Chapter1-page_4-12

On a beautiful summer day, Alice and her older sister were sitting on the riverbank. Her

sister was reading a book, but Alice wasn't doing anything. Her sister's book had no

pictures or conversations in it. It is no fun reading a book without pictures or conversations,

Alice thought. She was bored, so she wanted to find something to do. She thought of making

a daisy chain, but she was too sleepy to get up and pick daises. The hot weather made

her very sleepy and lazy. Suddenly she saw a white rabbit.

Oh dear, oh dear, I shall be late! The rabbit said to itself as it ran past her. Alice was

not surprised when the rabbit talked. It looked natural to her. But she was surprised when the

rabbit took a watch out of its waistcoat pocket and looked at it. A rabbit in a waistcoat and with

a pocket watch, how strange she thought. She quickly rose to her feet and ran across the field

after the rabbit. In a moment the rabbit went into a rabbit hole under the bushes. Alice bent

down and went into the rabbit hole too. The rabbit hole was straight like a tunnel at first,

but suddenly it went deep into the ground, so Alice started falling down a deep well and couldn't

stop. Alice was falling very slowly down the well. She had a lot of time to look around as she

fell. She could see nothing below because it was very dark. But on the sides of the well there were

cupboards and bookshelves. There were pictures and maps hanging from nails attached to the shelves.

While she was falling, she saw a marmalade jar in a cupboard. She took it, but she was very

disappointed because it was empty. She put it back in another cupboard lower down. After falling

like this, I won't be afraid of falling down the stairs at home or falling from the roof,

she thought. And she fell down and down. How many miles have I fallen, I wonder, she said to herself.

I think I am going down to the center of the earth that's 4 ,000 miles.

Alice knew many things like this because she was a bright student and was very good at her lessons.

She had a lot of time to think as she was falling. She thought about her cat, dina, and many other things.

Oh poor dina will miss me. I hope my sister doesn't forget to feed her, she said to herself.

Thinking about many things made her sleepy. Soon she was asleep and had some strange dreams.

Finally, just when she was in the middle of another dream, she woke up. She found herself on a heap

of dry leaves and twigs. That was the bottom of the well. The fall was finished at last.

She looked up, but it was very dark above. In front of her, there was a long tunnel.

Then she saw the white rabbit again. Oh my ears and whiskers, the rabbit was saying to itself.

Oh, I am very late. Alice began to run after the rabbit, but it turned a corner.

Alice turned the corner too, but the rabbit disappeared. And Alice found herself in a long,

low hall. There were many lamps hanging from the ceiling of the hall. There were doors on all the

walls. She tried to open each one, but they were all locked. How am I going to get out of here?

She thought to herself, sadly. Then she bumped into a glass table with three legs.

On the table there was a tiny golden key. She tried to open each door with it, but it was

impossible. The key was too small for the locks. Then she saw a low curtain on one of the walls.

Behind the curtain there was a small door about 40 centimetres high.

She put the little key in its lock and opened it. She kneeled down and looked out the tiny door.

She saw a passage with a very beautiful garden at the end. She wanted to go to that garden,

but of course she couldn't even get her head through the small door.

What a beautiful garden, she thought. Why can't I get smaller? She sadly locked the door again

and took the small golden key back to the glass table. As she put the key back on the table,

she saw a bottle on it. She was surprised because the bottle was not there before.

There was a paper label around the neck of the bottle. On it she read the words,

drink me in big letters. It can be dangerous to drink it, so I'll take a sip only she thought.

Alice was a clever girl. She took a sip and then two more sips. It tasted very nice,

like cherry and orange juice and chocolate. She loved it and drank the whole bottle.

In a few seconds she had a strange feeling. She was getting smaller and smaller.

And in the end she was only 20 centimetres tall. Oh, this is great. Now I can go through that

tiny door into the beautiful garden, she said to herself.

And she happily went to the tiny door. But of course it was locked.

Oh, I forgot that I put the key back on the table, she said.

So she went to the table to get it. But now she was too short to reach the top of the table.

She tried to climb up one of its legs but it was too slippery.

She gave up trying and sat on the floor. She began to cry. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

While she was crying she began to talk to herself.

When Alice did something wrong she always gave some advice to herself.

This time she advised herself to stop crying.

Crying won't help you Alice, she said. And she also scolded herself by saying,

stop crying right now and think wisely. At that moment she saw a small glass box under the table.

There was a cake in the box. She opened the box and took out the cake.

On the cake there were the words, eat me, made with raisins.

I'll eat this cake, she thought. If it makes me bigger I can reach the golden key.

If I get smaller I can easily creep under the door.

She ate a little bit of the cake at first. Then she put her hand over her head.

Am I getting taller or shorter? She wondered.

But nothing was happening. She was the same size. So she decided to eat some more.

She ate two more pieces. But again nothing happened.

Finally she finished the whole cake.

Oh my God, I think I have become too big this time. She screamed.

She tried to look down at her feet but she could hardly see them. They were so far away.

At that moment her head struck the whole ceiling because she was now more than three meters tall.

So she took the little key from the table and went to the garden door.

Of course she was too big to go through the door. The hopeless girl laid down on the floor.

She was in tears again. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? A big girl like you mustn't cry.

But she continued to cry and her tears formed a big pool around her.

It was ten centimeters deep and went halfway down the hall.

Suddenly the white rabbit appeared again. It was very nicely dressed and was walking hurriedly

down the hall. It had a pair of white small gloves in one hand and a big fan in the other.

Oh the Duchess will be very angry. I am very late. The rabbit was saying to itself.

Alice decided to ask the rabbit for help. Oh please sir, can you help me?

She asked in a quiet timid voice. The rabbit jumped up in fear when it saw the giant girl.

It dropped the white gloves and the fan on the floor and ran away into the darkness.

Alice picked up the rabbit's fan and gloves from the floor. She began to fan herself because

it was very hot. She began to talk to herself again. Everything is so strange. Perhaps I have

changed. I feel like a different person now. But who am I? As she was fanning herself and thinking,

she looked at her hands. She was wearing one of the tiny white gloves on one hand.

How did I put this on my hand? She wondered. I think I am getting smaller again.

She went to the table and measured herself against it. She said, I think I am about half a meter now.

Maybe less than that. She was shrinking as she talked. Maybe the fan is making me smaller,

she thought, and dropped it immediately. She ran to the small door. She was excited because she

was small enough to go through it into the garden.

When she reached the door, she cried out angrily. Oh, of course the door is locked and the golden

key is on the table. But now I am too short to get it. At that moment her foot slipped and she fell

into a pool of saltwater. The saltwater came up to her neck.

Have I fallen into the sea? She thought. Then she remembered that she was about three meters tall

when she was crying. This is a pool of my large teardrops, of course.

I don't want to drown in my own teardrops, she said, and began to swim.

She was trying to find a way out of the pool.

Just then she heard a splash in the water. There was a huge animal swimming in the pool too.

She thought it was a hippopotamus, but when she swam near it, she saw that it was a mouse.

The rabbit can speak, so this mouse can probably speak too, she thought.

Oh, mouse! Do you know the way out of this pool? She asked.

The mouse didn't answer her, but just looked at her in a friendly way, winking one of its eyes.

Perhaps this mouse doesn't speak English. Maybe it's a French mouse.

Then she asked the mouse a question in French.

Oh, a mouse shot. She remembered this from her French class.

It meant, where is my cat? The mouse began to shake in fear when it heard this question.

Oh, I am sorry. You are afraid of cats, aren't you? Alice asked kindly.

All mice are afraid of cats. You must know this. You are a big girl.

The mouse said angrily.

Yes, I know that. I'm really sorry. Are you afraid of dogs too? She asked.

This time, the mouse's face became white with anger. It began to swim away from Alice as fast as

it could, making big waves in the water. Now, the water was crowded with other creatures,

a duck and an old bird, a red parrot and a baby eagle and several other small birds.

Have I offended you again? Shouted Alice to the mouse.

You must stop talking and follow me. If you want to reach the end of the pool, the mouse said.

And Alice swam after it.