cats?
For you see,
As she couldn't answer either question,
It didn't much matter which way she put it.
She felt that she was dozing off,
And had just began to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah,
And saying to her very earnestly,
Now Dinah,
Tell me the truth,
Did you ever eat a bat?
When suddenly,
Thump,
Thump,
Down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves,
And the fall was over.
Alice was not a bit hurt,
And she jumped up onto her feet in a moment.
She looked up,
But it was all dark overhead.
Before her was another long passage,
And the white rabbit was still in sight,
Hurrying down it.
There was not a moment to be lost,
Away went Alice like the wind,
And was just in time to hear it say,
As it turned a corner,
Oh my ears and whiskers,
How late it's getting.
She was close behind it,
When she turned the corner,
But the rabbit was no longer to be seen.
She found herself in a long low hall,
Which was lit up by a row of lamps,
Hanging from the roof.
There were doors all round the hall,
But they were all locked,
And when Alice had been all the way down one side,
And up the other,
Trying every door,
She walked sadly down the middle,
Wondering how she was ever to get out again.
Suddenly,
She came upon a little three-legged table,
All made of solid glass.
There was nothing on it except a tiny golden key,
And Alice's first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall.
But alas,
Either the locks were too large,
Or the key was too small,
But at any rate,
It would not open any of them.
However,
On the second time round,
She came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before,
And behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high.
She tried the little golden key in the lock,
And to her great delight,
It fitted.
Alice opened the door,
And found that it led into a small passage,
Not much larger than a rat hole.
She knelt down and looked along the passage,
And to the loveliest garden you ever saw.
How she longed to get out of that dark hall,
And wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains,
But she could not even get her head through the doorway.
And even if my head would go through,
Thought poor Alice,
It would be of very little use without my shoulders.
Oh,
How I wish I could shut up like a telescope.
I think I could,
If I only knew how to begin.
For,
You see,
So many out-of-the-way things had happened lately,
That Alice had begun to think that very few things,
Indeed,
Were really impossible.
There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door,
So she went back to the table,
Half hoping she might find another key on it,
Or,
At any rate,
A book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes.
This time she found a little bottle on it,
Which certainly was not here before,
Said Alice,
And round the neck of the bottle was a paper label with the words,
Drink Me,
Beautifully printed on it in large letters.
It was all very well to say,
Drink Me,
But the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry.
No,
I'll look first,
She said,
And see whether it's marked Poison or not.
For she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things,
All because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them,
Such as,
That a red hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long,
And that if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife,
It usually bleeds.
And she had never forgotten that,
If you drink much from a bottle marked Poison,
It is almost certain to disagree with you,
Sooner or later.
However,
This bottle was not marked Poison,
So Alice ventured to taste it,
And finding it very nice,
It had in fact a sort of mixed flavor of cherry tart,
Custard,
Pineapple,
Roast turkey,
Toffee,
And hot buttered toast.
She very soon finished it off.
What a curious feeling,
Said Alice,
I must be shutting up like a telescope.
And so it was indeed,
She was now only ten inches high,
And her face brightened up at the thought,
That she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden.
First,
However,
She waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further.
She felt a little nervous about this.
For it might end,
You know,
Said Alice to herself,
In my going out altogether,
Like a candle.
I wonder what I should be like then.
And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like,
After the candle is blown out,
For she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.
After a while,
Finding that nothing more happened,
She decided on going into the garden at once,
But alas,
For poor Alice,
When she got to the door,
She found she had forgotten the little golden key,
And when she went back to the table for it,
She found she could not possibly reach it.
She could see it quite plainly,
Through the glass,
And she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table,
But it was too slippery,
And when she had tired herself out with trying,
The little poor thing sat down and cried.
Come,
There's no use in crying like that,
Said Alice to herself,
Rather sharply.
I advise you to leave off this minute.
She generally gave herself very good advice,
Though she very seldom followed it,
And sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes,
And once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself,
For this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people.
But it's no use now,
Thought poor Alice,
To pretend to be two people.
Why,
There's hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person.
Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table.
She opened it,
And found in it a very small cake,
On which the words,
Eat me,
Were beautifully marked in currants.
Well,
I'll eat it,
Said Alice,
And if it makes me grow larger I can reach the key,
And if it makes me grow smaller I can creep under the door,
So either way I'll get into the garden,
And I don't care which happens.
She ate a little bit,
And said anxiously to herself,
Which way,
Which way,
Holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing,
And she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size,
To be sure.
This generally happens when one eats cake.
But Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.
So she set to work,
And very soon finished off the cake.
Chapter 2.
The Pool of Tears Curiouser and curiouser,
Cried Alice.
She was so much surprised,
But for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English.
Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was.
Goodbye,
Feet.
For when she looked down at her feet,
They seemed to be almost out of sight.
They were getting so far off.
Oh,
My poor little feet.
I wonder who will put on your shoes and stockings for you now,
Dears.
I'm sure I shan't be able.
I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself about you.
You must manage the best way you can.
But I must be kind to them,
Thought Alice.
Or perhaps they won't walk the way I want to go.
Let me see.
I'll give them a new pair of boots every Christmas.
And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it.
They must go by the carrier,
She thought.
And how funny it'll seem,
Sending presents to one's own feet.
And how odd the directions will look.
Alice's right foot.
Esk.
Her thrug.
Near the fender.
With Alice's love.
Oh,
Dear.
What nonsense I'm talking.
Just then,
Her head struck against the roof of the hall.
In fact,
She was now more than nine feet high.
And she at once took up the little golden key and hurried off to the garden door.
Poor Alice.
It was as much as she could do,
Lying down on one side,
To look through into the garden with one eye.
But to get through was more hopeless than ever.
She sat down and began to cry again.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself,
Said Alice.
A great girl like you,
She might well say this.
To go on crying in this way.
Stop this moment,
I tell you.
But she went on all the same,
Shedding gallons of tears,
Until there was a large pool all around her,
About four inches deep,
And reaching half down the hall.
After a time,
She heard a little pattering of feet in the distance,
And she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming.
It was the white rabbit returning,
Splendidly dressed,
With a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other.
He came trotting along in a great hurry,
Muttering to himself as he came,
Oh,
The Duchess,
The Duchess,
Oh,
Won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting?
Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of anyone.
So when the rabbit came near her,
She began in a low,
Timid voice,
If you please,
Sir.
The rabbit started violently,
Dropping the white kid gloves and the fan,
And scurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.
Alice took up the fan and gloves,
And,
As the hall was very hot,
She kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking.
Dear,
Dear,
How weird everything is today,
And yesterday things went on just as usual.
I wonder if I've been changed in the night.
Let me think,
Was I the same when I got up this morning?
I almost think I can remember feeling a little different,
But if I'm not the same,
The next question is,
Who in the world am I?
Ah,
That's the great puzzle,
And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age as herself,
To see if she could have been changed for any of them.
I'm sure I'm not Ada,
She said,
For her hair goes on such long ringlets,
And mine doesn't go on ringlets at all.
And I'm sure I can't be Mabel,
For I know all sorts of things,
And she,
Oh,
She knows such a very little.
Besides,
She's she,
And I'm I.
And,
Oh dear,
How puzzling it all is.
I'll try if I know all the things I used to know.
Let me see,
4 times 5 is 12,
And 4 times 6 is 13,
And 4 times 7 is,
Oh dear,
I shall never get to 20 at that rate.
However,
The multiplication table doesn't signify.
Let's try geography.
London is the capital of Paris,
And Paris is the capital of Rome,
And Rome,
No,
That's all wrong,
I'm certain.
I must have been changed for Mabel.
I'll try and say,
How doth a little,
And she crossed her hands on her lap,
As if she were saying lessons,
And began to repeat it.
But her voice sounded hoarse and strange,
And the words did not come the same as they used to do.
How doth a little crocodile improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale.
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spread his claws,
And welcome little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws.
I'm sure those are not the right words,
Said poor Alice,
And her eyes filled with tears again as she went on.
I must be Mabel after all,
And I shall have to go and live in that pokey little house,
And have next to no toys to play with,
And oh,
Ever so many lessons to learn.
No,
I've made up my mind about it.
If I'm Mabel,
I'll stay down here.
It'll be no use there putting their heads down and saying,
Come up again dear.
I shall only look up and say,
Who am I then?
Tell me that first,
And then,
If I like being that person,
I'll come up.
If not,
I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else.
But,
Oh dear,
Cried Alice,
With a sudden burst of tears.
I do wish they would put their heads down.
I am so very tired of being all alone here.
As she said this,
She looked down at her hands,
And was surprised to see that she had put on one of the rabbit's little white kid gloves while she was talking.
How could I have done that?
She thought.
I must be growing small again.
She got up and went to the table to measure herself by it,
And found that,
As nearly as she could guess,
She was now about two feet high,
And was going on shrinking rapidly.
She soon found out that the cause of this was the fan she was holding,
And she dropped it hastily,
Just in time to avoid shrinking away altogether.
That was a narrow escape,
Said Alice,
A good deal frightened at the sudden change,
But very glad to find herself still in existence.
And now for the garden,
And she ran with all speed back to the little door,
But alas,
The little door was shut again,
And the little golden key was lying on the glass table as before.
And things are worse than ever,
Thought the poor child,
For I never was so small as this before,
Never,
And I declare it's too bad,
That it is.
As she said these words,
Her foot slipped,
And in another moment,
Splash,
She was up to her chin in salt water.
Her first idea was that she had somehow fallen into the sea,
And in that case,
I can go back by railway,
She said to herself.
Alice had been to the seaside once in her life,
And had come to the general conclusion that wherever you go to on the English coast,
You find a number of bathing machines in the sea,
Some children digging in the sand with wooden spades,
Then a row of lodging houses,
And behind them,
A railway station.
However,
She soon made out that she was in the pool of tears,
Which she had wept when she was nine feet high.
I wish I hadn't cried so much,
Said Alice,
As she swam about,
Trying to find her way out.
I shall be punished for it now,
I suppose,
By being drowned in my own tears.
That will be a weird thing to be sure,
However,
Everything is weird today.
Just then,
She heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off,
And she swam near to make out what it was.
At first,
She thought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus,
But then she remembered how small she was now,
And she soon made out that it was only a mouse that had slipped in like herself.
Would it be of any use now,
Thought Alice,
To speak to this mouse?
Everything is so out of the way down here,
And I should think very likely it can talk.
At any rate,
There's no harm in trying,
So she began.
Oh,
Mouse,
Do you know the way out of this pool?
I am very tired of swimming about here.
Oh,
Mouse!
Alice thought this must be the right way of speaking to a mouse.
She had never done such a thing before,
But she remembered having seen in her brother's Latin grammar,
A mouse of a mouse to a mouse,
A mouse,
Oh mouse.
The mouse looked at her rather inquisitively and seemed to her to wink with one of his little eyes,
But it said nothing.
Perhaps it doesn't understand English,
Thought Alice.
I dare say it's a French mouse.
Come over with William the Conqueror.
For,
With all her knowledge of history,
Alice had no very clear notion how long ago anything had happened,
So she began again.
Où est ma chambre?
Was the first sentence in her French lesson book.
The mouse gave a sudden leap out of the water and seemed to quiver all over with fright.
Oh,
I beg your pardon,
Cried Alice hastily,
Afraid that she had hurt the poor animal's feelings.
I quite forgot,
You didn't like cats.
Not like cats,
Cried the mouse in a shrill,
Passionate voice.
Would you like cats if you were me?
Well,
Perhaps not,
Said Alice in a soothing tone.
Don't be angry about it,
And yet I wish I could show you our cat,
Dinah.
I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her.
She is such a dear,
Quiet thing.
Alice went on,
Half to herself,
As she swam lazily about in the pool.
And she sits purring so nicely by the fire,
Licking her paws and washing her face.
And she is such a nice,
Soft thing to nurse.
And she's such a capital one for catching mice.
Oh,
I beg your pardon,
Cried Alice again,
For this time the mouse was bristling all over,
And she felt certain it must be really offended.
We won't talk about her anymore if you'd rather not.
We indeed,
Cried the mouse,
Who was trembling down at the end of his tail.
As if I would talk on such a subject.
Our family always hated cats.
Nasty,
Low,
Vulgar things.
Don't let me hear the name again.
I won't indeed,
Said Alice,
In a great hurry to change the subject of conversation.
Are you,
Are you fond of,
Of dogs?
The mouse did not answer,
So Alice went on eagerly.
There is such a nice little dog near our house.
I would like to show you.
A little bright-eyed terrier,
You know,
With,
Oh,
Such long curly brown hair.
And it'll fetch things when you throw them.
And it'll sit up and beg for its dinner.
And all sorts of things.
I can't remember half of them.
And it belongs to a farmer,
You know.
And he says it's so useful.
It's worth a hundred pounds.
He says it kills all the rats and,
Oh dear,
Cried Alice in a sorrowful tone.
I'm afraid I've offended it again.
For the mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go,
And making quite a commotion in the pool as it went.
So she softly called after it.
Mouse dear,
Do come back again.
And we won't talk about cats or dogs either,
If you don't like them.
When the mouse heard this,
It turned around and swam slowly back to her.
Its face was quite pale.
With passion,
Alice thought.
And it said in a low,
Trembling voice,
Let us get to the shore,
And then I'll tell you my history,
And you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.
It was high time to go,
For the pool was getting quite crowded with the birds and animals that had fallen into it.
There were a duck and a dodo,
A lorry and an eaglet,
And several other curious creatures.
Alice led the way,
And the whole party swam to the shore.
Chapter 3.
A Caucus Race and a Long Tail They were indeed a weird-looking party that assembled on the bank.
The birds with draggled feathers,
The animals with their fur clinging close to them,
And all dripping wet,
Cross,
And uncomfortable.
The first question,
Of course,
Was how to get dry again.
They had a consultation about this,
And after a few minutes,
It seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them,
As if she had known them all her life.
Indeed,
She had quite a long argument with the lorry,
Who at last turned sulky and would only say,
I am older than you and must know better.
And this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was,
And,
As the lorry positively refused to tell its age,
There was no more to be said.
At last,
The mouse,
Who seemed to be a person of authority among them,
Called out,
Sit down all of you and listen to me.
I'll soon make you dry enough.
They all sat down at once,
In a large ring,
With the mouse in the middle.
Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it,
For she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
Ahem,
Said the mouse with an important air,
Are you all ready?
This is the driest thing I know.
Silence all around,
If you please.
William the Conqueror,
Whose cause was favoured by the Pope,
Was soon submitted to by the English,
Who wanted leaders,
And had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest.
Edwin and Morcar,
The earls of Mercia and Northumbria.
Ugh!
Said the lorry with a shiver.
I beg your pardon,
Said the mouse,
Frowning,
But very politely.
Did you speak?
Not I,
Said the lorry,
Hastily.
I thought you did,
Said the mouse.
I proceed.
Edwin and Morcar,
The earls of Mercia and Northumbria,
Declared for him,
And even Stegand,
The patriotic Archbishop of Canterbury,
Found it advisable.
Found what?
Said the duck.
Found it,
The mouse replied,
Rather crossly.
Of course you know what it means.
I know what it means well enough,
When I find a thing,
Said the duck.
It's generally a frog or a worm.
The question is,
What did the Archbishop find?
The mouse did not notice this question,
But hurriedly went on.
Found it advisable to go with Edgard Atheling,
To meet William and offer him the crown.
William's conduct at first was moderate,
But the insolence of his Normans— How are you getting on now,
My dear?
I continued,
Turning to Alice as it spoke.
As wet as ever,
Said Alice,
In a melancholy tone.
It doesn't seem to dry me at all.
In that case,
Said the dodo,
Solemnly,
Rising to its feet,
I move that the meeting adjourn,
For the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies.
Speak English,
Said the eaglet.
I don't know the meaning of half those long words,
And what's more,
I don't believe you do either.
And the eaglet bent down its head to hide its smile.
Some of the other birds tittered audibly.
What I was going to say,
Said the dodo,
In an offended tone,
Was that the best thing to get us dry would be a caucus race.
What is a caucus race?
Said Alice.
Not that she wanted much to know,
But the dodo had paused,
As if it thought that somebody ought to speak,
And no one else seemed inclined to say anything.
Why,
Said the dodo,
The best way to explain it is to do it.
And as you might like to try the thing for yourself,
Some winter day,
I will tell you how the dodo managed it.
First,
It marked out a race course,
In a sort of circle.
The exact shape doesn't matter,
It said.
And then all the party were placed along the course,
Here and there.
There was no one,
Two,
Three,
And away.
But they began running when they liked,
And they left off when they liked,
So that it was not easy to know when the race was over.
However,
When they had been running half an hour or so,
And were quite dry again,
The dodo suddenly called out,
The race is over!
And they all crowded round it,
Panting and asking,
But who has won?
This question,
The dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought.
And it sat for a long time,
With one finger pressed upon its forehead.
The position in which you usually see Shakespeare,
And the pictures of him,
While the rest waited in silence.
At last,
The dodo said,
Everybody has won,
And all must have prizes.
But who is to give the prizes?
Quite a chorus of voices asked.
Why,
She is,
Of course,
Said the dodo,
Pointing to Alice with one finger.
And the whole party at once crowded round her,
Calling out in a confused way,
Prizes,
Prizes!
Alice had no idea what to do,
And in despair,
She put her hand in her pocket,
And pulled out a box of comfits.
Luckily,
The saltwater had not got into it,
And handed them round as prizes.
There was exactly one apiece,
All round.
But she must have a prize herself,
You know,
Said the mouse.
Of course,
The dodo replied very gravely,
What else have you got in your pocket?
He went on,
Turning to Alice.
Only a thimble,
Said Alice sadly.
Hand it over here,
Said the dodo.
Then they all crowded round her once more,
While the dodo solemnly presented the thimble,
Saying,
We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble.
And,
When it had finished this short speech,
They all cheered.
Alice thought the whole thing very absurd.
But they all looked so grave,
That she did not dare to laugh.
And,
As she could not think of anything to say,
She simply bowed,
And took the thimble,
Looking as solemn as she could.
The next thing was to eat the comfits.
This caused some noise and confusion,
As the large birds complained that they could not taste theirs,
And the small ones choked,
And had to be patted on the back.
However,
It was over at last,
And they sat down again in a ring,
And begged the mouse to tell them something more.
You promised to tell me your history,
You know,
Said Alice.
And why it is you hate C and D,
She added in a whisper,
Half afraid it would be offended again.
Mine is a long and a sad tale,
Said the mouse,
Turning to Alice and sighing.
It is a long tale,
Certainly,
Said Alice,
Looking down with wonder at the mouse's tail.
But why do you call it sad?
And she kept on puzzling about it,
While the mouse was speaking,
So that her idea of the tale was something like this.
Fury said to a mouse that he met in the house.
Let us both go to law,
I will prosecute you.
Come,
I'll take no denial,
We must have a trial,
For really this morning I've got nothing to do,
Said the mouse to the cur.
Such a trial,
Dear sir,
With no jury or judge,
Would be wasting our breath.
I'll be judge,
I'll be jury,
Said cunning old Fury.
I'll try the whole cause and condemn you to death.
You are not attending,
Said the mouse to Alice severely.
What are you thinking of?
I beg your pardon,
Said Alice very humbly.
You had got to the fifth bend,
I think.
I had not,
Cried the mouse,
Sharply and very angrily.
A nut,
Said Alice,
Always ready to make herself useful,
And looking anxiously about her.
Oh,
Do let me help to undo it.
I shall do nothing of the sort,
Said the mouse,
Getting up and walking away.
You insult me by talking such nonsense.
I didn't mean it,
Pleaded poor Alice.
But you're so easily offended,
You know.
The mouse only growled in reply.
Please come back and finish your story.
Alice called after it,
And all the others all joined in chorus.
Yes,
Please do.
But the mouse only shook its head impatiently,
And walked a little quicker.
What a pity it wouldn't stay,
Sighed the lorry,
As soon as it was quite out of sight.
And an old crab took the opportunity of saying to her daughter,
Ah,
My dear,
Let this be a lesson to you never to lose your temper.
Hold your tongue,
Ma,
Said the young crab a little snappishly.
You're enough to try the patience of an oyster.
I wish I had our Dinah here.
I know I do,
Said Alice aloud,
Addressing nobody in particular.
She'd soon fetch it back.
And who is Dinah,
If I might venture to ask the question,
Said the lorry.
Alice replied eagerly,
For she was always ready to talk about her pet.
Dinah's our cat,
And she's such a capital one for catching mice you can't think.
And oh,
I wish you could see her after the birds.
Why,
She'd eat a little bird as soon as look at it.
This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party.
Some of the birds hurried off at once.
One old magpie began wrapping itself up very carefully,
Remarking,
I really must be getting home.
The night air doesn't suit my throat.
And a canary called out in a trembling voice to its children,
Come away,
Dears.
It's high time you were all in bed.
On various pretexts,
They all moved off,
And Alice was soon left alone.
I wish I hadn't mentioned Dinah,
She said to herself in a melancholy tone.
Nobody seems to like her down here,
And I'm sure she's the best cat in the world.
Oh,
My dear Dinah,
I wonder if I shall ever see you anymore.
And here,
Poor Alice began to cry again,
For she felt very lonely and low-spirited.
In a little while,
However,
She again heard a little pattering of footsteps in the distance,
And she looked up eagerly,
Half hoping that the mouse had changed his mind and was coming back to finish his story.
Chapter 4 The Rabbit Sends In A Little Bill It was the white rabbit,
Trotting slowly back again and looking anxiously about as it went,
As if it had lost something,
And she heard it muttering to itself,
The Duchess!
The Duchess!
Oh,
My dear paws!
Oh,
My fur and whiskers!
She'll get me executed,
As sure as ferrets are ferrets.
Where can I have dropped them,
I wonder?
Alice guessed,
In a moment,
That it was looking for the fan and the pair of white kid gloves,
And she very good-naturedly began hunting about for them,
But they were nowhere to be seen.
Everything seemed to have changed since her swim in the pool and the great hall,
With a glass table and the little door,
Had vanished completely.
Very soon,
The rabbit noticed Alice,
As she went hunting about,
And called out to her in an angry tone,
Why,
Marianne,
What are you doing here?
Run home this moment and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan,
Quick now!
And Alice was so much frightened that she ran off at once in the direction it pointed to,
Without trying to explain the mistake it had made.
He took me for his housemaid,
She said to herself as she ran.
How surprised he'll be when he finds out who I am!
But I'd better take him his fan and gloves,
That is,
If I can find them.
As she said this,
She came upon a neat little house,
On the door of which was a bright brass plate with the name W.
Rabbit engraved upon it.
She went in,
Without knocking,
And hurried upstairs,
In great fear lest she should meet the real Marianne and be turned out of the house before she had found the fan and gloves.
How queer it seems,
Alice said to herself,
To be going messages for a rabbit.
I suppose Dinah'll be sending me on messages next.
And she began fancying the sort of thing that would happen.
Miss Alice,
Come here directly and get ready for your walk.
Coming in a minute,
Nurse.
But I've got to see that the mouse doesn't get out.
Only I don't think,
Alice went on,
That they'd let Dinah stop in the house if it began ordering people about like that.
By this time,
She had found her way into a tidy little room with a table in the window,
And on it,
As she had hoped,
A fan and two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves.
She took up the fan and a pair of the gloves and was just going to leave the room when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking glass.
There was no label this time with the words,
Drink me.
But nevertheless,
She uncorked it and put it to her lips.
I know something interesting is sure to happen,
She said to herself.
Whenever I eat or drink anything,
So I'll just see what this bottle does.
I do hope it'll make me grow large again.
For really,
I'm quite tired of being such a tiny little thing.
It did so indeed,
And much sooner than she had expected.
Before she had drunk half the bottle,
She found her head pressing against the ceiling and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken.
She hastily put down the bottle,
Saying to herself,
That's quite enough.
I hope I shan't grow any more.
As it is,
I can't get out of the door.
I do wish I hadn't drunk quite so much.
Alas,
It was too late to wish that.
She went on growing and growing,
And very soon had to kneel down on the floor.
In another minute,
There was not even room for this,
And she tried the effect of lying down with one elbow against the door and the other arm curled around her head.
Still,
She went on growing,
And as a last resource,
She put one arm out of the window and one foot up the chimney and said to herself,
Now I can do no more whatever happens.
What will become of me?
Luckily for Alice,
The little magic bottle had now had its full effect,
And she grew no larger.
Still,
It was very uncomfortable,
And,
As there seemed to be no sort of chance of her ever getting out of the room again,
No wonder she felt unhappy.
It was much pleasanter at home,
Thought poor Alice,
When one wasn't always growing larger and smaller and being ordered about by mice and rabbits.
I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit hole,
And yet,
It's rather curious,
You know,
This sort of life.
I do wonder what can have happened to me.
When I used to read fairy tales,
I fancied that kind of thing never happened,
And now here I am in the middle of one.
There ought to be a book written about me,
That there ought.
And when I grow up,
I'll write one.
But I'm grown up now,
She added,
In a sorrowful tone.
At least there's no room to grow up any more here.
But then,
Thought Alice,
Shall I never get any older than I am now?
That'll be a comfort one way,
Never to be an old woman,
But then,
Always to have lessons to learn.
Oh,
I shouldn't like that.
Oh,
You foolish Alice,
She answered herself.
How can you learn lessons in here?
Why?
There's hardly room for you,
And no room at all for any lesson books.
And so she went on,
Taking first one side,
And then the other,
And making quite a conversation of it all together.
But after a few minutes,
She heard a voice outside,
And stopped to listen.
Mary Anne,
Mary Anne,
Said the voice.
Fetch me my gloves this moment.
Then came a little pattering of feet on the stairs.
Alice knew it was a rabbit,
Coming to look for her,
And she trembled till she shook the house,
Quite forgetting that she was now about a thousand times as large as a rabbit,
And had no reason to be afraid of it.
Presently,
The rabbit came up to the door,
And tried to open it.
But as the door opened inwards,
And Alice's elbow was pressed hard against it,
That attempt proved a failure.
Alice heard it say to itself,
Then I'll go around and get in at the window.
That you won't,
Thought Alice,
And,
After waiting till she fancied she heard the rabbit,
Just under the window,
She suddenly spread out her hand,
And made a snatch in the air.
She did not get hold of anything,
But she heard a little shriek and a fall,
And a crash of broken glass,
From which she concluded that it was just possible it had fallen into a cucumber frame,
Or something of the sort.
Next came an angry voice,
The rabbit's.
Pat,
Pat,
Where are you?
And then a voice she had never heard before.
Sure then,
I'm here,
Digging your apples,
Your honor.
Digging for apples indeed,
Said the rabbit,
Angrily.
Here,
Come and help me out of this.
Sounds of more broken glass.
Now tell me,
Pat,
What's in the window?
Sure,
It's an arm,
Your honor.
He pronounced it,
A room.
An arm,
You goose?
Whoever saw one that size?
Why,
It fills the whole window.
Sure it does,
Your honor.
But it's an arm for all that.
Well,
It's got no business there,
At any rate.
Go and take it away.
There was a long silence after this,
And Alice could only hear whispers now and then,
Such as,
Sure,
I don't like it,
Your honor.
At all,
At all.
Do as I tell you,
You coward.
And at last,
She spread out her hand again,
And made another snatch in the air.
This time there were two little shrieks,
And more sounds of broken glass.
What a number of cucumber frames there must be,
Thought Alice.
I wonder what they'll do next.
As for pulling me out of the window,
I only wish they could.
I'm sure I don't want to stay in here any longer.
She waited for some time,
Without hearing anything more.
At last came a rumbling of little cartwheels,
And the sound of a good many voices all talking together.
She made out the words,
Where's the other ladder?
Why,
I didn't have to bring but one.
Bill's got the other.
Bill,
That should hear a lad.
Here,
Put him up at this corner.
No,
Tie him together first.
They don't reach half high enough yet.
Oh,
They'll do well enough.
Don't be particular.
Here,
Bill,
Catch hold of this rope.
Will the roof bear?
Mind that loose slate.
Oh,
It's coming down.
Heads below!
A loud crash.
Now who did that?
It was Bill,
I fancy.
Who's to go down the chimney?
Nay,
I shan't.
You do it.
That I won't,
Then.
Bill's to go down.
Here,
Bill.
The master says you're to go down the chimney.
Oh,
So Bill's got to come down the chimney,
Has he?
Said Alice to herself.
They seem to put everything upon Bill.
I wouldn't be in Bill's place for a good deal.
This fireplace is narrow,
To be sure.
But I think I can kick a little.
She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could and waited till she heard a little animal.
She couldn't guess of what sort it was,
Scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her.
Then saying to herself,
This is Bill.
She gave one sharp kick and waited to see what would happen next.
The first thing she heard was a general chorus of,
There goes Bill.
Then the rabbit's voice along,
Catch him,
You by the hedge.
Then silence.
And then another confusion of voices.
Hold up his head.
Brandy now.
Don't choke him.
How was it,
Old fellow?
What happened to you?
Tell us all about it.
Well,
I hardly know.
No more,
Thank ye.
I'm better now,
But I'm a deal too flustered to tell you.
All I know is something comes at me like a jack in the box and up I goes like a skyrocket.
So you did,
Old fellow,
Said the others.
We must burn the house down,
Said the rabbit's voice.
And Alice called out as loud as she could.
If you do,
I'll send Dinah at you.
There was a dead silence instantly.
And Alice thought to herself,
I wonder what they will do next.
If they had any sense,
They'd take the roof off.
After a minute or two,
They began moving about again.
And Alice heard the rabbit say,
A barrelful will do to begin with.
A barrelful of what?
Thought Alice.
But she had not long to doubt.
For the next moment,
A shower of little pebbles came rattling in at the window,
And some of them hit her in the face.
I'll put a stop to this,
She said to herself and shouted out.
You'd better not do that again,
Which produced another dead silence.
Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes as they lay down on the floor.
And a bright idea came into her head.
If I eat one of these cakes,
She thought,
It's sure to make some change in my size.
And as it can't possibly make me larger,
It must make me smaller,
I suppose.
So she swallowed one of the cakes and was delighted to find that she began shrinking directly.
As soon as she was small enough to get through the door,
She ran out of the house and found quite a crowd of little animals and birds waiting outside.
The poor little lizard,
Bill,
Was in the middle,
Being held up by two guinea pigs.
Who were giving it something out of a bottle.
They all made a rush at Alice the moment she appeared,
But she ran off as hard as she could and soon found herself safe in a thick wood.
The first thing I've got to do,
Said Alice to herself,
As she wandered about in the wood,
Is to grow to my right size again.
And the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden.
I think that will be the best plan.
It sounded like an excellent plan,
No doubt,
And very neatly and simply arranged.
The only difficulty was that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it.
And while she was peering about anxiously among the trees,
A little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry.
An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes and feebly stretching out one paw,
Trying to touch her.
Poor little thing,
Said Alice in a coaxing tone.
And she tried hard to whistle to it,
But she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought that it might be hungry,
In which case it would be very likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.
Hardly knowing what she did,
She picked up a little bit of stick and held it out to the puppy,
Whereupon the puppy jumped into the air off all its feet at once,
With a yelp of delight,
And rushed at the stick and made believe to worry it.
Then Alice dodged behind a great thistle to keep herself from being run over,
And the moment she appeared on the other side,
The puppy made another rush at the stick and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it.
Then Alice,
Thinking it was very like having a game of play with a cart horse and expecting every moment to be trampled under its feet,
Ran round the thistle again.
Then the puppy began a series of short charges at the stick,
Running a very little way forwards each time and a long way back and barking hoarsely all the while,
Till at last it sat down a good way off,
Panting,
With its tongue hanging out of its mouth and its great eyes half shut.
This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape,
So she set off at once and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath,
Until the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance.
And yet,
What a dear little puppy it was,
Said Alice,
As she leaned against a buttercup to rest herself and fanned herself with one of the leaves.
I should have liked teaching it tricks very much,
If,
If I'd only been the right size to do it.
Oh dear,
I'd nearly forgotten that I've got to grow up again.
Let me see,
How is it to be managed?
I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other,
But the great question is what?
The great question certainly was what?
Alice looked all around her at the flowers and the blades of grass,
But she did not see anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the circumstances.
There was a large mushroom growing near her,
About the same height as herself.
And when she looked under it,
And on both sides of it,
And behind it,
It occurred to her that she might as well look and see what was on the top of it.
She stretched herself up on tiptoe and peered over the edge of the mushroom,
And her eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar that was sitting on the top with its arms folded,
Quietly smoking along hookah and taking not the smallest notice of her or of anything else.
