Chapter3-page_26-30

Chapter 3 The Duchess and the Cheshire Cat

Alice found herself in a large kitchen when she stepped inside the house. It was filled

with smoke. The Duchess was sitting on a stool in the middle of the kitchen. She was holding

a baby. The cook was stirring a big pot of soup over the fire. There were pieces of broken

plates on the floor. The baby was crying and screaming. It also sneezed sometimes.

Alice began to sneeze continuously after she entered the kitchen.

I'm sure there's too much pepper in that soup and it's making me sneeze, she thought.

The Duchess and the cook also sneezed, but occasionally.

A large cat was sitting on a chair by the fire. It looked at Alice with a mischievous

grin on its face. I've never seen a smiling cat before, Alice thought.

Excuse me, Madame. Why is your cat smiling? She asked the Duchess.

It's a Cheshire cat, the Duchess answered. They grin all the time.

Oh, I didn't know that. In fact, I didn't know that cats could smile, said Alice.

Well, you don't know anything, do you? Said the Duchess. Then she looked down at the baby

and shouted. Stop that, you pig. The baby began to scream more loudly than before.

The noise made the cook very angry. She began to throw sauce buns, plates, forks and spoons

in all directions around the kitchen.

Luckily, all those things missed the baby, but a few hit the Duchess.

The Duchess didn't mind it because she wasn't hurt.

Poor Alice jumped up in fear each time the cook threw something.

Please don't do that. You will hurt the baby, she cried out to the cook.

The cook didn't say anything. She just continued to stir the soup angrily.

You can take care of the baby if you like. The Duchess said to Alice,

I must go and get ready for the Queen's croquet game.

And suddenly she threw the baby to Alice.

Luckily, Alice was able to catch it, and as the Duchess was leaving the kitchen,

the cook threw a frying pan after her. But it missed her.

Alice was shocked to see all these things.

It was very difficult for Alice to keep the baby in her arms.

It wasn't crying or screaming anymore, but was moving its legs and arms all the time.

It was groaning at the same time.

Alice thought the baby was in pain. She didn't know what to do.

Perhaps it needs some fresh air.

This smoked filled kitchen is making it sick, she thought.

So she quickly walked out of the house with the baby in her arms.

She went to the woods. The baby began to grunt and make other strange sounds like a pig.

Alice was shocked and looked at the baby's face carefully.

Its eyes were too small for a human baby, and its nose looked like the snout of a pig.

It was different from the human nose.

Oh, this little creature is a pig. A baby pig?

Alice screamed in surprise.

How can I take care of it when we go back to the house?

The duchess and the cook will be very angry when they see a pig inside.

She was really worried, so she decided to leave the baby pig in the woods.

She carefully put the baby pig down on the ground, and it walked away on its four legs.

Alice watched it for a while.

It will be healthier and happier in the woods, she thought with a smile on her face.

Suddenly, she saw the duchess's Cheshire cat again.

It was sitting on the branch of a tree.

It grinned at Alice in a very friendly way, but Alice was still a little scared of its long claws and sharp teeth.

So she decided to talk to the cat in a respectful way.

Hello, Cheshire cat, she said timidly.

The grin on the cat's face became wider and more pleasant when it heard this.

This gave Alice some courage and she went on.

Can you please tell me which way to go from here?

Where exactly do you want to go?

The cat asked.

I really don't know, said Alice.

I just want to reach a place.

It can be any place.

If you go on walking, you will certainly arrive at a place, said the cat.

It was grinning widely again.

Yes, that's true, but I don't want to feel lonely there.

Does anyone live near here?

Alice asked again.

Oh, so you want to go to somebody's house, I suppose, said the cat.

Then it went on.

Well, if you walk to the left, you will arrive at the Hatter's house, and if you walk in the right direction, you will see the March hare's house.

You will like them.

They are both mad.

I don't want to meet any mad people, said Alice.

I don't like being together with mad people.

Here we are all mad.

I think you are mad too, said the cat, again with a grin on its face.

Why do you think I am mad?

Asked Alice.

Because only mad people come here, the cat answered.

Are you going to play croquet with the queen today?

Oh, I would love to, but she hasn't invited me, answered Alice.

Well, you'll see me there, said the cat.

It jumped off the tree and went away.

Suddenly, its grin appeared again on the same branch, and then its face appeared.

Alice couldn't see its body.

Where is the baby, said the cat's face?

I forgot to ask.

I left it in the woods because it changed into a pig, answered Alice.

I knew it was a pig.

I am not surprised, said the cat, and disappeared.