2 The pool¹ of tears²

'Curiouser and curiouser！'said³ Alice．(She was⁴ very surprised，and for a minute she forgot⁶ how to speak good English．)

'I shall⁷ be as⁵ tall as a house in a minute，'she said．She tried to look down at her feet，and could⁸ only just see them．'Goodbye，feet！'she called．'Who will put on your shoes now？Oh dear！What nonsense⁹ I'm talking！'

Just then her head hit the ceiling¹⁰ of the room．She was now about three metres¹¹ high．Quickly，she took¹³ the little gold key from the table and hurried to the garden door．

Poor Alice！She lay¹⁴ on the floor and looked into the garden with one eye．She could not even¹⁵ put her head through the door．

She began to cry again，and went on crying and crying．The tears ran¹⁶ down her face，and soon there was a large pool of water all around her on the floor．Suddenly¹⁷ she heard a voice， and she stopped crying to listen．

'Oh，the Duchess，the Duchess！She'll be so angry！I'm late，and she's waiting for me．Oh dear，oh dear！'

It was the white Rabbit again．He was hurrying down the long room，with some white gloves in one hand and a large fan¹⁹ in the other hand．

Alice was afraid，but she needed help．She spoke²⁰ in a quiet voice．'Oh，please，sir—'

The Rabbit jumped wildly，dropped the gloves and the fan， and hurried away as fast as he could．

Alice picked²¹ up the fan and the gloves．The room was very hot，so she began to fan herself²² while²³ she talked．'Oh dear！ How strange²⁴ everything is today！Did²⁵ I change in the night？ Am I a different person²⁶ today？But if I'm a different person， then the next question is—who am I？Ah，that's the mystery．'

She began to feel very unhappy²⁸ again，but then she looked down at her hand．She was wearing one of the Rabbit's white gloves．'How did I get it on my hand？'she thought．'Oh，I'm getting smaller again！'She looked round the room．'I'm al- ready less³⁰ than a metre¹² high．And getting smaller every second！How can I stop it？'She saw³¹ the fan in her other hand， and quickly dropped it．

She was now very，very small－and the little garden door was locked³² again，and the little gold key was lying³³ on the glass table．

'Things are worse³⁴ than ever，'thought²⁹ poor Alice．She turned away from the door，and fell³⁵ into salt water，right up to her neck．At first she thought it was the sea，but then she saw it was the pool of tears．Her tears．Crying makes a lot of tears when you are three metres tall．

'Oh，why did I cry so much？'said Alice．She swam around and looked for a way out，but the pool was very big．Just then she saw an animal in the water near her．It looked like a large animal to Alice，but it was only a mouse．

'Shall I speak to it？'thought Alice．'Everything's very strange down here，so perhaps³⁶ a mouse can talk．'

So she began：'Oh Mouse，do you know the way out of this pool？I am very tired of swimming，oh Mouse！'(Alice did not know if this was the right way to speak to a mouse．But she wanted to be polite．)

The mouse looked at her with its little eyes，but it said nothing．

'Perhaps it doesn't understand English，'thought Alice．'Perhaps it's a French³⁸ mouse．'So she began again，and said in French：'Where is my cat？'（This was the first sentence³⁹ in her French lesson-book．）

The mouse jumped half out of the water and looked at her angrily．

'Oh，I'm so sorry！'cried Alice quickly．'Of course，you don't like cats，do you？'

'Like cats？'cried the mouse in a high，angry voice．'Does any mouse like cats？'

'Well，perhaps not，'Alice began kindly．

But the mouse was now swimming quickly away，and soon Alice was alone⁴¹ again．At last she found⁴² her way out of the pool and sat⁴³ down on the ground．She felt very lonely⁴⁵ and unhappy．But after a while the White Rabbit came⁴⁶ past again， looking for his white gloves and his fan．

'The Duchess！The Duchess！Oh my ears and whiskers！She'll cut my head off，I know she will！Oh，where did I drop my gloves？'Then he saw Alice．'Why，Mary Ann， what are you doing here？Run home at once，and bring me some gloves and a fan．Quick，now！'

Alice hurried away．'But where is his house？'she thought while she ran．Strangely，she was no longer in the long room with the little door，but outside in a wood．She ran and ran but could not see a house anywhere，so she sat down under a flower to rest．

2 泪水潭

“越奇越怪！”爱丽丝说。（她很奇怪，一会儿她就忘了怎么说好英语了。）

“只需要一分钟我就会长得像一所房子那么高，”她说。她试着看看自己的脚，刚刚能看到脚。“再见吧，脚！”她叫了起来。“现在谁能穿上你的鞋？噢天哪！我在胡说些什么呀！”

正在这时，她的头碰到了天花板上。她现在大约有3米高。她赶快从桌上拿了小金钥匙，跑到通往花园的门那儿。

可怜的爱丽丝！她趴在地板上，用一只眼睛往花园里瞧。她连头都塞不进门里。

她又哭了起来，哭个不停。泪水从脸蛋儿滑落，很快在她周围的地板上积成一大潭水。突然，她听到一个声音，她止住哭声仔细听。

“噢，公爵夫人，公爵夫人！她要气坏了！我迟到了，她在等我呢。噢天哪，天哪！”

又是白兔，他正从那长房间那边走过来，一只手上拿了些手套，另一只手上拿了把大扇子。

爱丽丝有点害怕，但她需要帮助。她轻声说：“嗯，先生，请——”

兔子猛地跳了起来，丢下手套和扇子，风一样地跑了。

爱丽丝拣起扇于和手套。房间里很热，于是她一边自言自语一边扇着扇子。“噢我的天！今天的每一件事都多么奇怪！晚上我是不是变了呢？今天我是另外一个人了吗？但如果我变了个人，那下一个问题是——我倒底是谁？啊，真是个谜。”

她又伤心起来，然后她看看自己的手。她正戴着兔子的一只手套。“我怎么戴上这手套的呢？”她想。“噢，我现在又变小了！”她四下看看。“我已经不到一米高。每秒钟都在变小！我怎么才能不变小了呢？”她看到另一只手里的扇子，赶快扔了。

她现在很小很小了——可通往花园的小门又锁上了，而小金钥匙还在玻璃桌上。

“没有比这些更糟糕的事了，”可怜的爱丽丝想。她从门边走开，又掉进了咸水里，水没到脖子。一开始，她以为是海，但马上明白了，这是泪水潭，她的眼泪。当你3米高的时候，哭一下会流很多眼泪的。

“噢，我为什么总哭？”爱丽丝说。她游了起来，想找一条路，但水潭很大。正在这时她看到附近的水里有个动物。爱丽丝看着觉得像很大的动物，但它只是一只耗子。

“我要和她说说吗？”爱丽丝想。“这儿每件事都很奇怪，所以耗子也许会说话。”

于是她开口了：“喂，耗子，你知道出这水潭的路吗？我游得很累了，噢耗子！”（爱丽丝不知道这样和耗子说话对不对。但她想礼貌些。）

耗子用小眼睛瞅瞅她，但什么也没说。

“也许它不懂英语，”爱丽丝想。“可能它是只法国耗子。”她又开口了，这次是用法语：“我的猫儿在哪？”（这是她的法语课本上的第一句话。）

耗子从水里一下蹦出来半个身子，愤怒地看着她。

“哎呀，对不起！”爱丽丝马上说。“当然，你不喜欢猫，是吗？”

“喜欢猫？”耗子愤怒地高声叫道。“有喜欢猫的耗子吗？”

“嗯，也许没有，”爱丽丝开始友好些了。

但耗子还是迅速游走了，又剩下爱丽丝一个人。她终于游出了水潭，坐在地上。她觉得又孤独又难过。过了一会儿，白兔又经过这儿，他正在找他的白手套和扇子。

“公爵夫人！公爵夫人！噢我的耳朵和胡子！她会砍了我的头，我知道她会的！噢，我到底把我的手套掉在哪儿了？”他看见了爱丽丝。“玛丽•安，你在这儿干什么？赶快回家，给我带把扇子和一些手套。快点，现在就去！”

爱丽丝赶快跑。“可他的房子在哪儿？”她一边跑一边想。奇怪的是，她不再是在那间有小门的狭长房间里了，而是在一片树林里。她跑呀，跑呀，可在哪儿也没看见有房子，所以她坐在一朵花儿下休息休息。