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Project Gutenberg's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
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This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
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re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
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Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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Author: Lewis Carroll
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Posting Date: June 25, 2008 [EBook #11]
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Release Date: March, 1994
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[Last updated: December 20, 2011]
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Language: English
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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND ***
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ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
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Lewis Carroll
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THE MILLENNIUM FULCRUM EDITION 3.0
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CHAPTER I. Down the Rabbit-Hole
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Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the
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bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the
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book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in
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it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or
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conversations?'
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So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the
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hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure
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of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
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picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran
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close by her.
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There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so
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VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear!
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Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it
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occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time
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it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH
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OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on,
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Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had
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never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch
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to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field
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after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large
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rabbit-hole under the hedge.
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In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how
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in the world she was to get out again.
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The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then
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dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think
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about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep
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well.
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Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had
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plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was
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going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what
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she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she
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looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with
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cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures
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hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as
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she passed; it was labelled 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great
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disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear
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of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as
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she fell past it.
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'Well!' thought Alice to herself, 'after such a fall as this, I shall
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think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll all think me at
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home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top
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of the house!' (Which was very likely true.)
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Down, down, down. Would the fall NEVER come to an end! 'I wonder how
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many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud. 'I must be getting
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somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four
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thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt several
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things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this
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was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there
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was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over)
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'--yes, that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude
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or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or
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Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)
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Presently she began again. 'I wonder if I shall fall right THROUGH the
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earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with
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their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think--' (she was rather glad
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there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the
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right word) '--but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country
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is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?' (and
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she tried to curtsey as she spoke--fancy CURTSEYING as you're falling
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through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) 'And what an
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ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to
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ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.'
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Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began
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talking again. 'Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!'
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(Dinah was the cat.) 'I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at
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tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no
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mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very
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like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?' And here Alice
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began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy
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sort of way, 'Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, 'Do
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bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question,
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it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing
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off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with
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Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, 'Now, Dinah, tell me the truth:
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did you ever eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon
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a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
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Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment:
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she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another
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long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it.
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There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and
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was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, 'Oh my ears
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and whiskers, how late it's getting!' She was close behind it when she
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turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found
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herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging
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from the roof.
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There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when
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Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every
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door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to
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get out again.
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Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid
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glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's
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first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall;
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but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small,
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but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second
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time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and
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behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the
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little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!
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Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not
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much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage
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into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of
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that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and
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those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head through the
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doorway; 'and even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, 'it
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would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could
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shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.'
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For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately,
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that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really
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impossible.
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There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went
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back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at
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any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this
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time she found a little bottle on it, ('which certainly was not here
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before,' said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper
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label, with the words 'DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large
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letters.
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It was all very well to say 'Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was
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not going to do THAT in a hurry. 'No, I'll look first,' she said, 'and
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see whether it's marked "poison" or not'; for she had read several nice
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little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild
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beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they WOULD not remember
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the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot
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poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your
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finger VERY deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never
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forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it is
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almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.
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However, this bottle was NOT marked 'poison,' so Alice ventured to taste
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it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour
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of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot
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buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off.
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* * * * * * *
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* * * * * *
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* * * * * * *
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'What a curious feeling!' said Alice; 'I must be shutting up like a
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telescope.'
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And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face
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brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going
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through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she
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waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further:
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she felt a little nervous about this; 'for it might end, you know,' said
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Alice to herself, 'in my going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder
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what I should be like then?' And she tried to fancy what the flame of a
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candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember
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ever having seen such a thing.
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After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going
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into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got to the
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door, she found she had forgotten the little golden key, and when she
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went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach
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it: she could see it quite plainly through the glass, and she tried her
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best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery;
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and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing
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sat down and cried.
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'Come, there's no use in crying like that!' said Alice to herself,
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rather sharply; 'I advise you to leave off this minute!' She generally
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gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it),
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and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into
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her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having
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cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself,
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for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people.
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'But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, 'to pretend to be two people!
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Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!'
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Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table:
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she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words
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'EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants. 'Well, I'll eat it,' said
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Alice, 'and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it
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makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll
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get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!'
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She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, 'Which way? Which
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way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was
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growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same
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size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice
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had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way
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things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on
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in the common way.
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So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.
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* * * * * * *
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* * * * * *
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* * * * * * *
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CHAPTER II. The Pool of Tears
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'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that
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for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); 'now I'm
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opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!'
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(for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost out of
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sight, they were getting so far off). 'Oh, my poor little feet, I wonder
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who will put on your shoes and stockings for you now, dears? I'm sure
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_I_ shan't be able! I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble
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myself about you: you must manage the best way you can;--but I must be
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kind to them,' thought Alice, 'or perhaps they won't walk the way I want
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to go! Let me see: I'll give them a new pair of boots every Christmas.'
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And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. 'They must
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go by the carrier,' she thought; 'and how funny it'll seem, sending
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presents to one's own feet! And how odd the directions will look!
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ALICE'S RIGHT FOOT, ESQ.
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HEARTHRUG,
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NEAR THE FENDER,
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(WITH ALICE'S LOVE).
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Oh dear, what nonsense I'm talking!'
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Just then her head struck against the roof of the hall: in fact she was
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now more than nine feet high, and she at once took up the little golden
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key and hurried off to the garden door.
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Poor Alice! It was as much as she could do, lying down on one side, to
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look through into the garden with one eye; but to get through was more
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hopeless than ever: she sat down and began to cry again.
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'You ought to be ashamed of yourself,' said Alice, 'a great girl like
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you,' (she might well say this), 'to go on crying in this way! Stop this
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moment, I tell you!' But she went on all the same, shedding gallons of
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tears, until there was a large pool all round her, about four inches
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deep and reaching half down the hall.
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After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and
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she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White
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Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in
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one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great
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hurry, muttering to himself as he came, 'Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess!
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Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!' Alice felt so
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desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one; so, when the Rabbit
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came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, 'If you please, sir--'
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The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan,
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and skurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.
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Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she
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kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: 'Dear, dear! How
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queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual.
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I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the
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same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a
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little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who
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in the world am I? Ah, THAT'S the great puzzle!' And she began thinking
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over all the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to
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see if she could have been changed for any of them.
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'I'm sure I'm not Ada,' she said, 'for her hair goes in such long
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ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't
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be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a
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very little! Besides, SHE'S she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling
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it all is! I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. Let me
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see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and
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four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!
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However, the Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography.
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London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and
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Rome--no, THAT'S all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been changed for
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Mabel! I'll try and say "How doth the little--"' and she crossed her
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hands on her lap as if she were saying lessons, and began to repeat it,
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but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and the words did not come the
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same as they used to do:--
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'How doth the little crocodile
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Improve his shining tail,
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And pour the waters of the Nile
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On every golden scale!
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'How cheerfully he seems to grin,
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How neatly spread his claws,
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And welcome little fishes in
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With gently smiling jaws!'
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'I'm sure those are not the right words,' said poor Alice, and her eyes
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filled with tears again as she went on, 'I must be Mabel after all, and
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I shall have to go and live in that poky little house, and have next to
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no toys to play with, and oh! ever so many lessons to learn! No, I've
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made up my mind about it; if I'm Mabel, I'll stay down here! It'll be no
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use their putting their heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I
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shall only look up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then,
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if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here
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till I'm somebody else"--but, oh dear!' cried Alice, with a sudden burst
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of tears, 'I do wish they WOULD put their heads down! I am so VERY tired
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of being all alone here!'
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As she said this she looked down at her hands, and was surprised to see
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that she had put on one of the Rabbit's little white kid gloves while
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she was talking. 'How CAN I have done that?' she thought. 'I must
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be growing small again.' She got up and went to the table to measure
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herself by it, and found that, as nearly as she could guess, she was now
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about two feet high, and was going on shrinking rapidly: she soon found
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out that the cause of this was the fan she was holding, and she dropped
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it hastily, just in time to avoid shrinking away altogether.
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'That WAS a narrow escape!' said Alice, a good deal frightened at the
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sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence; 'and
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now for the garden!' and she ran with all speed back to the little door:
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but, alas! the little door was shut again, and the little golden key was
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lying on the glass table as before, 'and things are worse than ever,'
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thought the poor child, 'for I never was so small as this before, never!
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And I declare it's too bad, that it is!'
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As she said these words her foot slipped, and in another moment, splash!
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she was up to her chin in salt water. Her first idea was that she
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had somehow fallen into the sea, 'and in that case I can go back by
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railway,' she said to herself. (Alice had been to the seaside once in
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her life, and had come to the general conclusion, that wherever you go
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to on the English coast you find a number of bathing machines in the
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sea, some children digging in the sand with wooden spades, then a row
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of lodging houses, and behind them a railway station.) However, she soon
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made out that she was in the pool of tears which she had wept when she
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was nine feet high.
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'I wish I hadn't cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about, trying
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to find her way out. 'I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by
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being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer thing, to be sure!
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However, everything is queer to-day.'
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Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way
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off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at first she thought
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|
it must be a walrus or hippopotamus, but then she remembered how small
|
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she was now, and she soon made out that it was only a mouse that had
|
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slipped in like herself.
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'Would it be of any use, now,' thought Alice, 'to speak to this mouse?
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|
Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, that I should think very
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|
likely it can talk: at any rate, there's no harm in trying.' So she
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|
began: 'O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired
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|
of swimming about here, O Mouse!' (Alice thought this must be the right
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|
way of speaking to a mouse: she had never done such a thing before, but
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|
she remembered having seen in her brother's Latin Grammar, 'A mouse--of
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|
a mouse--to a mouse--a mouse--O mouse!') The Mouse looked at her rather
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|
inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes,
|
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|
but it said nothing.
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|
'Perhaps it doesn't understand English,' thought Alice; 'I daresay it's
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|
|
a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror.' (For, with all
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|
|
her knowledge of history, Alice had no very clear notion how long ago
|
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|
|
anything had happened.) So she began again: 'Ou est ma chatte?' which
|
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|
|
was the first sentence in her French lesson-book. The Mouse gave a
|
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|
|
sudden leap out of the water, and seemed to quiver all over with fright.
|
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|
'Oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt
|
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|
|
the poor animal's feelings. 'I quite forgot you didn't like cats.'
|
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'Not like cats!' cried the Mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice. 'Would
|
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|
|
YOU like cats if you were me?'
|
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|
'Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone: 'don't be angry
|
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|
|
about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd
|
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|
|
take a fancy to cats if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet
|
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|
|
thing,' Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the
|
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|
|
pool, 'and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and
|
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|
|
washing her face--and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse--and she's
|
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|
|
such a capital one for catching mice--oh, I beg your pardon!' cried
|
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|
|
Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she
|
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|
|
felt certain it must be really offended. 'We won't talk about her any
|
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|
|
more if you'd rather not.'
|
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|
'We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of his
|
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|
tail. 'As if I would talk on such a subject! Our family always HATED
|
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|
|
cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name again!'
|
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|
'I won't indeed!' said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of
|
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|
|
conversation. 'Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?' The Mouse did not
|
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|
|
answer, so Alice went on eagerly: 'There is such a nice little dog near
|
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|
|
our house I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed terrier, you
|
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|
|
know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! And it'll fetch things when
|
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|
|
you throw them, and it'll sit up and beg for its dinner, and all sorts
|
|
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|
|
of things--I can't remember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer,
|
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|
|
you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds! He
|
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|
|
says it kills all the rats and--oh dear!' cried Alice in a sorrowful
|
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|
|
tone, 'I'm afraid I've offended it again!' For the Mouse was swimming
|
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|
|
away from her as hard as it could go, and making quite a commotion in
|
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|
|
the pool as it went.
|
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|
So she called softly after it, 'Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we
|
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|
|
won't talk about cats or dogs either, if you don't like them!' When the
|
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|
|
Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her: its
|
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|
|
face was quite pale (with passion, Alice thought), and it said in a low
|
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|
|
trembling voice, 'Let us get to the shore, and then I'll tell you my
|
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|
|
history, and you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.'
|
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|
It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with the
|
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|
|
birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo,
|
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|
|
a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the
|
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|
|
way, and the whole party swam to the shore.
|
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|
CHAPTER III. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale
|
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|
They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank--the
|
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|
|
birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close
|
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|
|
to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable.
|
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|
The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a
|
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|
|
consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural
|
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|
|
to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had
|
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|
|
known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the
|
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|
|
Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, 'I am older than
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|
|
you, and must know better'; and this Alice would not allow without
|
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|
|
knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its
|
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|
age, there was no more to be said.
|
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|
At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them,
|
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|
|
called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you
|
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|
|
dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse
|
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|
|
in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt
|
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|
|
sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
|
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|
'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This
|
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|
|
is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William
|
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|
|
the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted
|
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|
|
|
to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much
|
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|
|
|
accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of
|
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|
|
Mercia and Northumbria--"'
|
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|
'Ugh!' said the Lory, with a shiver.
|
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|
'I beg your pardon!' said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely: 'Did
|
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|
|
you speak?'
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|
'Not I!' said the Lory hastily.
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'I thought you did,' said the Mouse. '--I proceed. "Edwin and Morcar,
|
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|
|
the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand,
|
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|
|
the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable--"'
|
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|
'Found WHAT?' said the Duck.
|
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|
'Found IT,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: 'of course you know what
|
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|
"it" means.'
|
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|
'I know what "it" means well enough, when I find a thing,' said the
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|
|
Duck: 'it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the
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|
|
archbishop find?'
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|
The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, '"--found
|
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|
|
it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the
|
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|
|
crown. William's conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his
|
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|
|
Normans--" How are you getting on now, my dear?' it continued, turning
|
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|
|
to Alice as it spoke.
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|
'As wet as ever,' said Alice in a melancholy tone: 'it doesn't seem to
|
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|
|
dry me at all.'
|
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|
'In that case,' said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, 'I move
|
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|
|
that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic
|
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|
|
remedies--'
|
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|
'Speak English!' said the Eaglet. 'I don't know the meaning of half
|
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|
|
those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!' And
|
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|
|
the Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile: some of the other birds
|
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|
|
tittered audibly.
|
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|
'What I was going to say,' said the Dodo in an offended tone, 'was, that
|
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|
|
the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race.'
|
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|
'What IS a Caucus-race?' said Alice; not that she wanted much to know,
|
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|
|
but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that SOMEBODY ought to speak,
|
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|
and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.
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|
'Why,' said the Dodo, 'the best way to explain it is to do it.' (And, as
|
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|
|
you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell
|
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|
|
you how the Dodo managed it.)
|
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|
First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle, ('the exact
|
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|
|
shape doesn't matter,' it said,) and then all the party were placed
|
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|
|
along the course, here and there. There was no 'One, two, three, and
|
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|
|
away,' but they began running when they liked, and left off when they
|
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|
|
liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However,
|
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|
|
when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again,
|
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|
|
the Dodo suddenly called out 'The race is over!' and they all crowded
|
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|
|
round it, panting, and asking, 'But who has won?'
|
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|
|
This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought,
|
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|
|
and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead
|
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|
|
(the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures
|
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|
|
of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said,
|
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|
|
'EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes.'
|
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|
'But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices asked.
|
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|
'Why, SHE, of course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger;
|
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|
|
and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out in a confused
|
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|
|
way, 'Prizes! Prizes!'
|
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|
|
Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her
|
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|
|
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
|
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|
|
a-piece all round.
|
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|
'But she must have a prize herself, you know,' said the Mouse.
|
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|
'Of course,' the Dodo replied very gravely. 'What else have you got in
|
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|
|
your pocket?' he went on, turning to Alice.
|
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|
'Only a thimble,' said Alice sadly.
|
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|
'Hand it over here,' said the Dodo.
|
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|
Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo solemnly
|
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|
|
|
presented the thimble, saying 'We beg your acceptance of this elegant
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thimble'; and, when it had finished this short speech, they all cheered.
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Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so grave
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that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of anything
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to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble, looking as solemn as she
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could.
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The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and
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confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste
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theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back.
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However, it was over at last, and they sat down again in a ring, and
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begged the Mouse to tell them something more.
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'You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice, 'and why
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it is you hate--C and D,' she added in a whisper, half afraid that it
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would be offended again.
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'Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and
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sighing.
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'It IS a long tail, certainly,' said Alice, looking down with wonder at
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the Mouse's tail; 'but why do you call it sad?' And she kept on puzzling
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about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was
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something like this:--
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'Fury said to a
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mouse, That he
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met in the
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house,
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"Let us
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both go to
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law: I will
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prosecute
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YOU.--Come,
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I'll take no
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denial; We
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must have a
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trial: For
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really this
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morning I've
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nothing
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to do."
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Said the
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mouse to the
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cur, "Such
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a trial,
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dear Sir,
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With
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no jury
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or judge,
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would be
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wasting
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our
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breath."
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"I'll be
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judge, I'll
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be jury,"
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Said
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cunning
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old Fury:
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"I'll
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try the
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whole
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cause,
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and
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condemn
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you
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to
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death."'
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Dan Willhite