在梦中追逐一只兔子而掉进了兔子洞，

开始

了漫长而惊险的旅行，

直到最后与 扑克牌王后、

国王发生顶撞，

急得大叫一声，

< br>才大梦醒来。

这部童话以神奇的幻想，

风趣的幽默，

昂然的诗情，

突破了西欧传统儿童文学道德说教的刻

板公式，此后被翻译成多种文字，走遍了全世界。

CHAPTER I Down the Rabbit-Hole

CHAPTER I 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

conversation?'

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

WAISTCOA

T-

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 book-shelves; 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 labelled `ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did

not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, 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 down

stairs! How brave they'll all think 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 centre of the earth. Let

me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt 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

downward!

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 curtsey as she spoke--fancy CURTSEYING as

you're falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) `And what an ignorant little girl

she'll think 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'll

miss

me

very

much to-night, 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? 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

begun

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 on to 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

into

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 though 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 know 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

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 flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, 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 poor little 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 II The Pool of Tears

CHAPTER II The Pool of Tears

`Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite

forgot how to speak good English); `now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was!

Good-bye, 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, ESQ. HEARTHRUG, 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 round 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 any one; so, when the Rabbit

came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, `If you please, sir--' The Rabbit started violently,

dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and skurried 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 queer everything is to-day! 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 in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in

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: four times five is twelve, and four times six is

thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty 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, THA

T'S all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been changed

for Mabel! I'll try and say

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 the 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 poky 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 their putting their heads down and

saying

then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else

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

CAN

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 queer thing,

to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.'

Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off, and she swam nearer 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, that I should think very likely it can talk: at any rate, there's no harm in

trying.'

So

she

began:

`O

Mouse,

do

you

know

the

way

out

of

this

pool?

I

am

very

tired

of

swimming about here, O 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 --O

mouse!'

The

Mouse

looked

at

her

rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes, but it said nothing.

`Perhaps it doesn't understand English,' thought Alice; `I daresay 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: `Ou est ma chatte?' which 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 any more if you'd rather not.'

`We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to 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 should 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 called softly 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 round 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

Lory

and

an

Eaglet,

and

several

other

curious

creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore.

CHAPTER III A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

CHAPTER III A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

They

were

indeed

a

queer-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

Lory,

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 Lory 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 round, if you please!

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 Lory, with a shiver.

`I beg your pardon!' said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely: `Did you speak?'

`Not I!' said the Lory hastily.

`I

thought

you

did,'

said

the

Mouse.

`--I

proceed.

and

Morcar,

the

earls

of

Mercia

and

Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, 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

`I know what

a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?'

The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, `

Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate.

But the insolence of his Normans--

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 a 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 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 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, in

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, 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 salt water had not got into it), and handed them round as prizes. There was

exactly one a-piece 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 that 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 tail, 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,

--Come, I'll take no denial; We must have a trial: For really this morning I've nothing to do.

the mouse to the cur,

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 knot!' 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 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 Lory, 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 Lory.

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'll 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, my 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

any

more!'

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 IV The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

CHAPTER IV 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 the 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, Mary Ann, what ARE you doing out 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 Mary Ann, 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:

`

I've got to see that the mouse doesn't get out.

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 at 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 round 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--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

altogether; but after a few minutes she heard a voice outside, and stopped to listen.

`Mary

Ann!

Mary

Ann!'

said

the

voice.

`Fetch

me

my

gloves

this

moment!'

Then

came

a

little

pattering

of

feet

on

the

stairs.

Alice

knew

it

was

the

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 the 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 round 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 for apples, yer honour!'

`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 that in the window?'

`Sure, it's an arm, yer honour!' (He pronounced it `arrum.')

`An arm, you goose! Who ever saw one that size? Why, it fills the whole window!'

`Sure, it does, yer honour: 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, yer honour, 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 hadn't to bring but one; Bill's got the other--Bill! fetch it here,

lad!--Here, put 'em up at this corner-- No, tie 'em 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. `Shy, 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!'

Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice, (`That's Bill,' thought Alice,) `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 sky-rocket!'

`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 set 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 barrowful will do, to begin with.'

`A

barrowful

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 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 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, and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance.

`And yet what a dear little puppy it was!' said Alice, as she leant 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 round 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 had 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

peeped

over

the

edge

of

the

mushroom,

and

her

eyes

immediately

met

those

of

a

large

caterpillar,

that

was

sitting

on

the

top

with

its

arms

folded,

quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of her or of anything else.

CHAPTER V Advice from a Caterpillar

CHAPTER V Advice from a Caterpillar

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took

the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.

`Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, `I--I hardly

know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I

must have been changed several times since then.'

`What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. `Explain yourself!'

`I can't explain MYSELF, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, `because I'm not myself, you see.'

`I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.

`I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, `for I can't understand it myself

to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'

`It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.

`Well,

perhaps

you

haven't

found

it

so

yet,'

said

Alice;

`but

when

you

have

to

turn

into

a

chrysalis--you will some day, you know--and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll

feel it a little queer, won't you?'

`Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.

`Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,' said Alice; `all I know is, it would feel very queer

to ME.'

`You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. `Who are YOU?'

Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at

the Caterpillar's making such VERY short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely,

`I think, you ought to tell me who YOU are, first.'

`Why?' said the Caterpillar.

Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the

Caterpillar seemed to be in a VERY unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.

`Come back!' the Caterpillar called after her. `I've something important to say!'

This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again.

`Keep your temper,' said the Caterpillar.

`Is that all?' said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.

`No,' said the Caterpillar.

Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else to do, and perhaps after all it might

tell her something worth hearing. For some minutes it puffed away without speaking, but at last it

unfolded its arms, took the hookah out of its mouth again, and said, `So you think you're changed,

do you?'

`I'm afraid I am, sir,' said Alice; `I can't remember things as I used--and I don't keep the same size

for ten minutes together!'

`Can't remember WHAT things?' said the Caterpillar.

`Well, I've tried to say

replied in a very melancholy voice.

`Repeat,

Alice folded her hands, and began:--

`You are old, Father William,' the young man said, `And your hair has become very white; And yet

you incessantly stand on your head-- Do you think, at your age, it is right?'

`In my youth,' Father William replied to his son, `I feared it might injure the brain; But, now that

I'm perfectly sure I have none, Why, I do it again and again.'

`You are old,' said the youth, `as I mentioned before, And have grown most uncommonly fat; Yet

you turned a back-somersault in at the door-- Pray, what is the reason of that?'

`In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, `I kept all my limbs very supple By the

use of this ointment--one shilling the box-- Allow me to sell you a couple?'

`You are old,' said the youth, `and your jaws are too weak For anything tougher than suet; Yet you

finished the goose, with the bones and the beak-- Pray how did you manage to do it?'

`In

my

youth,' said his father,

`I took to the law, And argued each case with my

wife; And the

muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw, Has lasted the rest of my life.'

`You are old,' said the youth, `one would hardly suppose That your eye was as steady as ever; Yet

you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-- What made you so awfully clever?'

`I have answered three questions, and that is enough,' Said his father; `don't give yourself airs! Do

you think I can listen all day to such stuff? Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!'

`That is not said right,' said the Caterpillar.

`Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; `some of the words have got altered.'

`It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and there was silence for some

minutes.

The Caterpillar was the first to speak.

`What size do you want to be?' it asked.

`Oh, I'm not particular as to size,' Alice hastily replied; `only one doesn't like changing so often,

you know.'

`I DON'T know,' said the Caterpillar.

Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in her life before, and she felt that

she was losing her temper.

`Are you content now?' said the Caterpillar.

`Well, I should like to be a LITTLE larger, sir, if you wouldn't mind,' said Alice: `three inches is

such a wretched height to be.'

`It is a very good height indeed!' said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it

was exactly three inches high).

`But I'm not used to it!' pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone. And she thought of herself, `I wish

the creatures wouldn't be so easily offended!'

`You'll get used to it in time,' said the Caterpillar; and it put the hookah into its mouth and began

smoking again.

This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a minute or two the Caterpillar

took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off

the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it went, `One side will make

you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.'

`One side of WHAT? The other side of WHAT?' thought Alice to herself.

`Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it

was out of sight.

Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were

the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. However,

at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with

each hand.

`And now which is which?' she said to herself, and nibbled a little of the right-hand bit to try the

effect: the next moment she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had struck her foot!

She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but she felt that there was no time to

be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her

chin was pressed so closely against her foot, that there was hardly room to open her mouth; but

she did it at last, and managed to swallow a morsel of the lefthand bit.

* * * * * * *

* * * * * *

* * * * * * *

`Come, my head's free at last!' said Alice in a tone of delight, which changed into alarm in another

moment, when she found that her shoulders were nowhere to be found: all she could see, when she

looked down, was an immense length of neck, which seemed to rise like a stalk out of a sea of

green leaves that lay far below her.

`What CAN all that green stuff be?' said Alice. `And where HA

VE my shoulders got to? And oh,

my poor hands, how is it I can't see you?' She was moving them about as she spoke, but no result

seemed to follow, except a little shaking among the distant green leaves.

As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head

down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction,

like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to

dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she

had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown

into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.

`Serpent!' screamed the Pigeon.

`I'm NOT a serpent!' said Alice indignantly. `Let me alone!'

`Serpent, I say again!' repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of

sob, `I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!'

`I haven't the least idea what you're talking about,' said Alice.

`I've

tried

the

roots

of

trees,

and

I've

tried

banks,

and

I've

tried

hedges,'

the

Pigeon

went

on,

without attending to her; `but those serpents! There's no pleasing them!'

Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no use in saying anything more till

the Pigeon had finished.

`As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs,' said the Pigeon; `but I must be on the look-out

for serpents night and day! Why, I haven't had a wink of sleep these three weeks!'

`I'm very sorry you've been annoyed,' said Alice, who was beginning to see its meaning.

`And just as I'd taken the highest tree in the wood,' continued the Pigeon, raising its voice

to a

shriek, `and just as I was thinking I should be free of them at last, they must needs come wriggling

down from the sky! Ugh, Serpent!'

`But I'm NOT a serpent, I tell you!' said Alice. `I'm a--I'm a--'

`Well! WHAT are you?' said the Pigeon. `I can see you're trying to invent something!'

`I--I'm a little girl,' said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she

had gone through that day.

`A likely story indeed!' said the Pigeon in a tone of the deepest contempt. `I've seen a good many

little

girls

in

my

time,

but

never

ONE

with

such

a

neck

as

that!

No,

no!

You're

a

serpent;

and

there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!'

`I HA

VE tasted eggs, certainly,' said Alice, who was a very truthful child; `but little girls eat eggs

quite as much as serpents do, you know.'

`I don't believe it,' said the Pigeon; `but if they do, why then they're a kind of serpent, that's all I

can say.'

This was such a new idea to Alice, that she was quite silent for a minute or two, which gave the

Pigeon the opportunity of adding, `You're looking for eggs, I know THAT well enough; and what

does it matter to me whether you're a little girl or a serpent?'

`It matters a good deal to ME,' said Alice hastily; `but I'm not looking for eggs, as it happens; and

if I was, I shouldn't want YOURS: I don't like them raw.'

`Well, be off, then!' said the Pigeon in a sulky tone, as it settled down again into its nest. Alice

crouched down among the trees as well as she could, for her neck kept getting entangled among

the branches, and every now and then she had to stop and untwist it. After a while she remembered

that

she

still

held

the

pieces

of

mushroom

in

her

hands,

and

she

set

to

work

very

carefully,

nibbling first at one and then at the other, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter,

until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height.

It was so long since she had been anything near the right size, that it felt quite strange at first; but

she got used to it in a few minutes, and began talking to herself, as usual. `Come, there's half my

plan done now! How puzzling all these changes are! I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one

minute

to

another!

However,

I've

got

back

to

my

right

size:

the

next

thing

is,

to

get

into

that

beautiful garden--how IS that to be done, I wonder?' As she said this, she came suddenly upon an

open place, with a little house in it about four feet high. `Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, `it'll

never

do

to

come

upon

them

THIS

size:

why,

I

should

frighten

them

out

of

their

wits!'

So

she

began nibbling at the righthand bit again, and did not venture to go near the house till she had

brought herself down to nine inches high.

CHAPTER VI Pig and Pepper

CHAPTER VI Pig and Pepper

For

a

minute

or

two

she

stood

looking

at

the

house,

and

wondering

what

to

do

next,

when

suddenly a footman in livery came running out of the wood--(she considered him to be a footman

because

he

was

in

livery:

otherwise,

judging

by

his

face

only,

she

would

have

called

him

a

fish)--and rapped loudly at the door with his knuckles. It was opened by another footman in livery,

with a round face, and large eyes like a frog; and both footmen, Alice noticed, had powdered hair

that curled all over their heads. She felt very curious to know what it was all about, and crept a

little way out of the wood to listen.

The Fish-Footman began by producing from under his arm a great letter, nearly as large as himself,

and this he handed over to the other, saying, in a solemn tone, `For the Duchess. An invitation

from

the

Queen

to

play

croquet.'

The

Frog-Footman

repeated,

in

the

same

solemn

tone,

only

changing the order of the words a little, `From the Queen. An invitation for the Duchess to play

croquet.'

Then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled together.

Alice laughed so much at this, that she had to run back into the wood for fear of their hearing her;

and when she next peeped out the Fish- Footman was gone, and the other was sitting on the ground

near the door, staring stupidly up into the sky.

Alice went timidly up to the door, and knocked.

`There's no sort of use in knocking,' said the Footman, `and that for two reasons. First, because I'm

on the same side of the door as you are; secondly, because they're making such a noise inside, no

one

could

possibly

hear

you.'

And

certainly

there

was

a

most

extraordinary

noise

going

on

within-- a

constant

howling and

sneezing, and every

now

and

then

a great

crash,

as

if

a

dish

or

kettle had been broken to pieces.

`Please, then,' said Alice, `how am I to get in?'

`There might be some sense in your knocking,' the Footman went on without attending to her, `if

we had the door between us. For instance, if you were INSIDE, you might knock, and I could let

you out, you know.' He was looking up into the sky all the time he was speaking, and this Alice

thought decidedly uncivil. `But perhaps he can't help it,' she said to herself; `his eyes are so VERY

nearly at the top of his head. But at any rate he might answer questions.--How am I to get in?' she

repeated, aloud.

`I shall sit here,' the Footman remarked, `till tomorrow--'

At this moment the door of the house opened, and a large plate came skimming out, straight at the

Footman's head: it just grazed his nose, and broke to pieces against one of the trees behind him.

`--or

next

day,

maybe,'

the

Footman

continued

in

the

same

tone,

exactly

as

if

nothing

had

happened.

`How am I to get in?' asked Alice again, in a louder tone.

`ARE you to get in at all?' said the Footman. `That's the first question, you know.'

It was, no doubt: only Alice did not like to be told so. `It's really dreadful,' she muttered to herself,

`the way all the creatures argue. It's enough to drive one crazy!'

The Footman seemed to think this a good opportunity for repeating his remark, with variations. `I

shall sit here,' he said, `on and off, for days and days.'

`But what am I to do?' said Alice.

`Anything you like,' said the Footman, and began whistling.

`Oh,

there's

no

use

in

talking

to

him,'

said

Alice

desperately:

`he's

perfectly

idiotic!'

And

she

opened the door and went in.

The door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from one end to the other: the

Duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was leaning

over the fire, stirring a large cauldron which seemed to be full of soup.

`There's certainly too

much pepper in that soup!' Alice said to herself, as well as

she could for

sneezing.

There was certainly too much of it in the air. Even the Duchess sneezed occasionally; and as for

the baby, it was sneezing and howling alternately without a moment's pause. The only things in the

kitchen that did not sneeze, were the cook, and a large cat which was sitting on the hearth and

grinning from ear to ear.

`Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was not quite sure whether it was

good manners for her to speak first, `why your cat grins like that?'

`It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, `and that's why. Pig!'

She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite jumped; but she saw in another

moment

that

it

was

addressed

to

the

baby,

and

not

to

her,

so

she

took

courage,

and

went

on

again:--

`I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't know that cats COULD grin.'

`They all can,' said the Duchess; `and most of 'em do.'

`I

don't

know

of

any

that

do,'

Alice

said

very

politely,

feeling

quite

pleased

to

have

got

into

a

conversation.

`You don't know much,' said the Duchess; `and that's a fact.'

Alice did not at all like the tone of this remark, and thought it would be as well to introduce some

other subject of conversation. While she was trying to fix on one, the cook took the cauldron of

soup off the fire, and at once set to work throwing everything within her reach at the Duchess and

the baby --the fire-irons came first; then followed a shower of saucepans, plates, and dishes. The

Duchess

took

no

notice

of

them

even

when

they

hit

her;

and

the

baby

was

howling

so

much

already, that it was quite impossible to say whether the blows hurt it or not.

`Oh, PLEASE mind what you're doing!' cried Alice, jumping up and down in an agony of terror.

`Oh, there goes his PRECIOUS nose'; as an unusually large saucepan flew close by it, and very

nearly carried it off.

`If everybody minded their own business,' the Duchess said in a hoarse growl, `the world would

go round a deal faster than it does.'

`Which

would

NOT

be

an

advantage,'

said

Alice,

who

felt

very

glad

to

get

an

opportunity

of

showing off a little of her knowledge. `Just think of what work it would make with the day and

night! You see the earth takes twenty-four hours to turn round on its axis--'

`Talking of axes,' said the Duchess, `chop off her head!'

Alice glanced rather anxiously at the cook, to see if she meant to take the hint; but the cook was

busily stirring the soup, and seemed not to be listening, so she went on again: `Twenty-four hours,

I THINK; or is it twelve? I--'

`Oh, don't bother ME,' said the Duchess; `I never could abide figures!' And with that she began

nursing her child again, singing a sort of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a violent shake at

the end of every line:

`Speak

roughly

to

your

little

boy,

And

beat

him

when

he

sneezes:

He

only

does

it

to

annoy,

Because he knows it teases.'

CHORUS.

(In which the cook and the baby joined):--

`Wow! wow! wow!'

While the Duchess sang the second verse of the song, she kept tossing the baby violently up and

down, and the poor little thing howled so, that Alice could hardly hear the words:--

`I speak severely to my boy, I beat him when he sneezes; For he can thoroughly enjoy The pepper

when he pleases!'

CHORUS.

`Wow! wow! wow!'

`Here! you may nurse it a bit, if you like!' the Duchess said to Alice, flinging the baby at her as she

spoke. `I must go and get ready to play croquet with the Queen,' and she hurried out of the room.

The cook threw a frying-pan after her as she went out, but it just missed her.

Alice caught the baby with some difficulty, as it was a queer- shaped little creature, and held out

its arms and legs in all directions, `just like a star-fish,' thought Alice. The poor little thing was

snorting

like

a

steam-engine

when

she

caught

it,

and

kept

doubling

itself

up

and

straightening

itself out again, so that altogether, for the first minute or two, it was as much as she could do to

hold it.

As soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it, (which was to twist it up into a sort of

knot, and then keep tight hold of its right ear and left foot, so as to prevent its undoing itself,) she

carried it out into the open air. `IF I don't take this child away with me,' thought Alice, `they're

sure to kill it in a day or two: wouldn't it be murder to leave it behind?' She said the last words out

loud, and the little thing grunted in reply (it had left off sneezing by this time). `Don't grunt,' said

Alice; `that's not at all a proper way of expressing yourself.'

The baby grunted again, and Alice looked very anxiously into its face to see what was the matter

with it. There could be no doubt that it had a VERY turn-up nose, much more like a snout than a

real nose; also its eyes were getting extremely small for a baby: altogether Alice did not like the

look of the thing at all. `But perhaps it was only sobbing,' she thought, and looked into its eyes

again, to see if there were any tears.

No, there were no tears. `If you're going to turn into a pig, my dear,' said Alice, seriously, `I'll have

nothing more to do with you. Mind now!' The poor little thing sobbed again (or grunted, it was

impossible to say which), and they went on for some while in silence.

Alice was just beginning to think to herself, `Now, what am I to do with this creature when I get it

home?' when it grunted again, so violently, that she looked down into its face in some alarm. This

time there could be NO mistake about it: it was neither more nor less than a pig, and she felt that it

would be quite absurd for her to carry it further.

So she set the little creature down, and felt quite relieved to see it trot away quietly into the wood.

`If it had grown up,' she said to herself, `it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes

rather a handsome pig, I think.' And she began thinking over other children she knew, who might

do very well as pigs, and was just saying to herself, `if one only knew the right way to change

them--' when she was a little startled by seeing the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few

yards off.

The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good- natured, she thought: still it had VERY

long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

`Cheshire

Puss,'

she

began, rather

timidly,

as

she

did

not

at

all

know

whether

it

would

like

the

name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she

went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

`I don't much care where--' said Alice.

`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.

`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. `What sort of people live

about here?'

`In

THAT

direction,'

the

Cat

said,

waving

its

right

paw

round,

`lives

a

Hatter:

and

in

THAT

direction,' waving the other paw, `lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.'

`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'

`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.

`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'

Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on `And how do you know that you're

mad?'

`To begin with,' said the Cat, `a dog's not mad. You grant that?'

`I suppose so,' said Alice.

`Well, then,' the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's

pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'

`I call it purring, not growling,' said Alice.

`Call it what you like,' said the Cat. `Do you play croquet with the Queen to-day?'

`I should like it very much,' said Alice, `but I haven't been invited yet.'

`You'll see me there,' said the Cat, and vanished.

Alice was not much surprised at this, she was getting so used to queer things happening. While

she was looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.

`By-the-bye, what became of the baby?' said the Cat. `I'd nearly forgotten to ask.'

`It turned into a pig,' Alice quietly said, just as if it had come back in a natural way.

`I thought it would,' said the Cat, and vanished again.

Alice waited a little, half expecting to see it again, but it did not appear, and after a minute or two

she walked on in the direction in which the March Hare was said to live. `I've seen hatters before,'

she said to herself; `the March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May

it won't be raving mad--at least not so mad as it was in March.' As she said this, she looked up, and

there was the Cat again, sitting on a branch of a tree.

`Did you say pig, or fig?' said the Cat.

`I said pig,' replied Alice; `and I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you

make one quite giddy.'

`All right,' said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail,

and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.

`Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin,' thought Alice; `but a grin without a cat! It's the most

curious thing I ever saw in my life!'

She

had

not

gone

much

farther

before

she

came

in

sight

of

the

house

of

the

March

Hare:

she

thought it must be the right house, because the chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was

thatched with fur. It was so large a house, that she did not like to go nearer till she had nibbled

some more of the lefthand bit of mushroom, and raised herself to about two feet high: even then

she walked up towards it rather timidly, saying to herself `Suppose it should be raving mad after

all! I almost wish I'd gone to see the Hatter instead!'

CHAPTER VII A Mad Tea-Party

CHAPTER VII A Mad Tea-Party

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter

were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were

using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. `Very uncomfortable for

the Dormouse,' thought Alice; `only, as it's asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind.'

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: `No room!

No

room!'

they

cried

out

when

they

saw

Alice

coming.

`There's

PLENTY

of

room!'

said

Alice

indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

`Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don't see any wine,' she

remarked.

`There isn't any,' said the March Hare.

`Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice angrily.

`It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited,' said the March Hare.

`I didn't know it was YOUR table,' said Alice; `it's laid for a great many more than three.'

`Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great

curiosity, and this was his first speech.

`You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said with some severity; `it's very rude.'

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he SAID was, `Why is a raven like a

writing-desk?'

`Come,

we

shall

have

some

fun

now!'

thought

Alice.

`I'm

glad

they've

begun

asking

riddles.--I

believe I can guess that,' she added aloud.

`Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?' said the March Hare.

`Exactly so,' said Alice.

`Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.

`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say-- that's the same thing, you know.'

`Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that

same thing as

`You might just as well say,' added the March Hare, `that

get what I like

`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that

breathe when I sleep

`It IS the same thing with you,' said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party

sat

silent

for

a

minute,

while

Alice

thought

over

all

she

could

remember

about

ravens

and

writing-desks, which wasn't much.

The Hatter was the first to

break the silence. `What day of the

month is it?' he said, turning to

Alice: he had taken his watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every

now and then, and holding it to his ear.

Alice considered a little, and then said `The fourth.'

`Two days wrong!' sighed the Hatter. `I told you butter wouldn't suit the works!' he added looking

angrily at the March Hare.

`It was the BEST butter,' the March Hare meekly replied.

`Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well,' the Hatter grumbled: `you shouldn't have put it in

with the bread-knife.'

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then he dipped it into his cup of tea,

and looked at it again: but he could think of nothing better to say than his first remark, `It was the

BEST butter, you know.'

Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. `What a funny watch!' she remarked.

`It tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!'

`Why should it?' muttered the Hatter. `Does YOUR watch tell you what year it is?'

`Of course not,' Alice replied very readily: `but that's because it stays the same year for such a long

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