Down the Rabbit-Hole (Alice in Wonderland (Full Cast))

01Chapter I.

02Down the Rabbit Hole.

03Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do.

04Once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it.

05And what is the use of a book?

06thought Alice.

07Without pictures or conversation?

08So she was considering in her own mind, as well as she could, for the hot day was making her feel very sleepy and stupid.

09Whether the pleasure of making a daisy chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies.

10When suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

11There was nothing so very remarkable in that.

12Nor 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.

13When she thought it over afterwards it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this.

14But at the time it all seemed quite natural.

15But when the rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat pocket or a watch to take out of it.

16And 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.

17In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

18The 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.

19Either 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.

20First she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything.

21Then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves.

22Here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs.

23She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed.

24It was labelled Orange Marmalade, but to her great disappointment it was empty.

25She 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.

26Well, thought Alice to herself, after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs.

27How brave they'll all think me at home!

28Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house.

29Which was very likely true.

30Down, down, down.

31Would the fall never come to an end?

32I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time, she said aloud.

33I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth.

34Let me see.

35That would be four thousand miles down, I think.

36For, 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.

37Yes, that's about the right distance.

38But then I wonder what latitude or longitude I've got to.

39Alice had no idea what latitude was, or longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.

40Presently she began again.

41I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth.

42How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward.

43The antipathies, I think.

44She was rather glad there was no one listening this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word.

45But I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know.

46Please, ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?

47And she tried to curtsy as she spoke.

48Fancy curtsying as you're falling through the air.

49Do you think you could manage it?

50And what an ignorant little girl shall thank me for asking.

51No, it'll never do to ask.

52Perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.

53Down, down, down.

54There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again.

55Dinah'll miss me very much tonight, I should think.

56Dinah was the cat.

57I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea time.

58Dinah, my dear, I wish you were down here with me.

59There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid.

60But you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know.

61But do cats eat bats, I wonder?

62And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself in a dreamy sort of way.

63Do cats eat bats?

64Do cats eat bats?

65And sometimes.

66Do bats eat cats?

67For, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.

68She 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.

69Did you ever eat a bat?

70When suddenly, thump, thump, down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

71Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment.

72She looked up, but it was all dark overhead.

73Before her was another long passage, and the white rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it.

74There was not a moment to be lost.

75Away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, Oh, my ears and whiskers!

76How late it's getting!

77She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the rabbit was no longer to be seen.

78She found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

79There 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.

80Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass.

81There 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.

82But alas!

83Either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them.

84However, 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.

85She tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted.

86Alice opened the door, and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole.

87She knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw.

88How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers, and those cool fountains!

89But she could not even get her head through the doorway.

90And even if my head would go through, thought poor Alice, it would be of very little use without my shoulders.

91Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope!

92I think I could, if I only know how to begin.

93For, 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.

94There 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.

95This time she found a little bottle on it.

96Which certainly was not here before, said Alice.

97And round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words Drink Me, beautifully printed on it in large letters.

98It was all very well to say Drink Me, but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry.

99No, I'll look first, she said, and see whether it's marked Poison or not.

100For she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them, such as that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long, and that if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife it usually bleeds, and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked Poison, it is almost certain to disagree with you sooner or later.

101However, 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, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast.

102She very soon finished it off.

103What a curious feeling, said Alice.

104I must be shutting up like a telescope.

105And so it was indeed.

106She 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.

107First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further.

108She felt a little nervous about this.

109For it might end, you know, said Alice to herself, in my going out altogether, like a candle.

110I wonder what I should be like then.

111And 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.

112After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once.

113But, alas for poor Alice!

114When 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.

115She 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.

116Come, there's no use in crying like that, said Alice to herself rather sharply.

117I advise you to leave off this minute.

118She 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.

119And 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.

120But it's no use now, thought poor Alice, to pretend to be two people.

121Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person.

122Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table.

123She opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words Eat Me were beautifully marked in currents.

124Well, I'll eat it, said Alice.

125And if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key, and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door.

126So either way, I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens.

127She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, Which way?

128Which way?

129Holding 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.

130To 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.

131So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.

132End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1 End of chapter 1