Chapter2-page_16-21

Chapter 2. The Caterpillar and the Pigeon

The mouse swam away very fast. Alice couldn't follow it, but she reached the end of the pool.

When she got out of the water, she sat down for a rest. She was feeling lonely and sad.

Just then, she heard little footsteps. The white rabbit walked past her once more.

It was speaking to itself. The Duchess. The Duchess. Oh, my dear paws. My ears and whiskers.

The Duchess will cut my head off. Oh, where did I drop them? It is probably looking for

the tiny gloves and the fan, Alice thought. Just then, the rabbit saw Alice.

Mary Ann, he called out to her. What are you doing here? Go home right now and bring me

a pair of gloves and a fan. Be quick. The rabbit is making a mistake. He thinks I am

one of the maids in his house, thought Alice. She decided to go near the glass table and

bring the gloves and the fan back to the rabbit. But she was not in the big hole anymore.

She was in the woods. Where is the house? She wondered. For some time, she ran in different

directions to find the house. Then, she got very tired and sat down in the shade of a flower.

She thought of going to the beautiful garden behind the tiny door. I'd like to be there,

but I must become a little bigger first. I must eat or drink something for that.

When she looked around for a plant to eat, she saw a large mushroom. It was as tall as

she was. She stood on her toes and stretched upwards to reach the top of the mushroom, and

her eyes met the eyes of a large caterpillar. It was sitting on top of the mushroom sleepily

and smoking a hookah.

Who are you? The caterpillar asked Alice.

I don't know, sir. Alice answered. I was myself yesterday, but I have changed so many times

since then. I am a different person now.

I don't understand. Explain it to me, said the caterpillar.

Well, I am not myself anymore. It's hard to explain, you know, said Alice. Then she went

on. I change very often. One minute I am very small, and a minute later I become as big as

a house, and while I am changing, I feel very strange.

But you say, I all the time. Who are you? Ask the caterpillar again.

Alice got a little angry. I must ask you first, she said. Who are you?

Why do you want to know who I am? The caterpillar asked.

Alice was irritated by the caterpillar's questions, so she moved away. As she was leaving, the

caterpillar shouted to her, come back here. I'll tell you something important.

So Alice turned back and stood near the mushroom again.

You must control your anger, said the caterpillar.

Is that all? asked Alice. Did you call me back here just for that?

She was angry, but tried not to show it.

There is more, answered the caterpillar. You have told me that your size changes very often.

What size do you want to be now? Or are you happy with it?

I'm about eight centimetres now. That's too short. I want to be a little taller.

Indeed, that's a very good height. The caterpillar said angrily and stood upright on the mushroom.

It was eight centimetres tall too.

Yes, it is a very good height, Alice said, because she knew that she offended the caterpillar.

But I was taller in the past when I was myself.

The caterpillar didn't say anything. It yawned a few times.

Then it came down from the mushroom and began to crawl away in the grass.

One side will make you taller, and the other side will make you shorter.

It said as it crawled.

One side of what? Alice thought to herself silently.

The caterpillar didn't hear this, but turned its head to Alice and said,

of the mushroom. Then it continued to crawl away.

But the mushroom is round. It doesn't have any sides, Alice thought.

So, she stretched out both of her arms around it and took big pieces from its edge with each hand.

First, she had a bite of the piece in her right hand, and suddenly she became smaller than before.

She panicked and quickly took a bite of the piece in her left hand.

A minute later, she became very tall with a very long neck.

Her head was as high as the tallest tree in the woods.

At that moment, a pigeon began to fly in circles around her head.

Hey, Snake! Go away! Don't steal my eggs! It shouted at Alice angrily.

I am not a snake, said Alice. I am a little girl, but my neck is too long.

I have tried so hard to hide my eggs from snakes.

I have kept them in tree roots, on the river banks and in the bushes.

The pigeon went on. But you, large snakes, find my eggs everywhere.

I thought this tall tree was a safe place for my nest, and now you are trying to steal my eggs.

I am not trying to steal your eggs, said Alice angrily. I am not a thief.

Don't you ever eat eggs? Yes, I eat an egg every morning. I like eggs, but I don't like them raw.

My mother cooks them for me, explained Alice.

Get away from my nest then, the pigeon shouted again, and went back to its nest in the branches.

After the pigeon left, Alice sat down, but her head and hair got caught in the branches and leaves.

I must get smaller at once, she thought. She still had pieces of mushroom in her hands.

She took bites from the pieces in each of her hands, until she reached her normal height.

At first, she felt strange in her normal height, because for a long time she was too short or too tall.

She began to walk through the wood.

Now, I must find that beautiful garden behind the tiny door in the big hole, she said to herself.

Suddenly, she came across an open area. There was a little house in the middle of it.

She decided to go to that house first. But the house was only a meter high.

The people in the house will be afraid of me, she thought. I am too big for them. I must get a little smaller.

So she nibbled the mushroom in her right hand until she became 25 centimeters, and she walked toward the little house.

When she came near it, she stopped suddenly.

Outside its door, there was a servant in a uniform, but he had the face of a fish.

He was holding a very large envelope. It was bigger than his head.

He knocked at the door, and another servant in a similar uniform opened it.

This servant had the face of a frog. Both servants had white wigs with curls over their heads.

The fish servant handed the large envelope to the frog servant. He said,

This is for the Duchess. It's an invitation from the Queen to her croquet game.

Then the frog servant went inside with the envelope, and the fish servant walked away into the wood.

When he disappeared, Alice went to the door. She knocked several times, but no one answered it.

There was a lot of noise coming from inside, so Alice opened the door herself, and quietly went in.

She was feeling a little scared and nervous because it was the Duchess's house.

What will I say to the Duchess? She wondered.

What will I do if she thinks I am a thief?