Reading Week 12: Alice in Wonderland, Part A
Down the Rabbit-Hole
Alice was very tired siting with her sister on the bank with having nothing to do. She was reading a book without any pictures or conversations. She was pondering the book in her own mind when suddenly a white rabbit ran by. There was something remarkable about the rabbit for she heard him say he was very late as he took out a pocket watch from his coat pocket. She saw him pop down a large rabbit-hole under a hedge and Alice went down after it, falling deep into a dark hole. The sides of the tunnel were filled with pictures, maps, cupboards, and book shelves. She began to think she was falling through the earth and her mind began to race with an endless amount of thoughts!
Down the Rabbit-Hole (cont.)
Alice continued to fall down, down, down and her mind was racing with thoughts about the earth above like her cat, when suddenly she came down upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves with a thump. She got to her feet and saw the rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down a long passage. She found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit by a row of lamps. There were many doors in the hall, but they were all locked and she thought she would never get out. Suddenly she came upon a little table with a little gold key on top. She tried the keys in all the doors, but the key wouldn't fit and then she came about a little door behind a curtain and alas, the key worked. The door opened to a beautiful garden, but she was too big to crawl around inside to see. She then went back to the table and found a little bottle with the words "Drink Me" written on it. She was hesitant at first thinking it could be poison, but she finally decided it was safe enough to drink. It tasted like a mixture of cherry tart, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and buttered toast.
Down the Rabbit Hole (end)
Alice began shrinking in size, just the right size to go through the little door to the garden. She realized she had forgotten to get the key and now she was too small to reach the top of the table. She tried climbing the legs, but couldn't and she sat down and cried. She then reasoned with herself and scolded herself for pretending to be two people like she usually did. Soon her eyes fell on a little glass box with a small cake inside with the words "Eat Me" written on it. She ate a little bit and she didn't feel anything so she decided to finish off the entire cake. She began to grow into a large version of herself. She found herself allowing her mind to speak nonsense, when suddenly her head struck the roof of the hall. She grabbed the gold key and hurried to the garden door. She was only able to look into the garden with one eye and she felt hopeless and began to cry again. She looked around at everything in the garden and she found her eyes looking at a mushroom growing near her. At the edge of the mushroom was a large caterpillar sitting with its arms folded, smoking a long hookah.,
Advice from a Caterpillar
The caterpillar and Alice stared at each other awhile until the caterpillar asked who she was. She explained herself to him but she became flustered and confused. She tried to compare her story to him turning into a butterfly. He then asked her again who she was and she became irritated and asked who he was. She turned away and started to leave when the caterpillar called for her to come back. He told her to keep her temper and Alice swallowed her anger as best as she could. Alice told him she couldn't remember certain things and he told her to repeat "you are old, father William" and she did.
Advice from a Caterpillar (cont.)
The caterpillar talked about old, Father William with white hair and how he feared he had a Bain injury. He was old and fat, but in his youth he was limber. His jaw was now weak and tougher than suet and he argued with his wife. He said to Alice he had answer three questions and that was sufficient. She seemed confused and then he asked her what size she wished to be. Alice replied she just didn't want to change so often and didn't care about a particular size. The caterpillar asked if she was content and she finally asked to be a little larger. She was beginning to lose her temper when the caterpillar said she would get used to her size in time. He then put the hookah back in his mouth and began smoking again and then crawled away into the grass. He told Alice one side will make you grow taller and one side will make your grow smaller. The caterpillar told her the side of the mushroom to clarify. She tried to make out which two sides he was talking about since it was perfectly round. Suddenly something blew her under the chin and she was frightened. She was shrinking rapidly so she began to eat rapidly but there hardly was room to open her mouth.
Advice from a Caterpillar (end)
Alice looked down at herself and found her neck was of immense length. She was rising above all the green of the garden. She tried to get her head down to see her hands, but all she found were the tops of the trees and a pigeon screeching at her as if she were a serpent. The pigeon repeated itself, but this time with a tone of sorrow and he said he had tried all the roots of the trees and banks but there is no pleasing them. Alice was very puzzled and the pigeon said he had trouble hatching eggs and hadn't slept in weeks in fear of serpents. Alice pleaded to him that she wasn't a serpent and that she had gone through a number of changes today. The pigeon didn't believe her and he said she probably will say she has never tasted an egg before. She claimed that all little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do. She said she wasn't looking for eggs and she didn't like raw eggs in the first place. The pigeon flew away and settled down in its nest as Alice crouched among the trees. After a while she remembered she had pieces of the mushroom in her hands and she began to nibble on them, growing taller and shorter until she came to the desired size she wanted to be. She was very puzzled by all the changes and she decided her plan of action would be to get into the beautiful garden. Suddenly she came to an open place with a little house and she began to nibble and didn't venture near the house until she brought herself down to nine inches high.
Pig and Pepper
She stood by the house when suddenly a footman came running out of the woods. He rapped loudly at the door and another footman opened the door appearing like a frog. The fish footman brought in a letter from the queen asking to play croquet. They both bowed low and got tangled together, making Alice laugh. When she opened her eyes the two were gone and she went up to the door again and knocked. The footman was right behind her and told her it was no use knocking and inside there was loud noises of broken dishes. She asked how to get inside and the footman began to speak riddles to her. At this moment, the door opened and a large plate came flying through the entrance. Alice asked loudly again how to get inside and she was angered at how all these creatures liked to argue. The footman said she should sit there and do anything she would like and Alice was so frustrated she got up and walked inside. The door led into a large kitchen with a Duchess sitting inn the middle, nursing a baby and a cook leaning over the fire stirring a large cauldron. Alice sneezed because there was so much pepper in the soup. The only creature in the kitchen not sneezing was a large cat grinning from ear to ear. It was the Cheshire Cat.
Pig and Pepper (cont.)
Alice had never seen a cat grin like that before and the Duchess told her all cats do that in a matter of fact tone. While she was trying to fix on one, the cook took the soup off the fire and set to work throwing everything in his reach and the baby began howling at the sounds. Alice asked the man to mind what he was doing but nobody seemed to notice. Alice took this opportunity to share her knowledge and share about how the earth has day and night and takes twenty-four hours to turn on its axis. The Duchess said to chop off her head and Alice grew anxious. The Duchess said she couldn't bother with Alice's nonsense and began singing a nursery rhyme to calm the baby. Then the Duchess flung the baby to Alice to nurse for a bit for she had to go to play croquet with the queen. Alice looked at the baby for it was a queer creature, almost like a starfish. Once she got the hang of nursing the baby, she carried it outside for she feared if she didn't take the baby away, it would be killed. The baby grunted at the sound of this and turned its snout like nose up into the hair. It was snubbing and resembled more like a pig.
Pig and Pepper (end)
Alice didn't know what to do with the creature for it was far more pig than child. She set the creature down and felt relieved when it trotted away and she was started when she looked up to see the Cheshire Cat. The cat grinned at Alice and she asked him which way she should go from here. The cat asked her where she wanted to go and she said she didn't care. He said then it didn't matter where she went then. She then asked what kinds of people lived here and he said in one direction lived the Hatter and in the other direction lived March Hare and they both were mad. Alice said she didn't want to go and meet mad people and the cat claimed Alice herself was mad. Alice was confused how he could prove that and she asked him how he was mad. The cat went on to tell how cats purr instead of growling and then asked if she would go play croquet with the Queen today. Alice said she would love to but hadn't been invited yet. The cat said she would see him there and vanished. Alice was used to this strange behavior happening and then the cat appeared again asking what happened to the baby. Alice said it turned into a pig and the cat vanished again. Alice waited, expecting the cat to appear again but it did not. Then she decided to walk in the direction of the March Hare when suddenly the cat appeared again. He asked if she said pig or fish and Alice replied with pig and then he vanished again. This time the cat vanished rather slowly and Alice had never seen a grin without a cat before. She then came to the house of March Hare for the chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was thatched with fur. She thought to herself she wished she had gone to see the Hatter instead.
Bibliography:
Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
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