4 The Cheshire Cat

There was¹ a boy outside the door，with a large letter in his hand．(He was dressed like a boy，but his face was very like a fish，Alice thought．)The Fish-Boy knocked⁴ at the door，and a second later⁵ a large plate came⁷ flying out of an open window．

'A letter for the Duchess，'the Fish-Boy shouted．He pushed⁸ the letter under the door and went away．

Alice went up to the door and knocked，but there was a lot of noise inside⁹ and nobody¹⁰ answered．So she opened the door and walked in．

She found¹¹ herself¹² in a kitchen，which was full of smoke．There was a very angry cook by the fire，and in the middle of the room sat¹³ the Duchess，holding a screaming¹⁴ baby．Every few¹⁵ minutes a plate crashed¹⁶ to the floor．There was also a large cat，which was sitting on a chair and grinning from ear to ear．

'Please，'Alice said¹⁸ politely²⁰ to the Duchess，'why does your cat grin¹⁷ like that？'

'It's a Cheshire Cat，'said the Duchess．'That's why．'

'I didn't know that cats could²¹ grin，'said Alice．

'Well，you don't know much，'said the Duchess．Another plate crashed to the floor and Alice jumped．'Here！'the Duchess went on．'You can hold the baby for a bit，if you like．The Queen²² has invited²³ me to play croquet，and I must go and get ready．'She pushed the baby into Alice's arms and hurried out of the room．

'Oh，the poor little thing！'said Alice，looking at the baby， which had²⁴ a very strange²⁵ face．She took²⁷ it outside into the wood and walked around under the trees．Then the baby began to make strange noises，and Alice looked into its face again．Its eyes were really very small for a baby，and its nose now looked very like the nose of a pig．

'Don't make noises like that，my dear，'said Alice．'It's not polite．You're beginning²⁸ to sound like a pig．'

But a few minutes later，there was no mistake．It was a pig．Alice put it carefully³⁰ on the ground，and it ran²⁶ quietly³¹ away on its four legs into the wood．

'I'm pleased³² about that，'Alice said to herself．'It will be a good-looking³³ pig，but it would³⁴ be terrible³⁵ to be a child with a face like that．

She was thinking³⁶ about pigs and children when she suddenly³⁷ saw³⁸ the Cheshire Cat in a tree．The Cat grinned at her，and she went nearer to it．

'Please，'she said，'can you tell me which way to go from here？'

'But where do you want to get to？'said the Cat．

'It doesn't really matter—'began Alice．

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go，'said the Cat．

'But I would like to get somewhere，'Alice explained．

'If you just go on walking，'said the Cat，'in the end you'll arrive somewhere．'

That was true，thought³ Alice，but not very helpful，so she tried another question．'What kind of people live near here？'

'To the left，'the Cat said，'lives a Hatter．And to the right，lives a March Hare．You can visit either⁴² of them．They're both mad．'

'But I don't want to visit mad⁴³ people，'said Alice．

'We're all mad here，you know，'said the Cat．'I'm mad．You're mad．'

'How do you know that I'm mad？'said Alice．

'Of course⁴⁴ you're mad，'said the Cat．'Only mad people come here．'

Alice was thinking about this，but the Cat went on，'Are you playing croquet with the Queen today？'

'I would like to very much，'said Alice，'but nobody has invited me yet．'

'You'll see me there，'said the Cat，and vanished．

Alice was not really surprised⁴⁷ at this，because so many strange things were happening today．She was still looking at the tree when，suddenly，the Cat appeared⁴⁸ again．

'I forgot⁴⁹ to ask，'said the Cat．'What happened to the baby？'

'It turned into a pig，'Alice said．

'I'm not surprised，'said the Cat，and vanished⁴⁶ again．

Alice began to walk on，and decided⁵⁰ to visit the March Hare．'It's the month of May now，'she said to herself，'so perhaps⁵¹ the Hare⁴¹ won't be as² mad as he was in March．'

Suddenly，there was the Cheshire Cat again，sitting in another tree．Alice jumped in surprise．

'Do you think，'she said politely，'that you could come and go more slowly？'

'All right，'said the Cat．And this time it vanished very slowly．First its tail went，then its body，then its head，and last，the grin．

'Well！I've often seen⁵³ a cat without a grin，'thought Alice，'but never a grin without a cat！'

Soon she saw the house of the March Hare in front of her．It was a large house，so she ate⁶ a little piece of mushroom⁵⁴ to get bigger，and walked on．

4 切舍猫

门外站着一个男孩，手里拿着好大的一封信。（他穿得像个男孩，爱丽丝觉得他的脸却很像一条鱼。）鱼孩敲了一下门，眨眼功夫一个大盘子从一扇打开的窗户飞了出来。

“有封给公爵夫人的信，”鱼孩大喊道。他把信从门下塞了进去，然后走开了。

爱丽丝走上前去敲了敲门，里面一片嘈杂声，却无人应门。于是她打开门，走了进去。

她发现自己在一个小厨房里，厨房里尽是烟。火边有一个厨师，气哼哼地；在房间中央坐着公爵夫人，抱着一个正尖声大叫的婴儿。每隔几分钟就有一个盘子摔到地上。椅子上坐着一只很大的猫，正咧着大嘴笑呢。

“请问，”爱丽丝客客气气地对公爵夫人说，“你的猫为什么那样咧着嘴笑？”

“这是一只切舍猫，”公爵夫人说，“这就是原因。”

“我不知道猫会咧着嘴笑，”爱丽丝说。

“你不知道的事多着呢，”公爵夫人说。又有一只盘子摔到地上，爱丽丝跳了起来。“来！”公爵夫人接着说：“要是你愿意，这个孩子给你抱一会儿吧。王后请我打槌球，现在我得去准备一下。”她把孩子塞到爱丽丝的怀里，急匆匆地走出去了。

“噢，可怜的小东西！”爱丽丝说。她看了看孩子的脸，真是张很奇怪的脸。她带着它出了门，在树林里转了转。它开始发出一种奇怪的声音，爱丽丝又看看它的脸。眼睛很小，不像婴孩的眼睛，鼻子看起来像猪鼻子。

“亲爱的，别那样出声，”爱丽丝说。“这很不礼貌，听起来会像头猪一样。”

但过了一会儿这就算不上一个错误了。它确实是只猪。爱丽丝小心地把它放在地上，它四条腿着地，静静地跑进森林里去了。

“我很高兴，”爱丽丝自言自语道。“它会是只漂亮的猪，可小孩要长这么一张脸就太可怕了。”

正当她想着猪和小孩时，突然看见切舍猫正坐在一棵树上。猫冲她咧嘴一笑，爱丽丝向它靠了靠。

她说：“请你告诉我，从这儿我该往哪条路走？”

“可你要上哪儿去呀？”猫问。

“去哪儿倒无所谓——”爱丽丝答道。

“那你走哪条路都行。”猫说。

“但我想去个什么地方。”爱丽丝解释道。

“如果你一直走，你总会到个什么地方的。”猫说。

这倒是真的，爱丽丝想，可毫无意义。所以她试着问点别的。“这附近都住着什么样的人？”

猫回答：“左边住着一个制帽人。右边住了一只三月兔。你可以去看看他们中的谁。可他们都疯了。”

“我可不想去看疯子。”爱丽丝说。

“你得知道，这儿人人都是疯子。”切舍猫说：“我是疯子，你也是疯子。”

“你怎么知道我疯了？”爱丽丝问。

“你当然是疯子，”切舍猫说。“到这儿来的人都疯了。”

爱丽丝还在想着这个事，猫又接着问：“今天你去跟王后打槌球吗？”

“我很想去，”爱丽丝说，”可没人请我啊。”

“你在那儿会看到我的。”切舍猫说，然后一下子不见了。

爱丽丝也不觉得奇怪，因为今天发生了那么多奇怪的事。她还在那儿盯着树看，突然，切舍猫又出现了。

“我忘了问，”猫说：“那娃娃怎么啦？”

“变成了一头猪。”爱丽丝说。

“我一点也不觉得奇怪。”猫说，然后又不见了。

爱丽丝开步走了，决定去拜访三月兔。她想：“现在是五月，不是三月，也许这只兔不像在三月份那么疯了。”

突然，切舍猫又出现了。它坐在另一棵树上。爱丽丝吃惊地跳了起来。

“你说，”爱丽丝客气地说：“你可以慢一点一会儿出现，一会儿隐没吗？”

“可以。”猫说。这次，它慢慢地隐没。先是尾巴没了，然后是身体、头，最后，咧着笑的嘴。

“我常看见不咧开嘴笑的猫，”爱丽丝想，“可还没见过有咧开的嘴而没有身子的猫。”

一会儿她看到三月兔的房子就在眼前。房子挺大，所以爱丽丝吃了一小片蘑菇以便长大一点，然后走上前去。