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: `"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 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
voice 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.
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