ALICE'S ADVENTURES UNDER GROUND

 _BEING A FACSIMILE OF THE_ _ORIGINAL MS. BOOK_ _AFTERWARDS DEVELOPED INTO_ "_ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND_"

 BY

 LEWIS CARROLL

 _WITH THIRTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR_

 _PRICE FOUR SHILLINGS_

 London

 MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1886

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CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER

 I. DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE. THE POOL OF TEARS

 II. A LONG TALE. THE RABBIT SENDS IN A LITTLE BILL

III. ADVICE FROM A CATERPILLAR

 IV. THE QUEEN'S CROQUET-GROUND. THE MOCK TURTLE'S STORY. THELOBSTER QUADRILLE. WHO STOLE THE TARTS?

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Chapter 1

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Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister onthe bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she hadpeeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had nopictures or conversations in it, and where is the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversations? So she wasconsidering in her own mind, (as well as she could, for the hotday made her feel very sleepy and stupid, ) whether the pleasureof making a daisy-chain was worth the trouble of getting up andpicking the daisies, when a white rabbit with pink eyes ran closeby her. 

There was nothing very remarkable in that, nor did Alice think itso very much out of the way to hear the rabbit say to itself"dear, dear! I shall be too late!" (when she thought it overafterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered atthis, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when therabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, lookedat it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for itflashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbitwith either a waistcoat-pocket or a watch to take out of it, and, full of curiosity, she hurried across the field after it, and wasjust in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under thehedge. In a moment down went Alice after it, never onceconsidering how in the world she was to get out again. 

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, andthen dipped suddenly down, so suddenly, that Alice had not amoment to think about stopping herself, before she found herselffalling down what seemed a deep well. Either the well was verydeep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as shewent down to look about her, and to wonder what would happennext. First, she tried to look down and make out what she wascoming to, but it was too dark to see anything: then, she lookedat the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled withcupboards and book-shelves: here and there were maps and pictureshung on pegs. She took a jar down off one of the shelves as shepassed: it was labelled "Orange Marmalade, " but to her greatdisappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar, for fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put itinto one of the cupboards as she fell past it. 

"Well!" thought Alice to herself, "after such a fall as this, Ishall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'llall think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, evenif I fell off the top of the house!" (which was most likelytrue. )

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? "I wonderhow many miles I've fallen by this time?" she said aloud, "I mustbe getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see:that would be four thousand miles down, I think--" (for you seeAlice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons inthe schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunityof showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to hear her, still it was good practice to say it over, ) "yes that's the rightdistance, but then what Longitude or Latitude-line shall I bein?" (Alice had no idea what Longitude was, or Latitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say. )

Presently she began again: "I wonder if I shall fall rightthrough the earth! How funny it'll be to come out among thepeople that walk with their heads downwards! But I shall have toask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"--and she tried tocurtsey as she spoke (fancy curtseying as you're falling throughthe air! do you think you could manage it?) "and what an ignorantlittle girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do toask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere. "

Down, down, down: there was nothing else to do, so Alice soonbegan talking again. "Dinah will miss me very much tonight, Ishould think!" (Dinah was the cat. ) "I hope they'll remember hersaucer of milk at tea-time! Oh, dear Dinah, I wish I had youhere! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you mightcatch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know, my dear. Butdo cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rathersleepy, and kept on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way"do cats eat bats? do cats eat bats?" and sometimes, "do batseat cats?" for, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn'tmuch matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozingoff, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand inhand with Dinah, and was saying to her very earnestly, "Now, Dinah, my dear, tell me the truth. Did you ever eat a bat?" whensuddenly, bump! bump! down she came upon a heap of sticks andshavings, and the fall was over. 

Alice was not a bit hurt, and jumped on to her feet directly: shelooked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was anotherlong passage, and the white rabbit was still in sight, hurryingdown it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice likethe wind, and just heard it say, as it turned a corner, "my earsand whiskers, how late it's getting!" She turned the corner afterit, and instantly found herself in a long, low hall, lit up by arow of lamps which hung from the roof. 

[Illustration]

There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked, and when Alice had been all round it, and tried them all, shewalked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to getout again: suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing lying upon it, but atiny golden key, and Alice's first idea was that it might belongto one of the doors of the hall, but alas! either the locks weretoo large, or the key too small, but at any rate it would opennone of them. However, on the second time round, she came to alow curtain, behind which was a door about eighteen inches high:she tried the little key in the keyhole, and it fitted! Aliceopened the door, and looked down a small passage, not larger thana rat-hole, into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How shelonged to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among thosebeds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she couldnot even get her head through the doorway, "and even if my headwould go through, " thought poor Alice, "it would be very littleuse without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like atelescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin. " For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, thatAlice began to think very few things indeed were reallyimpossible. 

There was nothing else to do, so she went back to the table, halfhoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book ofrules for shutting up people like telescopes: this time there wasa little bottle on it--"which certainly was not there before"said Alice--and tied round the neck of the bottle was a paperlabel with the words DRINK ME beautifully printed on it in largeletters. 

It was all very well to say "drink me, " "but I'll look first, "said the wise little Alice, "and see whether the bottle's marked"poison" or not, " for Alice had read several nice little storiesabout children that got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, andother unpleasant things, because they would not remember thesimple rules their friends had given them, such as, that, if youget into the fire, it will burn you, and that, if you cut yourfinger very deeply with a knife, it generally bleeds, and shehad never forgotten that, if you drink a bottle marked "poison, "it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later. 

However, this bottle was not marked poison, so Alice tasted it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixedflavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffy, and hot buttered toast, ) she very soon finished it off. 

 * * * * *

"What a curious feeling!" said Alice, "I must be shutting up likea telescope. "

It was so indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her facebrightened up as it occurred to her that she was now the rightsize for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see whether shewas going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous aboutthis, "for it might end, you know, " said Alice to herself, "in mygoing out altogether, like a candle, and what should I be likethen, I wonder?" and she tried to fancy what the flame of acandle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could notremember having ever seen one. However, nothing more happened soshe decided on going into the garden at once, but, alas for poorAlice! when she got to the door, she found she had forgotten thelittle golden key, and when she went back to the table for thekey, she found she could not possibly reach it: she could see itplainly enough through the glass, and she tried her best to climbup one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery, andwhen she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thingsat down and cried. 

[Illustration]

"Come! there's no use in crying!" said Alice to herself rathersharply, "I advise you to leave off this minute!" (she generallygave herself very good advice, and sometimes scolded herself soseverely as to bring tears into her eyes, and once she rememberedboxing her own ears for having been unkind to herself in a gameof croquet she was playing with herself, for this curious childwas very fond of pretending to be two people, ) "but it's no usenow, " thought poor Alice, "to pretend to be two people! Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!"

Soon her eyes fell on a little ebony box lying under the table:she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which waslying a card with the words EAT ME beautifully printed on it inlarge letters. "I'll eat, " said Alice, "and if it makes melarger, I can reach the key, and if it makes me smaller, I cancreep under the door, so either way I'll get into the garden, andI don't care which happens!"

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself "which way?which way?" and laid her hand on the top of her head to feelwhich way it was growing, and was quite surprised to find thatshe remained the same size: to be sure this is what generallyhappens when one eats cake, but Alice had got into the way ofexpecting nothing but out-of-the way things to happen, and itseemed quite dull and stupid for things to go on in the commonway. 

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

 * * * * *

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice, (she was so surprisedthat she quite forgot how to speak good English, ) "now I'mopening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Goodbye, feet!" (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed almostout of sight, they were getting so far off, ) "oh, my poor littlefeet, I wonder who will put on your shoes and stockings for younow, dears? I'm sure I can't! I shall be a great deal too far offto bother myself about you: you must manage the best way youcan--but I must be kind to them, " thought Alice, "or perhaps theywon't walk the way I want to go! Let me see: I'll give them a newpair of boots every Christmas. "

[Illustration]

And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it"they must go by the carrier, " she thought, "and how funny it'llseem, sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd thedirections will look! ALICE'S RIGHT FOOT, ESQ. THE CARPET, with ALICE'S LOVE

oh dear! what nonsense I am talking!"

Just at this moment, her head struck against the roof of thehall: in fact, she was now rather more than nine feet high, andshe at once took up the little golden key, and hurried off to thegarden door. 

Poor Alice! it was as much as she could do, lying down on oneside, to look through into the garden with one eye, but to getthrough was more hopeless than ever: she sat down and criedagain. 

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, " said Alice, "a great girllike you, " (she might well say this, ) "to cry in this way! Stopthis instant, I tell you!" But she cried on all the same, shedding gallons of tears, until there was a large pool, aboutfour inches deep, all round her, and reaching half way across thehall. After a time, she heard a little pattering of feet in thedistance, and dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was thewhite rabbit coming back again, splendidly dressed, with a pairof white kid gloves in one hand, and a nosegay in the other. Alice was ready to ask help of any one, she felt so desperate, and as the rabbit passed her, she said, in a low, timid voice, "If you please, Sir--" the rabbit started violently, looked uponce into the roof of the hall, from which the voice seemed tocome, and then dropped the nosegay and the white kid gloves, andskurried away into the darkness, as hard as it could go. 

[Illustration]

Alice took up the nosegay and gloves, and found the nosegay sodelicious that she kept smelling at it all the time she went ontalking to herself--"dear, dear! how queer everything is today!and yesterday everything happened just as usual: I wonder if Iwas changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I gotup this morning? I think I remember feeling rather different. But if I'm not the same, who in the world am I? Ah, that's thegreat puzzle!" And she began thinking over all the children sheknew of the same age as herself, to see if she could have beenchanged for any of them. 

"I'm sure I'm not Gertrude, " she said, "for her hair goes in suchlong ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all--and I'msure I ca'n't be Florence, for I know all sorts of things, andshe, oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, she's she, andI'm I, and--oh dear! how puzzling it all is! I'll try if I knowall the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five istwelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven isfourteen--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at this rate! Butthe Multiplication Table don't signify--let's try Geography. London is the capital of France, and Rome is the capital ofYorkshire, and Paris--oh dear! dear! that's all wrong, I'mcertain! I must have been changed for Florence! I'll try and say"How doth the little, "" and she crossed her hands on her lap, and began, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and thewords did not sound the same as they used to do:

 "How doth the little crocodile Improve its shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale!

 "How cheerfully it seems to grin! How neatly spreads its claws! And welcomes little fishes in With gently-smiling jaws!"

"I'm sure those are not the right words, " said poor Alice, andher eyes filled with tears as she thought "I must be Florenceafter all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky littlehouse, and have next to no toys to play with, and oh! ever somany lessons to learn! No! I've made up my mind about it: if I'mFlorence, I'll stay down here! It'll be no use their puttingtheir heads down and saying 'come up, dear!' I shall only lookup and say 'who am I then? answer me that first, and then, if Ilike being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down heretill I'm somebody else--but, oh dear!" cried Alice with a suddenburst of tears, "I do wish they would put their heads down! I amso tired of being all alone here!"

As she said this, she looked down at her hands, and was surprisedto find she had put on one of the rabbit's little gloves whileshe was talking. "How can I have done that?" thought she, "I mustbe growing small again. " She got up and went to the table tomeasure herself by it, and found that, as nearly as she couldguess, she was now about two feet high, and was going onshrinking rapidly: soon she found out that the reason of it wasthe nosegay she held in her hand: she dropped it hastily, just intime to save herself from shrinking away altogether, and foundthat she was now only three inches high. 

"Now for the garden!" cried Alice, as she hurried back to thelittle door, but the little door was locked again, and the littlegold key was lying on the glass table as before, and "things areworse than ever!" thought the poor little girl, "for I never wasas small as this before, never! And I declare it's too bad, itis!"

[Illustration]

At this moment her foot slipped, and splash! she was up to herchin in salt water. Her first idea was that she had fallen intothe sea: then she remembered that she was under ground, and shesoon made out that it was the pool of tears she had wept when shewas nine feet high. "I wish I hadn't cried so much!" said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out, "I shall bepunished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears!Well! that'll be a queer thing, to be sure! However, every thingis queer today. " Very soon she saw something splashing about inthe pool near her: at first she thought it must be a walrus or ahippopotamus, but then she remembered how small she was herself, and soon made out that it was only a mouse, that had slipped inlike herself. 

"Would it be any use, now, " thought Alice, "to speak to thismouse? The rabbit is something quite out-of-the-way, no doubt, and so have I been, ever since I came down here, but that is noreason why the mouse should not be able to talk. I think I may aswell try. "

So she began: "oh Mouse, do you know how to get out of this pool?I am very tired of swimming about here, oh Mouse!" The mouselooked at her rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to winkwith one of its little eyes, but it said nothing. 

[Illustration]

"Perhaps it doesn't understand English, " thought Alice; "Idaresay it's a French mouse, come over with William theConqueror!" (for, with all her knowledge of history, Alice hadno very clear notion how long ago anything had happened, ) so shebegan again: "où est ma chatte?" which was the first sentence outof her French lesson-book. The mouse gave a sudden jump in thepool, and seemed to quiver with fright: "oh, I beg your pardon!"cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the poor animal'sfeelings, "I quite forgot you didn't like cats!"

"Not like cats!" cried the mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice, "would you like cats if you were me?"

"Well, perhaps not, " said Alice in a soothing tone, "don't beangry about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: Ithink you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her. Sheis such a dear quiet thing, " said Alice, half to herself, as sheswam lazily about in the pool, "she sits purring so nicely by thefire, licking her paws and washing her face: and she is such anice soft thing to nurse, and she's such a capital one forcatching mice--oh! I beg your pardon!" cried poor Alice again, for this time the mouse was bristling all over, and she feltcertain that it was really offended, "have I offended you?"

"Offended indeed!" cried the mouse, who seemed to be positivelytrembling with rage, "our family always hated cats! Nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't talk to me about them any more!"

"I won't indeed!" said Alice, in a great hurry to change theconversation, "are you--are you--fond of--dogs?" The mouse didnot answer, so Alice went on eagerly: "there is such a nicelittle dog near our house I should like to show you! A littlebright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh! such long curly brownhair! And it'll fetch things when you throw them, and it'll situp and beg for its dinner, and all sorts of things--I ca'n'tremember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer, and he says itkills all the rats and--oh dear!" said Alice sadly, "I'm afraidI've offended it again!" for the mouse was swimming away from heras hard as it could go, and making quite a commotion in the poolas it went. 

So she called softly after it: "mouse dear! Do come back again, and we won't talk about cats and dogs any more, if you don't likethem!" When the mouse heard this, it turned and swam slowly backto her: its face was quite pale, (with passion, Alice thought, )and it said in a trembling low voice "let's get to the shore, andthen I'll tell you my history, and you'll understand why it is Ihate cats and dogs. "

It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite full ofbirds and animals that had fallen into it. There was a Duck and aDodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore. 

[Illustration]

Chapter II

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They were indeed a curious looking party that assembled on thebank--the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with theirfur clinging close to them--all dripping wet, cross, anduncomfortable. The first question of course was, how to get dry:they had a consultation about this, and Alice hardly felt at allsurprised at finding herself talking familiarly with the birds, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite along argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and wouldonly say "I am older than you, and must know best, " and thisAlice would not admit without knowing how old the Lory was, andas the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was nothingmore to be said. 

At last the mouse, who seemed to have some authority among them, called out "sit down, all of you, and attend to me! I'll soonmake you dry enough!" They all sat down at once, shivering, in alarge ring, Alice in the middle, with her eyes anxiously fixed onthe mouse, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if shedid not get dry very soon. 

"Ahem!" said the mouse, with a self-important air, "are you allready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if youplease!

"William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, wassoon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and hadbeen of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwinand Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria--"

"Ugh!" said the Lory with a shiver. 

"I beg your pardon?" said the mouse, frowning, but very politely, "did you speak?"

"Not I!" said the Lory hastily. 

"I thought you did, " said the mouse, "I proceed. Edwin andMorcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him;and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, foundit advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offerhim the crown. William's conduct was at first moderate--how areyou getting on now, dear?" said the mouse, turning to Alice as itspoke. 

"As wet as ever, " said poor Alice, "it doesn't seem to dry me atall. "

"In that case, " said the Dodo solemnly, rising to his feet, "Imove that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of moreenergetic remedies--"

"Speak English!" said the Duck, "I don't know the meaning of halfthose long words, and what's more, I don't believe you doeither!" And the Duck quacked a comfortable laugh to itself. Someof the other birds tittered audibly. 

"I only meant to say, " said the Dodo in a rather offended tone, "that I know of a house near here, where we could get the younglady and the rest of the party dried, and then we could listencomfortably to the story which I think you were good enough topromise to tell us, " bowing gravely to the mouse. 

The mouse made no objection to this, and the whole party movedalong the river bank, (for the pool had by this time began toflow out of the hall, and the edge of it was fringed with rushesand forget-me-nots, ) in a slow procession, the Dodo leading theway. After a time the Dodo became impatient, and, leaving theDuck to bring up the rest of the party, moved on at a quickerpace with Alice, the Lory, and the Eaglet, and soon brought themto a little cottage, and there they sat snugly by the fire, wrapped up in blankets, until the rest of the party had arrived, and they were all dry again. 

Then they all sat down again in a large ring on the bank, andbegged the mouse to begin his story. 

"Mine is a long and a sad tale!" said the mouse, turning toAlice, and sighing. 

"It is a long tail, certainly, " said Alice, looking down withwonder at the mouse's tail, which was coiled nearly all round theparty, "but why do you call it sad?" and she went on puzzlingabout this as the mouse went on speaking, so that her idea of thetale was something like this:

We lived beneath the mat Warm and snug and fat But one woe, & that Was the cat! To our joys a clog, In our eyes a fog, On our hearts a log Was the dog! When the cat's away, Then the mice will play, But, alas! one day, (So they say) Came the dog and cat, Hunting for a rat, Crushed the mice all flat; Each one as he sat. U n d e r n e a t h

 t h e

 m a t, m r a W g u n s & t a f & T h i n k?o f t h a t!

"You are not attending!" said the mouse to Alice severely, "whatare you thinking of?"

"I beg your pardon, " said Alice very humbly, "you had got to thefifth bend, I think?"

"I had not!" cried the mouse, sharply and very angrily. 

"A knot!" said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, andlooking anxiously about her, "oh, do let me help to undo it!"

"I shall do nothing of the sort!" said the mouse, getting up andwalking away from the party, "you insult me by talking suchnonsense!"

"I didn't mean it!" pleaded poor Alice, "but you're so easilyoffended, you know. "

The mouse only growled in reply. 

"Please come back and finish your story!" Alice called after it, and the others all joined in chorus "yes, please do!" but themouse only shook its ears, and walked quickly away, and was soonout of sight. 

"What a pity it wouldn't stay!" sighed the Lory, and an old Crabtook the opportunity of saying to its daughter "Ah, my dear! letthis be a lesson to you never to lose your temper!" "Hold yourtongue, Ma!" said the young Crab, a little snappishly, "you'reenough to try the patience of an oyster!"

"I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!" said Alice aloud, addressing no one in particular, "she'd soon fetch it back!"

"And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?" saidthe Lory. 

[Illustration]

Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about herpet, "Dinah's our cat. And she's such a capital one for catchingmice, you can't think! And oh! I wish you could see her after thebirds! Why, she'll eat a little bird as soon as look at it!"

This answer caused a remarkable sensation among the party: someof the birds hurried off at once; one old magpie began wrappingitself up very carefully, remarking "I really must be gettinghome: the night air does not suit my throat, " and a canary calledout in a trembling voice to its children "come away from her, mydears, she's no fit company for you!" On various pretexts, theyall moved off, and Alice was soon left alone. 

[Illustration]

She sat for some while sorrowful and silent, but she was not longbefore she recovered her spirits, and began talking to herselfagain as usual: "I do wish some of them had stayed a littlelonger! and I was getting to be such friends with them--reallythe Lory and I were almost like sisters! and so was that dearlittle Eaglet! And then the Duck and the Dodo! How nicely theDuck sang to us as we came along through the water: and if theDodo hadn't known the way to that nice little cottage, I don'tknow when we should have got dry again--" and there is no knowinghow long she might have prattled on in this way, if she had notsuddenly caught the sound of pattering feet. 

It was the white rabbit, trotting slowly back again, and lookinganxiously about it as it went, as if it had lost something, and sheheard it muttering to itself "the Marchioness! the Marchioness! ohmy dear paws! oh my fur and whiskers! She'll have me executed, assure as ferrets are ferrets! Where can I have dropped them, Iwonder?" Alice guessed in a moment that it was looking for thenosegay and the pair of white kid gloves, and she began hunting forthem, but they were now nowhere to be seen--everything seemed tohave changed since her swim in the pool, and her walk along theriver-bank with its fringe of rushes and forget-me-nots, and theglass table and the little door had vanished. 

Soon the rabbit noticed Alice, as she stood looking curiouslyabout her, and at once said in a quick angry tone, "why, MaryAnn! what are you doing out here? Go home this moment, and lookon my dressing-table for my gloves and nosegay, and fetch themhere, as quick as you can run, do you hear?" and Alice was somuch frightened that she ran off at once, without saying a word, in the direction which the rabbit had pointed out. 

She soon found herself in front of a neat little house, on thedoor of which was a bright brass plate with the name W. RABBIT, ESQ. She went in, and hurried upstairs, for fear she should meetthe real Mary Ann and be turned out of the house before she hadfound the gloves: she knew that one pair had been lost in thehall, "but of course, " thought Alice, "it has plenty more of themin its house. How queer it seems to be going messages for arabbit! I suppose Dinah'll be sending me messages next!" And shebegan fancying the sort of things that would happen: "Miss Alice!come here directly and get ready for your walk!" "Coming in aminute, nurse! but I've got to watch this mousehole till Dinahcomes back, and see that the mouse doesn't get out--" "only Idon't think, " Alice went on, "that they'd let Dinah stop in thehouse, if it began ordering people about like that!"

[Illustration]

By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room, with atable in the window on which was a looking-glass and, (as Alice hadhoped, ) two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves: she took up apair of gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when her eyefell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking-glass: therewas no label on it this time with the words "drink me, " butnonetheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips: "I knowsomething interesting is sure to happen, " she said to herself, "whenever I eat or drink anything, so I'll see what this bottledoes. I do hope it'll make me grow larger, for I'm quite tired ofbeing such a tiny little thing!"

[Illustration]

It did so indeed, and much sooner than she expected: before shehad drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing againstthe ceiling, and she stooped to save her neck from being broken, and hastily put down the bottle, saying to herself "that's quiteenough--I hope I sha'n't grow any more--I wish I hadn't drunk somuch!"

[Illustration]

Alas! it was too late: she went on growing and growing, and verysoon had to kneel down: in another minute there was not room evenfor this, and she tried the effect of lying down, with one elbowagainst the door, and the other arm curled round her head. Stillshe went on growing, and as a last resource she put one arm outof the window, and one foot up the chimney, and said to herself"now I can do no more--what will become of me?"

Luckily for Alice, the little magic bottle had now had its fulleffect, and she grew no larger; still it was very uncomfortable, and as there seemed to be no sort of chance of ever getting outof the room again, no wonder she felt unhappy. "It was muchpleasanter at home, " thought poor Alice, "when one wasn't alwaysgrowing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice andrabbits--I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole, andyet, and yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life. Ido wonder what can have happened to me! When I used to readfairy-tales, I fancied that sort of thing never happened, and nowhere I am in the middle of one! There out to be a book writtenabout me, that there ought! and when I grow up I'll writeone--but I'm grown up now" said she in a sorrowful tone, "atleast there's no room to grow up any more here. "

[Illustration]

"But then, " thought Alice, "shall I never get any older than Iam now? That'll be a comfort, one way--never to be an oldwoman--but then--always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn'tlike that!"

"Oh, you foolish Alice!" she said again, "how can you learnlessons in here? Why, there's hardly room for you, and no room atall 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 fewminutes she heard a voice outside, which made her stop to listen. 

"Mary Ann! Mary Ann!" said the voice, "fetch me my gloves thismoment!" Then came a little pattering of feet on the stairs:Alice knew it was the rabbit coming to look for her, and shetrembled till she shook the house, quite forgetting that she wasnow about a thousand times as large as the rabbit, and had noreason to be afraid of it. Presently the rabbit came to the door, and tried to open it, but as it opened inwards, and Alice's elbowwas against it, the attempt proved a failure. Alice heard it sayto itself "then I'll go round and get in at the window. "

"That you wo'n't!" thought Alice, and, after waiting till shefancied she heard the rabbit, just under the window, she suddenlyspread out her hand, and made a snatch in the air. She did notget hold of anything, but she heard a little shriek and a falland a crash of breaking glass, from which she concluded that itwas just possible it had fallen into a cucumber-frame, orsomething of the sort. 

[Illustration]

Next came an angry voice--the rabbit's--"Pat, Pat! where areyou?" And then a voice she had never heard before, "shure thenI'm here! digging for apples, anyway, yer honour!"

"Digging for apples indeed!" said the rabbit angrily, "here, comeand help me out of this!"--Sound of more breaking glass. 

"Now, tell me, Pat, what is that coming out of the window?"

"Shure it's an arm, yer honour!" (He pronounced it "arrum". )

"An arm, you goose! Who ever saw an arm that size? Why, it fillsthe whole window, don't you see?"

"Shure, it does, yer honour, but it's an arm for all that. "

"Well, it's no business there: go and take it away!"

There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hearwhispers now and then, such as "shure I don't like it, yerhonour, at all at all!" "do as I tell you, you coward!" and atlast she spread out her hand again and made another snatch in theair. This time there were two little shrieks, and more breakingglass--"what a number of cucumber-frames there must be!" thoughtAlice, "I wonder what they'll do next! As for pulling me out ofthe window, I only wish they could! I'm sure I don't want to stopin here any longer!"

She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at lastcame a rumbling of little cart-wheels, and the sound of a goodmany voices all talking together: she made out the words "where'sthe other ladder?--why, I hadn't to bring but one, Bill's got theother--here, put 'em up at this corner--no, tie 'em togetherfirst--they don't reach high enough yet--oh, they'll do wellenough, don't be particular--here, Bill! catch hold of thisrope--will the roof bear?--mind that loose slate--oh, it's comingdown! heads below!--" (a loud crash) "now, who did that?--it wasBill, I fancy--who's to go down the chimney?--nay, I sha'n't! youdo it!--that I won't then--Bill's got to go down--here, Bill! themaster says you've to go down the chimney!"

"Oh, so Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?" said Aliceto herself, "why, they seem to put everything upon Bill! Iwouldn't be in Bill's place for a good deal: the fireplace is apretty tight one, but I think I can kick a little!"

She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, andwaited till she heard a little animal (she couldn't guess whatsort it was) scratching and scrambling in the chimney close aboveher: then, saying to herself "this is Bill, " she gave one sharpkick, and waited again to see what would happen next. 

[Illustration]

The first thing was a general chorus of "there goes Bill!" thenthe rabbit's voice alone "catch him, you by the hedge!" thensilence, and then another confusion of voices, "how was it, oldfellow? what happened to you? tell us all about it. "

Last came a little feeble squeaking voice, ("that's Bill" thoughtAlice, ) which said "well, I hardly know--I'm all of a flustermyself--something comes at me like a Jack-in-the-box, and thenext minute up I goes like a rocket!" "And so you did, oldfellow!" said the other voices. 

"We must burn the house down!" said the voice of the rabbit, andAlice called out as loud as she could "if you do, I'll set Dinahat you!" This caused silence again, and while Alice was thinking"but how can I get Dinah here?" she found to her great delightthat she was getting smaller: very soon she was able to get upout of the uncomfortable position in which she had been lying, and in two or three minutes more she was once more three incheshigh. 

She ran out of the house as quick as she could, and found quite acrowd of little animals waiting outside--guinea-pigs, white mice, squirrels, and "Bill" a little green lizard, that was beingsupported in the arms of one of the guinea-pigs, while anotherwas giving it something out of a bottle. They all made a rush ather the moment she appeared, but Alice ran her hardest, and soonfound herself in a thick wood. 

[Illustration]

Chapter III

[Illustration]

"The first thing I've got to do, " said Alice to herself, as shewandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size, and thesecond thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I thinkthat will be the best plan. "

It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly andsimply arranged: the only difficulty was, that she had not thesmallest idea how to set about it, and while she was peeringanxiously among the trees round her, a little sharp bark justover 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 reach her: "poorthing!" said Alice in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard towhistle to it, but she was terribly alarmed all the while at thethought that it might be hungry, in which case it would probablydevour her in spite of all her coaxing. Hardly knowing what shedid, she picked up a little bit of stick, and held it out to thepuppy: whereupon the puppy jumped into the air off all its feet atonce, and with a yelp of delight rushed at the stick, and madebelieve to worry it then Alice dodged behind a great thistle tokeep herself from being run over, and, the moment she appeared atthe other side, the puppy made another dart at the stick, andtumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold: 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 roundthe thistle again: then the puppy begin a series of short chargesat the stick, running a very little way forwards each time and along way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last itsat down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out ofits mouth, and its great eyes half shut. 

This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape. She set off at once, and ran till the puppy's bark sounded quitefaint in the distance, and till she was quite tired and out ofbreath. 

"And yet what a dear little puppy it was!" said Alice, as sheleant against a buttercup to rest herself, and fanned herselfwith her hat. "I should have liked teaching it tricks, if--if I'donly been the right size to do it! Oh! I'd nearly forgotten thatI'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 thegreat question is what?"

The great question certainly was, what? Alice looked all roundher at the flowers and the blades of grass but could not seeanything that looked like the right thing to eat under thecircumstances. There was a large mushroom near her, about thesame height as herself, and when she had looked under it, and onboth sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her to look andsee what was on the top of it. 

She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge ofthe mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large bluecaterpillar, which was sitting with its arms folded, quietlysmoking a long hookah, and taking not the least notice of her orof anything else. 

[Illustration]

For some time they looked at each other in silence: at last thecaterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and languidlyaddressed her. 

"Who are you?" said the caterpillar. 

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation: Alicereplied rather shyly, "I--I hardly know, sir, just at present--atleast I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think Imust have been changed several times since that. "

"What do you mean by that?" said the caterpillar, "explainyourself!"

"I ca'n't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir, " said Alice, "becauseI'm not myself, you see. "

"I don't see, " said the caterpillar. 

"I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly, " Alice replied verypolitely, "for I ca'n't understand it myself, and really to be somany different sizes in one day is very confusing. "

"It isn't, " said the caterpillar. 

"Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet, " said Alice, "butwhen you have to turn into a chrysalis, you know, and then afterthat into a butterfly, I should think it'll feel a little queer, don't you think so?"

"Not a bit, " said the caterpillar. 

"All I know is, " said Alice, "it would feel queer to me. "

"You!" said the caterpillar contemptuously, "who are you?"

Which brought them back again to the beginning of theconversation: Alice felt a little irritated at the caterpillarmaking such very short remarks, and she drew herself up and saidvery gravely "I think you ought to tell me who you are, first. "

"Why?" said the caterpillar. 

Here was another puzzling question: and as Alice had no reasonready, and the caterpillar seemed to be in a very bad temper, sheturned round and walked away. 

"Come back!" the caterpillar called after her, "I've somethingimportant to say!"

This sounded promising: Alice turned and came back again. 

"Keep your temper, " said the caterpillar. 

"Is that all?" said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well asshe could. 

"No, " said the caterpillar. 

Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else todo, and perhaps after all the caterpillar might tell hersomething worth hearing. For some minutes it puffed away at itshookah without speaking, but at last it unfolded its arms, tookthe hookah out of its mouth again, and said "so you think you'rechanged, do you?"

"Yes, sir, " said Alice, "I ca'n't remember the things I used toknow--I've tried to say "How doth the little busy bee" and itcame all different!"

"Try and repeat "You are old, father William", " said thecaterpillar. 

Alice folded her hands, and began:

[Illustration]

1. 

 "You are old, father William, " the young man said, "And your hair is exceedingly white: And yet you incessantly stand on your head-- Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

2. 

 "In my youth, " father William replied to his son, "I feared it might injure the brain But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, Why, I do it again and again. "

[Illustration]

3. 

 "You are old, " said the youth, "as I mentioned before, And have grown most uncommonly fat: Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door-- Pray what is the reason of that?"

4. 

 "In my youth, " said the sage, as he shook his gray locks, "I kept all my limbs very supple, By the use of this ointment, five shillings the box-- Allow me to sell you a couple. "

[Illustration]

5. 

 "You are old, " said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak For anything tougher than suet: Yet you eat all the goose, with the bones and the beak-- Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

6. 

 "In my youth, " said the old man, "I took to the law, And argued each case with my wife, And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw, Has lasted the rest of my life. "

[Illustration]

7. 

 "You are old, " said the youth; "one would hardly suppose That your eye was as steady as ever: Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-- What made you so awfully clever?"

8. 

 "I have answered three questions, and that is enough, " Said his father, "don't give yourself airs! Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"

"That is not said right, " said the caterpillar. 

"Not quite right, I'm afraid, " said Alice timidly, "some of thewords have got altered. "

"It is wrong from beginning to end, " said the caterpillardecidedly, and there was silence for some minutes: the caterpillarwas the first to speak. 

"What size do you want to be?" it asked. 

"Oh, I'm not particular as to size, " Alice hastily replied, "onlyone doesn't like changing so often, you know. "

"Are you content now?" said the caterpillar. 

"Well, I should like to be a little larger, sir, if you wouldn'tmind, " said Alice, "three inches is such a wretched height tobe. "

"It is a very good height indeed!" said the caterpillar loudlyand angrily, rearing itself straight up as it spoke (it wasexactly three inches high). 

"But I'm not used to it!" pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone, and she thought to herself "I wish the creatures wouldn't be soeasily offended!"

"You'll get used to it in time, " said the caterpillar, and it putthe hookah into its mouth, and began smoking again. 

This time Alice waited quietly until it chose to speak again: ina few minutes the caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and got down off the mushroom, and crawled away into the grass, merely remarking as it went; "the top will make you grow taller, and the stalk will make you grow shorter. "

"The top of what? the stalk of what?" thought Alice. 

"Of the mushroom, " said the caterpillar, just as if she had askedit aloud, and in another moment was out of sight. 

Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, and then picked it and carefully broke it in two, taking thestalk in one hand, and the top in the other. 

[Illustration]

"Which does the stalk do?" she said, and nibbled a little bit ofit to try; the next moment she felt a violent blow on her chin:it had struck her foot!

She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but asshe did not shrink any further, and had not dropped the top ofthe mushroom, she did not give up hope yet. There was hardly roomto open her mouth, with her chin pressing against her foot, butshe did it at last, and managed to bite off a little bit of thetop of the mushroom. 

 * * * * *

"Come! my head's free at last!" said Alice in a tone of delight, which changed into alarm in another moment, when she found thather shoulders were nowhere to be seen: she looked down upon animmense length of neck, which seemed to rise like a stalk out ofa sea of green leaves that lay far below her. 

[Illustration]

"What can all that green stuff be?" said Alice, "and where havemy shoulders got to? And oh! my poor hands! how is it I ca'n'tsee you?" She was moving them about as she spoke, but no resultseemed to follow, except a little rustling among the leaves. Thenshe tried to bring her head down to her hands, and was delightedto find that her neck would bend about easily in every direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in bending it down in abeautiful zig-zag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be the tops of the trees of the wood she hadbeen wandering in, when a sharp hiss made her draw back: a largepigeon had flown into her face, and was violently beating herwith its wings. 

[Illustration]

"Serpent!" screamed the pigeon. 

"I'm not a serpent!" said Alice indignantly, "let me alone!"

"I've tried every way!" the pigeon said desperately, with a kindof sob: "nothing seems to suit 'em!"

"I haven't the least idea what you mean, " said Alice. 

"I've tried the roots of trees, and I've tried banks, and I'vetried hedges, " the pigeon went on without attending to her, "butthem serpents! There's no pleasing 'em!"

Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no usein saying anything till the pigeon had finished. 

"As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs!" said thepigeon, "without being on the look out for serpents, day andnight! Why, I haven't had a wink of sleep these three weeks!"

"I'm very sorry you've been annoyed, " said Alice, beginning tosee its meaning. 

"And just as I'd taken the highest tree in the wood, " said thepigeon raising its voice to a shriek, "and was just thinking Iwas free of 'em at last, they must needs come down from the sky!Ugh! Serpent!"

"But I'm not a serpent, " said Alice, "I'm a--I'm a--"

"Well! What are you?" said the pigeon, "I see you're trying toinvent something. "

"I--I'm a little girl, " said Alice, rather doubtfully, as sheremembered the number of changes she had gone through. 

"A likely story indeed!" said the pigeon, "I've seen a good manyof them in my time, but never one with such a neck as yours! No, you're a serpent, I know that well enough! I suppose you'll tellme next that you never tasted an egg!"

"I have tasted eggs, certainly, " said Alice, who was a verytruthful child, "but indeed I do'n't want any of yours. I do'n'tlike them raw. "

"Well, be off, then!" said the pigeon, and settled down into itsnest again. Alice crouched down among the trees, as well as shecould, as her neck kept getting entangled among the branches, andseveral times she had to stop and untwist it. Soon she rememberedthe pieces of mushroom which she still held in her hands, and setto work very carefully, nibbling first at one and then at theother, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, untilshe had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual size. 

It was so long since she had been of the right size that it feltquite strange at first, but she got quite used to it in a minuteor two, and began talking to herself as usual: "well! there'shalf my plan done now! How puzzling all these changes are! I'mnever sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to another!However, I've got to my right size again: the next thing is, toget into that beautiful garden--how is that to be done, Iwonder?"

Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had adoorway leading right into it. "That's very curious!" shethought, "but everything's curious today: I may as well go in. "And in she went. 

Once more she found herself in the long hall, and close to thelittle glass table: "now, I'll manage better this time" she saidto herself, and began by taking the little golden key, andunlocking the door that led into the garden. Then she set to workeating the pieces of mushroom till she was about fifteen incheshigh: then she walked down the little passage: and then--shefound herself at last in the beautiful garden, among the brightflowerbeds and the cool fountains. 

[Illustration]

Chapter IV

[Illustration]

A large rose tree stood near the entrance of the garden: theroses on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red. This Alice thought a very curiousthing, and she went near to watch them, and just as she came upshe heard one of them say "look out, Five! Don't go splashingpaint over me like that!"

"I couldn't help it, " said Five in a sulky tone, "Seven jogged myelbow. "

On which Seven lifted up his head and said "that's right, Five!Always lay the blame on others!"

"You'd better not talk!" said Five, "I heard the Queen say onlyyesterday she thought of having you beheaded!"

"What for?" said the one who had spoken first. 

"That's not your business, Two!" said Seven. 

"Yes, it is his business!" said Five, "and I'll tell him: it wasfor bringing in tulip-roots to the cook instead of potatoes. "

Seven flung down his brush, and had just begun "well! Of all theunjust things--" when his eye fell upon Alice, and he stoppedsuddenly; the others looked round, and all of them took off theirhats and bowed low. 

"Would you tell me, please, " said Alice timidly, "why you arepainting those roses?"

Five and Seven looked at Two, but said nothing: Two began, in alow voice, "why, Miss, the fact is, this ought to have been a redrose tree, and we put a white one in by mistake, and if the Queenwas to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off. So, yousee, we're doing our best, before she comes, to--" At this momentFive, who had been looking anxiously across the garden called out"the Queen! the Queen!" and the three gardeners instantly threwthemselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of manyfootsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen. 

First came ten soldiers carrying clubs; these were all shapedlike the three gardeners, flat and oblong, with their hands andfeet at the corners: next the ten courtiers; these were allornamented with diamonds, and walked two and two, as the soldiersdid. After these came the Royal children: there were ten of them, and the little dears came jumping merrily along, hand in hand, incouples: they were all ornamented with hearts. Next came theguests, mostly kings and queens, among whom Alice recognised thewhite rabbit: it was talking in a hurried nervous manner, smilingat everything that was said, and went by without noticing her. Then followed the Knave of Hearts, carrying the King's crown on acushion, and, last of all this grand procession, came THE KINGAND QUEEN OF HEARTS. 

[Illustration]

When the procession came opposite to Alice, they all stopped andlooked at her, and the Queen said severely "who is this?" Shesaid it to the Knave of Hearts, who only bowed and smiled inreply. 

"Idiot!" said the Queen, turning up her nose, and asked Alice"what's your name?"

"My name is Alice, so please your Majesty, " said Alice boldly, for she thought to herself "why, they're only a pack of cards! Ineedn't be afraid of them!"

"Who are these?" said the Queen, pointing to the three gardenerslying round the rose tree, for, as they were lying on theirfaces, and the pattern on their backs was the same as the rest ofthe pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners, orsoldiers, or courtiers, or three of her own children. 

"How should I know?" said Alice, surprised at her own courage, "it's no business of mine. "

The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her fora minute, began in a voice of thunder "off with her--"

"Nonsense!" said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queenwas silent. 

The King laid his hand upon her arm, and said timidly "remember, my dear! She is only a child!"

The Queen turned angrily away from him, and said to the Knave"turn them over!"

The Knave did so, very carefully, with one foot. 

"Get up!" said the Queen, in a shrill loud voice, and the threegardeners instantly jumped up, and began bowing to the King, theQueen, the Royal children, and everybody else. 

"Leave off that!" screamed the Queen, "you make me giddy. " Andthen, turning to the rose tree, she went on "what have you beendoing here?"

"May it please your Majesty, " said Two very humbly, going down onone knee as he spoke, "we were trying--"

"I see!" said the Queen, who had meantime been examining theroses, "off with their heads!" and the procession moved on, threeof the soldiers remaining behind to execute the three unfortunategardeners, who ran to Alice for protection. 

"You sha'n't be beheaded!" said Alice, and she put them into herpocket: the three soldiers marched once round her, looking forthem, and then quietly marched off after the others. 

"Are their heads off?" shouted the Queen. 

"Their heads are gone, " the soldiers shouted in reply, "if itplease your Majesty!"

"That's right!" shouted the Queen, "can you play croquet?"

The soldiers were silent, and looked at Alice, as the questionwas evidently meant for her. 

"Yes!" shouted Alice at the top of her voice. 

"Come on then!" roared the Queen, and Alice joined theprocession, wondering very much what would happen next. 

"It's--it's a very fine day!" said a timid little voice: she waswalking by the white rabbit, who was peeping anxiously into herface. 

"Very, " said Alice, "where's the Marchioness?"

"Hush, hush!" said the rabbit in a low voice, "she'll hear you. The Queen's the Marchioness: didn't you know that?"

"No, I didn't, " said Alice, "what of?"

"Queen of Hearts, " said the rabbit in a whisper, putting itsmouth close to her ear, "and Marchioness of Mock Turtles. "

"What are they?" said Alice, but there was no time for theanswer, for they had reached the croquet-ground, and the gamebegan instantly. 

Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-ground inall her life: it was all in ridges and furrows: the croquet-ballswere live hedgehogs, the mallets live ostriches, and the soldiershad to double themselves up, and stand on their feet and hands, to make the arches. 

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

The chief difficulty which Alice found at first was to manage herostrich: she got its body tucked away, comfortably enough, underher arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as shehad got its neck straightened out nicely, and was going to give ablow with its head, it would twist itself round, and look up intoher face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not helpbursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, andwas going to begin again, it was very confusing to find that thehedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawlingaway: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or a furrowin her way, wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and asthe doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off toother parts of the ground, Alice soon came to the conclusionthat it was a very difficult game indeed. 

The players all played at once without waiting for turns, andquarrelled all the while at the tops of their voices, and in avery few minutes the Queen was in a furious passion, and wentstamping about and shouting "off with his head!" of "off with herhead!" about once in a minute. All those whom she sentenced weretaken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leaveoff being arches to do this, so that, by the end of half an houror so, there were no arches left, and all the players, except theKing, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody, and under sentenceof execution. 

Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Alice"have you seen the Mock Turtle?"

"No, " said Alice, "I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is. "

"Come on then, " said the Queen, "and it shall tell you itshistory. "

As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a lowvoice, to the company generally, "you are all pardoned. "

"Come, that's a good thing!" thought Alice, who had felt quitegrieved at the number of executions which the Queen had ordered. 

[Illustration]

They very soon came upon a Gryphon, which lay fast asleep in thesun: (if you don't know what a Gryphon is, look at the picture):"Up, lazy thing!" said the Queen, "and take this young lady tosee the Mock Turtle, and to hear its history. I must go back andsee after some executions I ordered, " and she walked off, leavingAlice with the Gryphon. Alice did not quite like the look of thecreature, but on the whole she thought it quite as safe to stayas to go after that savage Queen: so she waited. 

The Gryphon sat up and rubbed its eyes: then it watched the Queentill she was out of sight: then it chuckled. "What fun!" said theGryphon, half to itself, half to Alice. 

"What is the fun?" said Alice. 

"Why, she, " said the Gryphon; "it's all her fancy, that: theynever executes nobody, you know: come on!"

"Everybody says 'come on!' here, " thought Alice as she walkedslowly after the Gryphon; "I never was ordered about so before inall my life--never!"

They had not gone far before they saw the Mock Turtle in thedistance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and, as they came nearer, Alice could here it sighing as if its heartwould break. She pitied it deeply: "what is its sorrow?" sheasked the Gryphon, and the Gryphon answered, very nearly in thesame words as before, "it's all its fancy, that: it hasn't got nosorrow, you know: come on!"

[Illustration]

So they went up to the Mock Turtle, who looked at them with largeeyes full of tears, but said nothing. 

"This here young lady" said the Gryphon, "wants for to know yourhistory, she do. "

"I'll tell it, " said the Mock Turtle, in a deep hollow tone, "sitdown, and don't speak till I've finished. "

So they sat down, and no one spoke for some minutes: Alicethought to herself "I don't see how it can ever finish, if itdoesn't begin, " but she waited patiently. 

"Once, " said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, "I was areal Turtle. "

These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only byan occasional exclamation of "hjckrrh!" from the Gryphon, and theconstant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle. Alice was very nearlygetting up and saying, "thank you, sir, for your interestingstory, " but she could not help thinking there must be more tocome, so she sat still and said nothing. 

"When we were little, " the Mock Turtle went on, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school inthe sea. The master was an old Turtle--we used to call himTortoise--"

"Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" asked Alice. 

"We called him Tortoise because he taught us, " said the MockTurtle angrily, "really you are very dull!"

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simplequestion, " added the Gryphon, and then they both sat silent andlooked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth: atlast the Gryphon said to the Mock Turtle, "get on, old fellow!Don't be all day!" and the Mock Turtle went on in these words:

"You may not have lived much under the sea--" ("I haven't, " saidAlice, ) "and perhaps you were never even introduced to alobster--" (Alice began to say "I once tasted--" but hastilychecked herself, and said "no, never, " instead, ) "so you can haveno idea what a delightful thing a Lobster Quadrille is!"

"No, indeed, " said Alice, "what sort of a thing is it?"

"Why, " said the Gryphon, "you form into a line along the seashore--"

"Two lines!" cried the Mock Turtle, "seals, turtles, salmon, andso on--advance twice--"

"Each with a lobster as partner!" cried the Gryphon. 

[Illustration]

"Of course, " the Mock Turtle said, "advance twice, set topartners--"

"Change lobsters, and retire in same order--" interrupted theGryphon. 

"Then, you know, " continued the Mock Turtle, "you throw the--"

"The lobsters!" shouted the Gryphon, with a bound into the air. 

"As far out to sea as you can--"

"Swim after them!" screamed the Gryphon. 

"Turn a somersault in the sea!" cried the Mock Turtle, caperingwildly about. 

"Change lobsters again!" yelled the Gryphon at the top of itsvoice, "and then--"

"That's all, " said the Mock Turtle, suddenly dropping its voice, and the two creatures, who had been jumping about like mad thingsall this time, sat down again very sadly and quietly, and lookedat Alice. 

"It must be a very pretty dance, " said Alice timidly. 

"Would you like to see a little of it?" said the Mock Turtle. 

"Very much indeed, " said Alice. 

"Come, let's try the first figure!" said the Mock Turtle to theGryphon, "we can do it without lobsters, you know. Which shallsing?"

"Oh! you sing!" said the Gryphon, "I've forgotten the words. "

[Illustration]

So they began solemnly dancing round and round Alice, every nowand then treading on her toes when they came too close, andwaving their fore-paws to mark the time, while the Mock Turtlesang, slowly and sadly, these words:

 "Beneath the waters of the sea Are lobsters thick as thick can be-- They love to dance with you and me, My own, my gentle Salmon!"

The Gryphon joined in singing the chorus, which was:

 "Salmon come up! Salmon go down! Salmon come twist your tail around! Of all the fishes of the sea There's none so good as Salmon!"

"Thank you, " said Alice, feeling very glad that the figure wasover. 

"Shall we try the second figure?" said the Gryphon, "or would youprefer a song?"

"Oh, a song, please!" Alice replied, so eagerly, that the Gryphonsaid, in a rather offended tone, "hm! no accounting for tastes!Sing her 'Mock Turtle Soup', will you, old fellow!"

The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and began, in a voice sometimeschoked with sobs, to sing this:

 "Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen! Who for such dainties would not stoop? Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, Beautiful beautiful Soup!

"Chorus again!" cried the Gryphon, and the Mock Turtle had justbegun to repeat it, when a cry of "the trial's beginning!" washeard in the distance. 

"Come on!" cried the Gryphon, and, taking Alice by the hand, hehurried off, without waiting for the end of the song. 

"What trial is it?" panted Alice as she ran, but the Gryphon onlyanswered "come on!" and ran the faster, and more and more faintlycame, borne on the breeze that followed them, the melancholywords:

 "Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, Beautiful beautiful Soup!"

The King and Queen were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled around them: the Knave was incustody: and before the King stood the white rabbit, with atrumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other. 

"Herald! read the accusation!" said the King. 

On this the white rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, andthen unrolled the parchment scroll, and read as follows:

[Illustration]

 "The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts, And took them quite away!"

[Illustration]

"Now for the evidence, " said the King, "and then the sentence. "

"No!" said the Queen, "first the sentence, and then theevidence!"

"Nonsense!" cried Alice, so loudly that everybody jumped, "theidea of having the sentence first!"

"Hold your tongue!" said the Queen. 

"I won't!" said Alice, "you're nothing but a pack of cards! Whocares for you?"

At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying downupon her: she gave a little scream of fright, and tried to beatthem off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her head inthe lap of her sister, who was gently brushing away some leavesthat had fluttered down from the trees on to her face. 

"Wake up! Alice dear!" said her sister, "what a nice long sleepyou've had!"

"Oh, I've had such a curious dream!" said Alice, and she told hersister all her Adventures Under Ground, as you have read them, and when she had finished, her sister kissed her and said "it wasa curious dream, dear, certainly! But now run in to your tea:it's getting late. "

So Alice ran off, thinking while she ran (as well she might) whata wonderful dream it had been. 

 * * * * *

But her sister sat there some while longer, watching the settingsun, and thinking of little Alice and her Adventures, till shetoo began dreaming after a fashion, and this was her dream:

She saw an ancient city, and a quiet river winding near it alongthe plain, and up the stream went slowly gliding a boat with amerry party of children on board--she could hear their voices andlaughter like music over the water--and among them was anotherlittle Alice, who sat listening with bright eager eyes to a talethat was being told, and she listened for the words of the tale, and lo! it was the dream of her own little sister. So the boatwound slowly along, beneath the bright summer-day, with its merrycrew and its music of voices and laughter, till it passed roundone of the many turnings of the stream, and she saw it no more. 

Then she thought, (in a dream within the dream, as it were, ) howthis same little Alice would, in the after-time, be herself agrown woman: and how she would keep, through her riper years, thesimple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she wouldgather around her other little children, and make their eyesbright and eager with many a wonderful tale, perhaps even withthese very adventures of the little Alice of long-ago: and howshe would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasurein all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and thehappy summer days. 

[Illustration]

happy summer days. 

THE END. 

 * * * * *

_POSTSCRIPT. _

_The profits, if any, of this book will be given to Children'sHospitals and Convalescent Homes for Sick Children; and theaccounts, down to June 30 in each year, will be published in theSt. James's Gazette, on the second Tuesday of the followingDecember. _

_P. P. S. --The thought, so prettily expressed by the little boy, isalso to be found in Longfellow's "Hiawatha, " where he appeals tothose who believe_

 "_That the feeble hands and helpless, _ _Groping blindly in the darkness_, _Touch_ GOD'S _right hand in that darkness_, _And are lifted up and strengthened_. "

 * * * * *

"Who will Riddle me the How and the Why?"

_So questions one of England's sweetest singers. The "How?" hasalready been told, after a fashion, in the verses prefixed to"Alice in Wonderland"; and some other memories of that happysummer day are set down, for those who care to see them, in thislittle book--the germ that was to grow into the published volume. But the "Why?" cannot, and need not, be put into words. Those forwhom a child's mind is a sealed book, and who see no divinity ina child's smile, would read such words in vain: while for any onethat has ever loved one true child, no words are needed. For hewill have known the awe that falls on one in the presence of aspirit fresh from_ GOD'S _hands, on whom no shadow of sin, andbut the outermost fringe of the shadow of sorrow, has yet fallen:he will have felt the bitter contrast between the hauntingselfishness that spoils his best deeds and the life that is butan overflowing love--for I think a child's_ first _attitude tothe world is a simple love for all living things: and he willhave learned that the best work a man can do is when he works forlove's sake only, with no thought of name, or gain, or earthlyreward. No deed of ours, I suppose, on this side the grave, isreally unselfish: yet if one can put forth all one's powers in atask where nothing of reward is hoped for but a little child'swhispered thanks, and the airy touch of a little child's purelips, one seems to come somewhere near to this. _

_There was no idea of publication in my mind when I wrote thislittle book_: that _was wholly an afterthought, pressed on me bythe "perhaps too partial friends" who always have to bear theblame when a writer rushes into print: and I can truly say thatno praise of theirs has ever given me one hundredth part of thepleasure it has been to think of the sick children in hospitals(where it has been a delight to me to send copies) forgetting, for a few bright hours, their pain and weariness--perhapsthinking lovingly of the unknown writer of the tale--perhaps evenputting up a childish prayer (and oh, how much it needs!) for onewho can but dimly hope to stand, some day, not quite out of sightof those pure young faces, before the great white throne. "I amvery sure, " writes a lady-visitor at a Home for Sick Children, "that there will be many loving earnest prayers for you on Eastermorning from the children. _"

_I would like to quote further from her letters, as embodying asuggestion that may perhaps thus come to the notice of some oneable and willing to carry it out. _

"_I want you to send me one of your Easter Greetings for a verydear child who is dying at our Home. She is just fading away, and'Alice' has brightened some of the weary hours in her illness, and I know that letter would be such a delight to her--especiallyif you would put 'Minnie' at the top, and she could know you hadsent it for her. _ She _knows_ you, _and would so value it. . . . Shesuffers so much that I long for what I know would so please her. ". . . "Thank you very much for sending me the letter, and forwriting Minnie's name. . . . I am quite sure that all these childrenwill say a loving prayer for the 'Alice-man' on Easter Day: and Iam sure the letter will help the little ones to the real Easterjoy. How I do wish that you, who have won the hearts andconfidence of so many children, would do for them what is so verynear my heart, and yet what no one will do, viz. Write a book forchildren about_ GOD _and themselves, which is_ not _goody, andwhich begins at the right end, about religion, to make them seewhat it really is. I get quite miserable very often over thechildren I come across: hardly any of them have an idea of_really _knowing that_ GOD _loves them, or of loving and confidingin Him. They will love and trust_ me, _and be sure that I wantthem to be happy, and will not let them suffer more than isnecessary: but as for going to Him in the same way, they wouldnever think of it. They are dreadfully afraid of Him, if theythink of Him at all, which they generally only do when they havebeen naughty, and they look on all connected with Him as verygrave and dull: and, when they are full of fun and thoroughlyhappy, I am sure they unconsciously hope He is not looking. I amsure I don't wonder they think of Him in this way, for people_never _talk of Him in connection with what makes their littlelives the brightest. If they are naughty, people put on solemnfaces, and say He is very angry or shocked, or something whichfrightens them: and, for the rest, He is talked about only in away that makes them think of church and having to be quiet. Asfor being taught that all Joy and all Gladness and Brightness isHis Joy--that He is wearying for them to be happy, and is nothard and stern, but always doing things to make their daysbrighter, and caring for them so tenderly, and wanting them torun to Him with_ all _their little joys and sorrows, they arenot taught that. I do so long to make them trust Him as theytrust us, to feel that He will 'take their part' as they do withus in their little woes, and to go to Him in their plays andenjoyments and not only when they say their prayers. I was quitegrateful to one little dot, a short time ago, who said to hismother 'when I am in bed, I put out my hand to see if I can feel_JESUS _and my angel. I thought perhaps_ in the dark _they'd touchme, but they never have yet. ' I do so want them to_ want _to goto Him, and to feel how, if He is there, it_ must _be happy. _"

_Let me add--for I feel I have drifted into far too serious a veinfor a preface to a fairy-tale--the deliciously naïve remark of avery dear child-friend, whom I asked, after an acquaintance of twoor three days, if she had read 'Alice' and the 'Looking-Glass. ' "Ohyes, " she replied readily, "I've read both of them! And I think"(this more slowly and thoughtfully) "I think 'Through theLooking-Glass' is_ more _stupid than 'Alice's Adventures. ' Don't_you _think so?" But this was a question I felt it would be hardlydiscreet for me to enter upon. _

_LEWIS CARROLL. _

_Dec. _ 1886. 

 * * * * *

AN EASTER GREETING

TO

EVERY CHILD WHO LOVES

"Alice. "

DEAR CHILD, _Please to fancy, if you can, that you are reading a real letter, from a real friend whom you have seen, and whose voice you canseem to yourself to hear wishing you, as I do now with all myheart, a happy Easter. _

_Do you know that delicious dreamy feeling when one first wakeson a summer morning, with the twitter of birds in the air, andthe fresh breeze coming in at the open window--when, lying lazilywith eyes half shut, one sees as in a dream green boughs waving, or waters rippling in a golden light? It is a pleasure very nearto sadness, bringing tears to one's eyes like a beautiful pictureor poem. And is not that a Mother's gentle hand that undraws yourcurtains, and a Mother's sweet voice that summons you to rise? Torise and forget, in the bright sunlight, the ugly dreams thatfrightened you so when all was dark--to rise and enjoy anotherhappy day, first kneeling to thank that unseen Friend, who sendsyou the beautiful sun_?

_Are these strange words from a writer of such tales as "Alice"?And is this a strange letter to find in a book of nonsense? Itmay be so. Some perhaps may blame me for thus mixing togetherthings grave and gay; others may smile and think it odd that anyone should speak of solemn things at all, except in church and ona Sunday: but I think--nay, I am sure--that some children willread this gently and lovingly, and in the spirit in which I havewritten it. _

_For I do not believe God means us thus to divide life into twohalves--to wear a grave face on Sunday, and to think itout-of-place to even so much as mention Him on a week-day. Do youthink He cares to see only kneeling figures, and to hear onlytones of prayer--and that He does not also love to see the lambsleaping in the sunlight, and to hear the merry voices of thechildren, as they roll among the hay? Surely their innocentlaughter is as sweet in His ears as the grandest anthem that everrolled up from the "dim religious light" of some solemncathedral?_

_And if I have written anything to add to those stores ofinnocent and healthy amusement that are laid up in books for thechildren I love so well, it is surely something I may hope tolook back upon without shame and sorrow (as how much of life mustthen be recalled!) when_ my _turn comes to walk through thevalley of shadows. _

_This Easter sun will rise on you, dear child, feeling your "lifein every limb, " and eager to rush out into the fresh morningair_--_and many an Easter-day will come and go, before it findsyou feeble and gray-headed, creeping wearily out to bask oncemore in the sunlight--but it is good, even now, to thinksometimes of that great morning when the "Sun of Righteousnessshall arise with healing in his wings. "_

_Surely your gladness need not be the less for the thought thatyou will one day see a brighter dawn than this--when loveliersights will meet your eyes than any waving trees or ripplingwaters--when angel-hands shall undraw your curtains, and sweetertones than ever loving Mother breathed shall wake you to a newand glorious day--and when all the sadness, and the sin, thatdarkened life on this little earth, shall be forgotten like thedreams of a night that is past!_

_Your affectionate friend_, _LEWIS CARROLL_. 

EASTER, 1876. 

 * * * * *

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS. 

[FROM A FAIRY TO A CHILD. ]

 Lady dear, if Fairies may For a moment lay aside Cunning tricks and elfish play, 'Tis at happy Christmas-tide. 

 We have heard the children say-- Gentle children, whom we love-- Long ago, on Christmas Day, Came a message from above. 

 Still, as Christmas-tide comes round, They remember it again-- Echo still the joyful sound "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"

 Yet the hearts must childlike be Where such heavenly guests abide: Unto children, in their glee, All the year is Christmas-tide!

 Thus, forgetting tricks and play For a moment, Lady dear, We would wish you, if we may, Merry Christmas, glad New Year!

LEWIS CARROLL. 

_Christmas, 1867. _

 * * * * *

WORKS BY LEWIS CARROLL. 

PUBLISHED BY

MACMILLAN AND CO. , LONDON. 

ALICE'S ADVENTURES _IN_ WONDERLAND. With Forty-two Illustrationsby TENNIEL. (First published in 1865. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, giltedges, price 6_s. _ Seventy-eighth Thousand. 

AVENTURES D'ALICE AU PAYS DES MERVEILLES. Traduit de l'Anglaispar Henri Bué. Ouvrage illustré de 42 Vignettes par JOHN TENNIEL. (First published in 1869. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, price6_s. _

ALICE'S ABENTEUER IM WUNDERLAND. AUS DEM ENGLISCHEN, VON ANTONIEZIMMERMANN. MITT 42 ILLUSTRATIONEN VON JOHN TENNIEL. (Firstpublished in 1869. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, price 6_s. _

LE AVVENTURE D'ALICE NEL PAESE DELLE MERAVIGLIE. Tradotte dall'Inglese da T. PIETROCÒLA-ROSSETTI. Con 42 Vignette di GIOVANNITENNIEL. (First published in 1872. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, price 6_s. _

THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. With FiftyIllustrations by TENNIEL. (First published in 1871. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, price 6_s. _ Fifty sixth Thousand. 

RHYME? AND REASON? With Sixty-five Illustrations by ARTHUR B. FROST, and Nine by HENRY HOLIDAY. (This book, first published in1883, is a reprint, with a few additions, of the comic portion of"Phantasmagoria and other Poems, " published in 1869, and of "TheHunting of the Snark, " published in 1876. Mr. Frost's picturesare new. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, coloured edges, price 6_s. _ FifthThousand. 

 * * * * *

WORKS BY LEWIS CARROLL. 

PUBLISHED BY

MACMILLAN AND CO. , LONDON. 

A TANGLED TALE. Reprinted from _The Monthly Packet_. With SixIllustrations by ARTHUR B. FROST. (First published in 1885. )Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, 4_s. _ 6_d. _ Third Thousand. 

THE GAME OF LOGIC. (With an Envelope containing a card diagramand nine counters--four red and five grey. ) Crown 8vo, cloth, price 3_s. _

N. B. --The Envelope, etc. , may be had separately at 3_d. _ each. 

ALICE'S ADVENTURES UNDER GROUND. Being a Facsimile of theoriginal MS. Book, afterwards developed into "Alice's Adventuresin Wonderland. " With Thirty-seven Illustrations by the Author. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges. 4_s. _

THE NURSERY ALICE. A selection of twenty of the pictures in"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, " enlarged and coloured under theArtist's superintendence, with explanations. [_In preparation. _

 * * * * *

N. B. In selling the above-mentioned books to the Trade, Messrs. Macmillan and Co. Will abate 2_d. _ in the shilling (no oddcopies), and allow 5 per cent. Discount for payment within sixmonths, and 10 per cent. For cash. In selling them to the Public(for cash only) they will allow 10 per cent. Discount. 

 * * * * *

MR. LEWIS CARROLL, having been requested to allow "AN EASTERGREETING" (a leaflet, addressed to children, first published in1876, and frequently given with his books) to be sold separately, has arranged with Messrs. Harrison, of 59, Pall Mall, who willsupply a single copy for 1_d. _, or 12 for 9_d. _, or 100 for 5_s. _

 * * * * *