wonderland_ch_01 (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

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04Alice'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.

05Once or twice she peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it.

06And what's the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversation?

07So 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.

08There 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.

09When 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.

10But 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'd 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.

11In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

12The 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.

13Either 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.

14First she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything.

15Then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves.

16Here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs.

17She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed.

18It was labeled Orange Marmalade, but to her great disappointment it was empty.

19She did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so she managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

20Well, thought Alice to herself, after such a fall as this I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs.

21How brave they'll all think me at home!

22Why, I wouldn't say anything about it even if I fell off the top of a house!

23Which was very likely true.

24Down, down, down.

25Down.

26Would the fall never come to an end?

27I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time, she said aloud.

28I must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth.

29Let me see.

30That would be four thousand miles down, I think.

31For 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.

32Yes, that's about the right distance.

33But then I wonder what latitude or longitude I've got to.

34Alice had no idea what latitude was, or longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.

35Presently she began again.

36I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth.

37How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward.

38The antipathies, I think.

39She was rather glad there was no one listening this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word.

40But I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know.

41Please, ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?

42And she tried to curtsy as she spoke.

43Fancy curtsying as you're falling through the air.

44Do you think you could manage it?

45And what an ignorant little girl she'll thank me for asking.

46No, it'll never do to ask.

47Perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.

48Down, down, down.

49There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again.

50And Dinah will miss me very much tonight, I should think.

51Dinah was the cat.

52I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea time.

53Dinah, my dear, I wish you were down here with me.

54There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat.

55And that's very like a mouse, you know.

56But do cats eat bats, I wonder?

57And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself in a dreamy sort of way, Do cats eat bats?

58Do cats eat bats?

59And sometimes, do bats eat cats?

60For, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.

61She 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.

62Did you ever eat a bat?

63When suddenly, thump, thump, down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

64Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on her feet in a moment.

65She looked up, but it was all dark overhead.

66Before her was another long passage, and the white rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it.

67There was not a moment to be lost.

68Away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, Oh, my ears and whiskers!

69How late it's getting!

70She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the rabbit was no longer to be seen.

71She found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

72There were doors all around 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.

73Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass.

74There 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.

75But alas, either the locks were too large or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them.

76However, 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.

77She tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted.

78Alice opened the door and found it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat hole.

79She knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw.

80How 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.

81And even if my head would go through, thought poor Alice, it would be of very little use without my shoulders.

82Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope!

83I think I could, if I only know how to begin.

84For, 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.

85There 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.

86This time she found a little bottle on it.

87Which 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.

88It was all very well to say, Drink Me, but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry.

89No, I'll look first, she said, and see whether it's marked poison or not.

90For she had read several nice little histories about children who'd gotten 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.

91And she had never forgotten that if you drink much from a bottle marked poison, it's almost certain to disagree with you sooner or later.

92However, 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.

93She very soon finished it off.

94What a curious feeling, said Alice.

95I must be shutting up like a telescope.

96And so it was indeed.

97She 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.

98First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further.

99She felt a little nervous about this.

100For it might end, you know, said Alice to herself.

101Am I going out altogether like a candle?

102I wonder what I should be like then.

103And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember having ever seen such a thing.

104After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once.

105But alas for poor Alice, when she got to the door, she found she'd forgotten the little golden key.

106And when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach it.

107She could see it quite plainly through the glass.

108And she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery.

109And when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.

110Come, there's no use crying like that, said Alice to herself rather sharply.

111I advise you to leave off this minute.

112She generally gave herself very good advice, though she very seldom followed it.

113And sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes.

114She once remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself.

115For this curious child was fond of pretending to be two people.

116But it's no use now, thought poor Alice, to pretend to be two people.

117Why, there's hardly enough of me to make one respectable person.

118Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table.

119She opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words, Eat me, were beautifully marked in currents.

120Well, I'll eat it, said Alice, and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key.

121And if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door.

122So either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens.

123She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, Which way?

124Which way?

125Holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing.

126And she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size.

127To be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake.

128But Alice had gotten 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.

129So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.

130End of chapter 1 Read by Christa McQuillan Tokyo, Japan November 15, 2005 And she said, And she said, And she said, And she said, And she said, And she said, And she said,