1 Down the rabbit-hole

Alice was² beginning³ to get very bored．She and her sister were sitting under the trees．Her sister was reading，but Alice had⁵ nothing to do．Once or twice⁶ she looked into her sister's book，but it had no pictures or conversations⁷ in it．

'And what is the use of a book，'thought⁹ Alice，'without pictures or conversations？'

She tried to think of something to do，but it was a hot day and she felt very sleepy and stupid．She was still sitting and thinking¹¹ when suddenly¹² a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran¹³ past her．

There was nothing really strange¹⁴ about seeing a rabbit．And Alice was not very surprised¹⁵ when the Rabbit said，'Oh dear！Oh dear！I shall¹⁷ be late！'(Perhaps¹⁹ it was a little strange， Alice thought later，but at the time she was not surprised．)

But then the Rabbit took²¹ a watch out of its pocket，looked at it，and hurried on．At once Alice jumped to her feet．

'I've never before seen²³ a rabbit with either²⁴ a pocket，or a watch to take out of it，'she thought．And she ran quickly across²⁵ the field²⁶ after the Rabbit．She did²⁷ not stop to think， and when the Rabbit ran down a large rabbit-hole，Alice followed it immediately．

After a little way the rabbit-hole suddenly went down，deep into the ground．Alice could³⁰ not stop herself³¹ falling，and down she went，too．

It was a very strange hole Alice was falling very slowly， and she had time to think and to look around her．She could see nothing below³³ her because it was so dark．But when she looked at the sides³⁵ of the hole，she could see cupboards and books and pictures on the walls．She had time to take things out of a cupboard，look at them，and then put them back in a cupboard lower³⁶ down．

'Well！'thought Alice．'After a fall like this，I can fall anywhere！I can fall downstairs³⁸ at home，and I won't cry or say a word about it！'

Down，down，down．'How far have I fallen now？'Alice said¹⁶ aloud³⁹ to herself．'Perhaps I'm near the centre⁴⁰ of the earth．Let me think…That's four thousand miles⁴² down．' (Alice was very good at her school lessons and could remember a lot of things like this．)

Down，down，down．Would⁴³ she ever²² stop falling？Alice was very nearly⁴⁴ asleep⁴⁵ when，suddenly，she was sitting on the ground．Quickly，she jumped to her feet and looked around．She could see the White Rabbit，who was hurrying away and still talking to himself．'Oh my ears and whiskers！'he was saying．'How late it's getting！'

Alice ran after him like the wind．She was getting very near him when he suddenly turned a corner．Alice ran round the corner too，and then stopped．She was now in a long，dark³⁴ room with doors all round the walls，and she could not see the White Rabbit anywhere．

She tried to open the doors，but they were all locked．'How will I ever get out again？'she thought sadly．Then she saw⁵⁰ a little glass table with three legs，and on the top of it was a very small gold key．Alice quickly took the key and tried it in all the doors，but oh dear！Either the locks⁵¹ were too big，or the key was too small，but she could not open any of the doors．

Then she saw another door，a door that was only forty centimetres⁵² high．The little gold key unlocked⁵³ this door easily， but of course⁵⁵ Alice could not get through it—she was much too big．So she lay⁵⁶ on the floor and looked through the open door，into a beautiful garden with green trees and bright flowers．

Poor Alice was very unhappy．'What a wonderful garden！' she said to herself．'I'd like to be out there—not in this dark room．Why can't I get smaller？'It was already⁵⁸ a very strange day，and Alice was beginning to think that anything was possible．

After a while⁶⁰ she locked⁴⁸ the door again，got⁶¹ up and went back to the glass table．She put the key down and then she saw a little bottle on the table（'I'm sure it wasn't here before，'said Alice）．Round the neck of the bottle was a piece of paper with the words DRINK ME in large letters．

But Alice was a careful girl．'It can be dangerous to drink out of strange bottles，'she said．'What will it do to me？'She drank a little bit¹ very slowly．The taste was very nice，like chocolate and oranges and hot sweet coffee，and very soon Alice finished⁶³ the bottle．

* * *

'What a strange feeling！'said Alice．'I think I'm getting smaller and smaller every second．'

And she was．A few⁶⁵ minutes later²⁰ she was only twenty-five centimetres high．'And now，'she said happily，'I can get through the little door into that beautiful garden．'

She ran at once to the door．When she got there，she remembered that the little gold key was back on the glass table．She ran back to the table for it，but of course，she was now much too small！There was the key，high above her，on top of the table．She tried very hard to climb up the table leg，but she could not do it．

At last，tired and unhappy，Alice sat⁸ down on the floor and cried．But after a while she spoke⁶⁶ to herself angrily．

'Come now，'she said．'Stop crying at once．What's the use of crying？'She was a strange child，and often talked to herself like this．

Soon she saw a little glass box near her on the floor．She opened it，and found⁶⁷ a very small cake with the words EAT ME on it．

Nothing could surprise Alice now．'Well，I'll eat it，'she said．'If I get taller，I can take the key off⁶² the table．And if I get smaller，I can get under the door．One way or another，I'll get into the garden．So it doesn't matter what happens！'

She ate¹⁸ a bit of the cake，and then put her hand on top of her head．'Which way？Which way？'she asked herself，a little afraid．Nothing happened．This was not really surprising．People don't usually get taller or shorter when they eat cake．But a lot of strange things were happening to Alice today．'It will be very boring，'she said，'if nothing happens．'

So she went on eating，and very soon the cake was finished．

1 掉进兔子洞

爱丽丝开始觉得有点无聊了。她和姐姐正坐在树下。姐姐在看书，而爱丽丝无事可做。她不时看看姐姐的书，里面既没有图画，也没有对话。

“一本书没有图画和对话有什么用呢？”爱丽丝想。

她想找点什么事儿做做，可天气很热，她觉得又因又无聊。正坐在那儿想事，忽然，一只长着粉红眼睛的白兔跑过她身边。

看到一只兔子真没有什么可奇怪的。兔子说话时爱丽丝居然也不觉得太奇怪。兔子说，“噢，天哪！噢，天哪！我要迟到了！”（后来爱丽丝想起这事觉得有点儿奇怪，但当时她并不觉得有什么奇怪。）

然后兔子从自己的口袋里掏出一块表，看了看，赶紧走了。爱丽丝立刻跳了起来。

“我从未见过有口袋的兔子，或者兔子掏出一块手表来。”她想。她跟在兔子后面很快跑过田野。她也没停下来想一想，当兔子跑进一个大的兔子洞时，爱丽丝立即跟了进去。

走了一小段，兔子洞突然向下转，直深入地下。爱丽丝不由自主地掉了下去。

这个兔子洞很奇怪。爱丽丝往下掉得很慢，来得及看看四周。下面很暗，她什么也看不清。但她看到洞壁上有小柜子、书和画儿。她有时间从柜子里拿点东西，看上一眼，再放到下面的柜子里。

“嗯，”爱丽丝想。“跌了这一下子，我到哪儿也不会怕跌倒了！以后在家里跌下楼梯，我不会哭也不会说什么。”

往下掉呀，掉呀，掉呀。爱丽丝自言自语：“现在我掉下来了多深？也许我快到地球中心了。让我想想……那是地下4000公里。”（爱丽丝功课不错，能记住好多这样的事。）

掉呀，掉呀，掉呀。什么时候才能停下来呢？爱丽丝都快睡着了，突然，她一下坐到了地上。她很快跳了起来，看了看周围。她看见白兔正急匆匆走开，还在自言自语：“噢，我的耳朵和胡子！现在太晚了！”

爱丽丝跟在他后面像风一样跑起来。她就快追上他了，兔子突然转了个弯。爱丽丝也转过弯，然后停了下来。这是一个狭长的房间，很暗，墙四周都是门。她看不清白兔在哪儿。

她试着推开门，可门都锁着。“我怎么才能再出去呢？”她想，伤心极了。接着她看见一张三条腿的小玻璃桌，上面放了一把很小的金钥匙。爱丽丝马上拿起钥匙，试了试所有的门，可是天哪！锁都太大了，而钥匙大小了，她一个门也打不开。

这时，她看见另有一个门，只有40厘米高。小金钥匙轻而易举就打开了门，可爱丽丝过不去——她太大了。她趴在地板上看过去，门外是一个美丽的花园，里面长着绿树和鲜艳的花儿。

可怜的爱丽丝难过极了。“多漂亮的花园呀！”她想。“我要出去——不想呆在这个黑屋子里。可我怎么才能变得小一点呢？”今天真是奇怪的一天，爱丽丝开始琢磨什么事都可能发生。

过了一会她锁上门，站起来回到玻璃桌那儿。她放下钥匙，然后看见桌上有个小瓶子（“我敢肯定刚才它不在这儿，”爱丽丝说）。瓶颈上有一张纸，上面写着大大的两个字“喝我”。

但爱丽丝是个细心谨慎的女孩。“喝奇怪的瓶子里的东西会很危险，”她说。“喝了我会怎么样呢？”她慢慢喝了一点点。味道不错，有点儿像巧克力、桔汁和热的甜咖啡。爱丽丝很快把一瓶都喝了。

* * *

“感觉真奇怪！”爱丽丝说。“我想每秒钟我都在越变越小。”

她是在变小。几分钟后她只有25厘米高了。“现在，”她高兴地说，“我能穿过那扇小门去花园里了。”

她立刻跑到门那儿。到了那儿她想起来那把小金钥匙还在那个玻璃桌上。她跑回去拿，可是，她现在太小了！钥匙放得很高，在桌子上呢。她想爬上桌子腿，但爬不上去。

最后，爱丽丝又累又伤心，坐在地板上哭了起来。哭了一会儿她生气地对自己说了起来。

“噢，现在，”她说。“快别哭了。哭有什么用呢？”她是个挺怪的孩子，总是这样对自己说话。

很快，她看见自己身边的地板上有一个小盒子。她打开后发现里面有一小块蛋糕，上面写着“吃我”。

现在没什么能让爱丽丝奇怪的了。“好，吃就吃，”她说。“如果我长高了，就能从桌子上拿钥匙了。如果我变小点就能穿过门了。不管怎样，我得去花园里。发生什么都不要紧！”

她吃了点蛋糕，然后把手放在头顶。“是变大了还是变小了？”她问自己，心里有点害怕。什么也没发生。这一点也不奇怪。一般来说，人们吃点蛋糕并不见得就长高或变矮。但今天，爱丽丝身上发生了许多奇怪的事。“如果什么都没发生，”她说，“那太没意思了。”

于是她接着吃，一会儿蛋糕就吃完了。