爱丽丝靠着姐姐坐在河岸边很久了，由于没有什么事情可做，她开始感到厌倦，她一次又—次地瞧瞧姐姐正在读的那本书，可是书里没有图画，也没有对话，爱丽丝想：“要是一本书里没有图画和对话，那还有什么意思呢？”
天热得她非常困，甚至迷糊了，但是爱丽丝还是认真地盘算着，做一只雏菊花环的乐趣，能不能抵得上摘雏菊的麻烦呢？就在这时，突然一只粉红眼睛的白兔，贴着她身边跑过去了。
爱丽丝并没有感到奇怪，甚至于听到兔子自言自语地说：“哦，亲爱的，哦，亲爱的，我太迟了。”爱丽丝也没有感到离奇，虽然过后，她认为这事应该奇怪，可当时她的确感到很自然，但是兔于竟然从背心口袋里袭里掏出一块怀表看看，然后又匆匆忙忙跑了。这时，爱丽丝跳了起来，她突然想到：从来没有见过穿着有口袋背心的兔子，更没有见到过兔子还能从口袋里拿出—块表来，她好奇地穿过田野，紧紧地追赶那只兔子，刚好看见兔子跳进了矮树下面的一个大洞。
爱丽丝也紧跟着跳了进去，根本没考虑怎么再出来。
这个兔子洞开始像走廊，笔直地向前，后来就突然向下了，爱丽丝还没有来得及站住，就掉进了—个深井里。
也许是井太深了，也许是她自己感到下沉得太慢，因此，她有足够的时间去东张西望，而且去猜测下一步会发生什么事，首先，她往下看，想知道会掉到什么地方。但是下面太黑了，什么都看不见，于是，她就看四周的井壁，只见井壁上排满了碗橱和书架，以及挂在钉子上的地图和图画，她从一个架子上拿了一个罐头，罐头上写着“桔子酱”，却是空的，她很失望，她不敢把空罐头扔下去，怕砸着下面的人，因此，在继续往下掉的时候，她就把空罐头放到另一个碗橱里去了。
“好啊，”爱丽丝想，“经过了这次锻炼，我从楼梯上滚下来就不算回事。家里的人都会说我多么勇敢啊，嘿，就是从屋顶上掉下来也没什么了不起，”——这点倒很可能是真的，屋顶上摔下来，会摔得说不出话的。
掉啊，掉啊，掉啊，难道永远掉不到底了吗？爱丽丝大声说：“我很知道掉了多少英里了，我一定已经靠近地球中心的一个地方啦！让我想想：这就是说已经掉了大约四千英里了，我想……”（你瞧，爱丽丝在学校里已经学到了一点这类东西，虽然现在不是显示知识的时机，因为没一个人在听她说话，但是这仍然是个很好的练习。）“……是的，大概就是这个距离。那么，我现在究竟到了什么经度和纬度了呢？”（爱丽丝不明白经度和纬度是什么意思，可她认为这是挺时髦的字眼，说起来怪好听的。）
不一会儿，她又说话了：“我想知道我会不会穿过地球，到那些头朝下走路的人们那里，这该多么滑稽呀！我想这叫做‘对称人’（19世纪中学地理教科书上流行个名洞，叫“对跖人”，意思是说地球直径两端的人，脚心对着脚心。爱丽丝对“地球对面的人”的概念模糊，以为他们是“头朝下”走路的，而且把“对跖人”错念成“对称人”了。）吧？”这次她很高兴没人听她说话，因为“对称人”这个名词似乎不十分正确。“我想我应该问他们这个国家叫什么名称：太太，请问您知道这是新西兰，还是澳大利亚？”（她说这话时，还试着行个屈膝礼，可是不成。你想想看，在空中掉下来时行这样的屈膝礼，行吗，）“如果我这样问，人们一定会认为我是一个无知的小姑娘哩。不，永远不能这样问，也许我会看到它写在哪儿的吧！”
掉啊，掉啊，掉啊，除此之外，没别的事可干了。因此，过一会儿爱丽丝又说话了：“我敢肯定，黛娜今晚一定非常想念我。”（黛娜是只猫）“我希望他们别忘了午茶时给她准备一碟牛奶。黛娜，我亲爱的，我多么希望你也掉到这里来，同我在一起呀，我怕空中没有你吃的小老鼠，不过你可能捉到一只蝙蝠，你要知道，它很像老鼠。可是猫吃不吃蝙蝠呢？”这时，爱丽丝开始瞌睡了，她困得迷迷糊糊时还在说：“猫吃蝙蝠吗？猫吃蝙蝠吗？”有时又说成：“蝙蝠吃猫吗？”这两个问题她哪个也回答不出来，所以，她怎么问都没关系，这时候，她已经睡着了，开始做起梦来了。她梦见正同黛娜手拉着手走着，并且很认真地问：“黛娜，告诉我，你吃过蝙蝠吗？，就在这时，突然“砰”地一声，她掉到了一堆枯枝败叶上了，总算掉到了底了！
爱丽丝一点儿也没摔坏，她立即站起来，向上看看，黑洞洞的。朝前一看，是个很长的走廊，她又看见了那只白兔正急急忙忙地朝前跑。这回可别错过时机，爱丽丝像一阵风似地追了过去。她听到兔子在拐弯时说：“哎呀，我的耳朵和胡子呀，现在太迟了！”这时爱丽丝已经离兔子很近了，但是当她也赶到拐角，兔子却不见了。她发现自己是在一个很长很低的大厅里，屋顶上悬挂着一串灯，把大厅照亮了。
大厅四周都是门，全都锁着，爱丽丝从这边走到那边，推一推，拉一拉，每扇门都打不开，她伤心地走到大厅中间，琢磨着该怎么出去。
突然，她发现了一张三条腿的小桌，桌子是玻璃做的。桌上除了一把很小的金钥匙，什么也没有，爱丽丝一下就想到这钥匙可能是哪个门上的。可是，哎呀，要么就是锁太大了，要么就是钥匙太小了，哪个门也用不上。不过，在她绕第二圈时，突然发现刚才没注意到的一个低帐幕后面，有一扇约十五英寸高的小门。她用这个小金钥匙往小门的锁眼里一插，太高兴了，正合适。
爱丽丝打开了门，发现门外是一条小走廊，比老鼠洞还小，她跪下来，顺着走廊望出去，见到一个从没见过的美丽花园。她多想离开这个黑暗的大厅，到那些美丽的花圃和清凉的喷泉中去玩呀！可是那门框连脑袋都过不去，可怜的爱丽丝想：“哎，就算头能过去，肩膀不跟着过去也没用，我多么希望缩成望远镜里的小人呀（爱丽丝常常把望远镜倒着看，一切东西都变得又远又小，所以她认为望远镜可以把人放大或缩小。），我想自己能变小的，只要知道变的方法就行了。”你看，一连串稀奇古怪的事，使得爱丽丝认为没有什么事是不可能的了。看来，守在小门旁没意思了，于是，她回到桌子边，希望还能再找到一把钥匙，至少也得找到一本教人变成望远镜里小人的书，可这次，她发现桌上有一只小瓶。爱丽丝说：“这小瓶刚才确实不在这里。”瓶口上系着一张小纸条，上面印着两个很漂亮的大字：“喝我”。
说“喝我”倒不错，可是聪明的小爱丽丝不会忙着去喝的。她说：“不行，我得先看看，上面有没有写着‘毒药’两个字。”因为她听过一些很精彩的小故事，关于孩子们怎样被烧伤、被野兽吃掉，以及其它一些令人不愉快的事情，所有这些，都是因为这些孩子们没有记住大人的话，例如：握拨火棍时间太久就会把手烧坏；小刀割手指就会出血，等等。爱丽丝知道喝了写着“毒药”瓶里的药水，迟早会受害的。
然而瓶子上没有“毒药”字样，所以爱丽丝冒险地尝了尝，感到非常好吃，它混合着樱桃馅饼、奶油蛋糕、菠萝、烤火鸡、牛奶糖、热奶油面包的味道。爱丽丝一口气就把一瓶喝光了。
“多么奇怪的感觉呀！”爱丽丝说，“我一定变成望远镜里的小人了。”
的确是这样，她高兴得眉飞色舞，现在她只有十英寸高了，已经可以到那个可爱的花园里去了。不过，她又等了几分钟，看看会不会继续缩小下去。想到这点，她有点不安了。“究竟会怎么收场呢？”爱丽丝对自己说，“或许会像蜡烛的火苗那样，全部缩没了。那么我会怎么样呢？”她又努力试着想象蜡烛灭了后的火焰会是个什么样几。因为她从来没有见过那样的东西。
过了一小会，好像不会再发生什么事情了，她决定立刻到花园去。可是，哎哟！可怜的爱丽丝！她走到门口，发觉忘拿了那把小金钥匙。在回到桌子前准备再拿的时候，却发现自己已经够不着钥匙，她只能通过玻璃桌面清楚地看到它，她尽力攀着桌腿向上爬，可是桌腿太滑了，她一次又一次地溜了下来，弄得她精疲力竭。于是，这个可怜的小家伙坐在地上哭了起来。
“起来，哭是没用的！”爱丽丝严厉地对自己说，“限你—，分钟内就停止哭！”她经常爱给自己下个命令（虽然她很少听从这种命令），有时甚至把自己骂哭了。记得有一次她同自己比赛槌球，由于她骗了自己，她就打了自己一记耳光，这个小孩很喜欢装成两个人，“但是现在还装什么两个人呢？”可怜的小爱丽丝想，“唉！现在我小得连做一个像样的人都不够了。”
不一会儿，她的眼光落在桌子下面的一个小玻璃盒子上。打开一看，里面有块很小的点心，点心上用葡萄干精致地嵌着“吃我”两个字，“好，我就吃它，”爱丽丝说，“如果它使我变大，我就能够着钥匙了；如果它使我变得更小，我就可以从门缝下面爬过去，反正不管怎样，我都可以到那个花园里去了。因此无论怎么变，我都不在乎。”
她只吃了一小口，就焦急地问自己：“是哪一种，变大还是变小？”她用手摸摸头顶，想知道变成哪种样子。可是非常奇怪，一点没变，说实话，这本来是吃点心的正常现象，可是爱丽丝已经习惯了稀奇古怪的事了，生活中的正常事情倒显得难以理解了。
于是，她又吃开了，很块就把一块点心吃完了。
So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT- POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.
In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.
The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled `ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
`Well!' thought Alice to herself, `after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!' (Which was very likely true.)
Down, down, down. Would the fall NEVER come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud. `I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) `--yes, that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)
Presently she began again. `I wonder if I shall fall right THROUGH the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think--' (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) `--but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?' (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke--fancy CURTSEYING as you're falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) `And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.'
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. `Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!' (Dinah was the cat.) `I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?' And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, `Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, `Do bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, `Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, `Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!' She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.
There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.
Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!
Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head though the doorway; `and even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, `it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only know how to begin.' For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.
There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (`which certainly was not here before,' said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words `DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large letters.
It was all very well to say `Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not going to do THAT in a hurry. `No, I'll look first,' she said, `and see whether it's marked "poison" or not'; for she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they WOULD not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger VERY deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked `poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.
However, this bottle was NOT marked `poison,' so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off.
* * * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * * *
`What a curious feeling!' said Alice; `I must be shutting up like a telescope.'
And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous about this; `for it might end, you know,' said Alice to herself, `in my going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then?' And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.
After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got to the door, she found she had forgotten the little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach it: she could see it quite plainly through the glass, and she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.
`Come, there's no use in crying like that!' said Alice to herself, rather sharply; `I advise you to leave off this minute!' She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. `But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, `to pretend to be two people! Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!'
Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words `EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants. `Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, `and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!'
She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, `Which way? Which way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.
So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.
天热得她非常困，甚至迷糊了，但是爱丽丝还是认真地盘算着，做一只雏菊花环的乐趣，能不能抵得上摘雏菊的麻烦呢？就在这时，突然一只粉红眼睛的白兔，贴着她身边跑过去了。
爱丽丝并没有感到奇怪，甚至于听到兔子自言自语地说：“哦，亲爱的，哦，亲爱的，我太迟了。”爱丽丝也没有感到离奇，虽然过后，她认为这事应该奇怪，可当时她的确感到很自然，但是兔于竟然从背心口袋里袭里掏出一块怀表看看，然后又匆匆忙忙跑了。这时，爱丽丝跳了起来，她突然想到：从来没有见过穿着有口袋背心的兔子，更没有见到过兔子还能从口袋里拿出—块表来，她好奇地穿过田野，紧紧地追赶那只兔子，刚好看见兔子跳进了矮树下面的一个大洞。
爱丽丝也紧跟着跳了进去，根本没考虑怎么再出来。
这个兔子洞开始像走廊，笔直地向前，后来就突然向下了，爱丽丝还没有来得及站住，就掉进了—个深井里。
也许是井太深了，也许是她自己感到下沉得太慢，因此，她有足够的时间去东张西望，而且去猜测下一步会发生什么事，首先，她往下看，想知道会掉到什么地方。但是下面太黑了，什么都看不见，于是，她就看四周的井壁，只见井壁上排满了碗橱和书架，以及挂在钉子上的地图和图画，她从一个架子上拿了一个罐头，罐头上写着“桔子酱”，却是空的，她很失望，她不敢把空罐头扔下去，怕砸着下面的人，因此，在继续往下掉的时候，她就把空罐头放到另一个碗橱里去了。
“好啊，”爱丽丝想，“经过了这次锻炼，我从楼梯上滚下来就不算回事。家里的人都会说我多么勇敢啊，嘿，就是从屋顶上掉下来也没什么了不起，”——这点倒很可能是真的，屋顶上摔下来，会摔得说不出话的。
掉啊，掉啊，掉啊，难道永远掉不到底了吗？爱丽丝大声说：“我很知道掉了多少英里了，我一定已经靠近地球中心的一个地方啦！让我想想：这就是说已经掉了大约四千英里了，我想……”（你瞧，爱丽丝在学校里已经学到了一点这类东西，虽然现在不是显示知识的时机，因为没一个人在听她说话，但是这仍然是个很好的练习。）“……是的，大概就是这个距离。那么，我现在究竟到了什么经度和纬度了呢？”（爱丽丝不明白经度和纬度是什么意思，可她认为这是挺时髦的字眼，说起来怪好听的。）
不一会儿，她又说话了：“我想知道我会不会穿过地球，到那些头朝下走路的人们那里，这该多么滑稽呀！我想这叫做‘对称人’（19世纪中学地理教科书上流行个名洞，叫“对跖人”，意思是说地球直径两端的人，脚心对着脚心。爱丽丝对“地球对面的人”的概念模糊，以为他们是“头朝下”走路的，而且把“对跖人”错念成“对称人”了。）吧？”这次她很高兴没人听她说话，因为“对称人”这个名词似乎不十分正确。“我想我应该问他们这个国家叫什么名称：太太，请问您知道这是新西兰，还是澳大利亚？”（她说这话时，还试着行个屈膝礼，可是不成。你想想看，在空中掉下来时行这样的屈膝礼，行吗，）“如果我这样问，人们一定会认为我是一个无知的小姑娘哩。不，永远不能这样问，也许我会看到它写在哪儿的吧！”
掉啊，掉啊，掉啊，除此之外，没别的事可干了。因此，过一会儿爱丽丝又说话了：“我敢肯定，黛娜今晚一定非常想念我。”（黛娜是只猫）“我希望他们别忘了午茶时给她准备一碟牛奶。黛娜，我亲爱的，我多么希望你也掉到这里来，同我在一起呀，我怕空中没有你吃的小老鼠，不过你可能捉到一只蝙蝠，你要知道，它很像老鼠。可是猫吃不吃蝙蝠呢？”这时，爱丽丝开始瞌睡了，她困得迷迷糊糊时还在说：“猫吃蝙蝠吗？猫吃蝙蝠吗？”有时又说成：“蝙蝠吃猫吗？”这两个问题她哪个也回答不出来，所以，她怎么问都没关系，这时候，她已经睡着了，开始做起梦来了。她梦见正同黛娜手拉着手走着，并且很认真地问：“黛娜，告诉我，你吃过蝙蝠吗？，就在这时，突然“砰”地一声，她掉到了一堆枯枝败叶上了，总算掉到了底了！
爱丽丝一点儿也没摔坏，她立即站起来，向上看看，黑洞洞的。朝前一看，是个很长的走廊，她又看见了那只白兔正急急忙忙地朝前跑。这回可别错过时机，爱丽丝像一阵风似地追了过去。她听到兔子在拐弯时说：“哎呀，我的耳朵和胡子呀，现在太迟了！”这时爱丽丝已经离兔子很近了，但是当她也赶到拐角，兔子却不见了。她发现自己是在一个很长很低的大厅里，屋顶上悬挂着一串灯，把大厅照亮了。
大厅四周都是门，全都锁着，爱丽丝从这边走到那边，推一推，拉一拉，每扇门都打不开，她伤心地走到大厅中间，琢磨着该怎么出去。
突然，她发现了一张三条腿的小桌，桌子是玻璃做的。桌上除了一把很小的金钥匙，什么也没有，爱丽丝一下就想到这钥匙可能是哪个门上的。可是，哎呀，要么就是锁太大了，要么就是钥匙太小了，哪个门也用不上。不过，在她绕第二圈时，突然发现刚才没注意到的一个低帐幕后面，有一扇约十五英寸高的小门。她用这个小金钥匙往小门的锁眼里一插，太高兴了，正合适。
爱丽丝打开了门，发现门外是一条小走廊，比老鼠洞还小，她跪下来，顺着走廊望出去，见到一个从没见过的美丽花园。她多想离开这个黑暗的大厅，到那些美丽的花圃和清凉的喷泉中去玩呀！可是那门框连脑袋都过不去，可怜的爱丽丝想：“哎，就算头能过去，肩膀不跟着过去也没用，我多么希望缩成望远镜里的小人呀（爱丽丝常常把望远镜倒着看，一切东西都变得又远又小，所以她认为望远镜可以把人放大或缩小。），我想自己能变小的，只要知道变的方法就行了。”你看，一连串稀奇古怪的事，使得爱丽丝认为没有什么事是不可能的了。看来，守在小门旁没意思了，于是，她回到桌子边，希望还能再找到一把钥匙，至少也得找到一本教人变成望远镜里小人的书，可这次，她发现桌上有一只小瓶。爱丽丝说：“这小瓶刚才确实不在这里。”瓶口上系着一张小纸条，上面印着两个很漂亮的大字：“喝我”。
说“喝我”倒不错，可是聪明的小爱丽丝不会忙着去喝的。她说：“不行，我得先看看，上面有没有写着‘毒药’两个字。”因为她听过一些很精彩的小故事，关于孩子们怎样被烧伤、被野兽吃掉，以及其它一些令人不愉快的事情，所有这些，都是因为这些孩子们没有记住大人的话，例如：握拨火棍时间太久就会把手烧坏；小刀割手指就会出血，等等。爱丽丝知道喝了写着“毒药”瓶里的药水，迟早会受害的。
然而瓶子上没有“毒药”字样，所以爱丽丝冒险地尝了尝，感到非常好吃，它混合着樱桃馅饼、奶油蛋糕、菠萝、烤火鸡、牛奶糖、热奶油面包的味道。爱丽丝一口气就把一瓶喝光了。
“多么奇怪的感觉呀！”爱丽丝说，“我一定变成望远镜里的小人了。”
的确是这样，她高兴得眉飞色舞，现在她只有十英寸高了，已经可以到那个可爱的花园里去了。不过，她又等了几分钟，看看会不会继续缩小下去。想到这点，她有点不安了。“究竟会怎么收场呢？”爱丽丝对自己说，“或许会像蜡烛的火苗那样，全部缩没了。那么我会怎么样呢？”她又努力试着想象蜡烛灭了后的火焰会是个什么样几。因为她从来没有见过那样的东西。
过了一小会，好像不会再发生什么事情了，她决定立刻到花园去。可是，哎哟！可怜的爱丽丝！她走到门口，发觉忘拿了那把小金钥匙。在回到桌子前准备再拿的时候，却发现自己已经够不着钥匙，她只能通过玻璃桌面清楚地看到它，她尽力攀着桌腿向上爬，可是桌腿太滑了，她一次又一次地溜了下来，弄得她精疲力竭。于是，这个可怜的小家伙坐在地上哭了起来。
“起来，哭是没用的！”爱丽丝严厉地对自己说，“限你—，分钟内就停止哭！”她经常爱给自己下个命令（虽然她很少听从这种命令），有时甚至把自己骂哭了。记得有一次她同自己比赛槌球，由于她骗了自己，她就打了自己一记耳光，这个小孩很喜欢装成两个人，“但是现在还装什么两个人呢？”可怜的小爱丽丝想，“唉！现在我小得连做一个像样的人都不够了。”
不一会儿，她的眼光落在桌子下面的一个小玻璃盒子上。打开一看，里面有块很小的点心，点心上用葡萄干精致地嵌着“吃我”两个字，“好，我就吃它，”爱丽丝说，“如果它使我变大，我就能够着钥匙了；如果它使我变得更小，我就可以从门缝下面爬过去，反正不管怎样，我都可以到那个花园里去了。因此无论怎么变，我都不在乎。”
她只吃了一小口，就焦急地问自己：“是哪一种，变大还是变小？”她用手摸摸头顶，想知道变成哪种样子。可是非常奇怪，一点没变，说实话，这本来是吃点心的正常现象，可是爱丽丝已经习惯了稀奇古怪的事了，生活中的正常事情倒显得难以理解了。
于是，她又吃开了，很块就把一块点心吃完了。
So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT- POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.
In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.
The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled `ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
`Well!' thought Alice to herself, `after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!' (Which was very likely true.)
Down, down, down. Would the fall NEVER come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud. `I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) `--yes, that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)
Presently she began again. `I wonder if I shall fall right THROUGH the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think--' (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) `--but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?' (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke--fancy CURTSEYING as you're falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) `And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.'
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. `Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!' (Dinah was the cat.) `I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?' And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, `Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, `Do bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, `Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, `Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!' She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.
There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.
Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!
Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head though the doorway; `and even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, `it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only know how to begin.' For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.
There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (`which certainly was not here before,' said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words `DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large letters.
It was all very well to say `Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not going to do THAT in a hurry. `No, I'll look first,' she said, `and see whether it's marked "poison" or not'; for she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they WOULD not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger VERY deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked `poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.
However, this bottle was NOT marked `poison,' so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off.
* * * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * * *
`What a curious feeling!' said Alice; `I must be shutting up like a telescope.'
And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous about this; `for it might end, you know,' said Alice to herself, `in my going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then?' And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.
After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got to the door, she found she had forgotten the little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach it: she could see it quite plainly through the glass, and she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.
`Come, there's no use in crying like that!' said Alice to herself, rather sharply; `I advise you to leave off this minute!' She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. `But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, `to pretend to be two people! Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!'
Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words `EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants. `Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, `and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!'
She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, `Which way? Which way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.
So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.
“奇怪啊奇怪，”爱丽丝喊道，她那么惊奇，霎时，竟说不成话了，“现在我一定变成最大的望远镜里的人了。再见了，我的双脚！”她俯视自己的脚，远得快看不见了。“哦，我的可怜的小脚哟！谁再给你们穿鞋和系鞋带呢，亲爱的，我可不能了，我离你们太远了，没法再照顾你们了，以后你们只好自己照顾自己吧！……但是我必须对它们好一些，”爱丽丝又想道，“否则它们会不愿走到我想去的地方的，对啦，每次圣诞节我一定要送它们一双新的长统靴。”
她继续盘算该怎么送礼：“我得把礼物打成包裹寄给它们，”她想，“呀，多滑稽，给自己的脚寄礼物鼠这地址写起来可太离奇了：
壁炉边搁脚拦杆上
爱丽丝的右脚收
爱丽丝寄
“哦，亲爱的，我说的什么废话呀！”就在这一刹那，她的头撞到了大厅的屋顶上。她现在至少有九英尺高了，她急忙拿起小金钥匙向小花园的门跑去。
可怜的爱丽丝！现在最多只能侧身躺在地下，用一只眼睛往花园里望，更没有可能进去了，于是她又哭了。
“你不害澡吗？”爱丽丝对自己说，“像你这么大的姑娘（说得很对），还要哭。马上停止，我命令你！”但她还不停地哭，足足掉了一桶眼泪。她还继续哭，直到身边成了个大池塘，有四英尺深，半个大厅都变成池塘了。
过了一会儿，她听到远处轻微的脚步声，她急忙擦干眼泪，看看谁来了。原来那只小白兔又回来了，打扮得漂漂亮亮的，一只手里本着一双白羊羔皮手套，另一只手里拿着一把大扇子，正急急忙忙地小跑着过来。小白兔一边走．一边喃喃自语地说：“哦，公爵夫人，公爵夫人！唉！假如我害她久等了，她可别生气呵！”爱丽丝很希望来个人帮助自己，因此见到小白兔很失望。但是在小白兔走近时，她还是怯生生地小声说：“劳驾，先生……”这可把兔子吓了一跳，扔掉了白羔皮手套和扇子，拼命地跑进暗处去了。
爱丽丝拾起了扇子和手套。这时屋里很热，她就一边搧着扇子，一边自言自语地说：“亲爱的，亲爱的，今天可净是怪事，昨天还是那么正常，是不是夜里发生的变化？让我想想：我早晨起来时是不是还是我自己，我想起来了，早晨就觉得有点不对头。但是，要是我不是自己的话，那么我能是谁呢，唉！这可真是个谜啊！”于是她就挨个儿地去想和她相同年龄的女孩子，她是变成了她们中的哪一个了？
“我敢说，我不是爱达，”爱丽丝说，“因为她是长长的卷发，而我的根本不卷。我肯定不是玛贝尔，因为我知道各种各祥的事情，而她，哼！她什么也不知道。而且，她是她，我是我，哎哟！亲爱的，把我迷惑住了，真叫人伤脑筋。我试试看，还记得不自己得过去知道的事情。让我想一想四乘五是十二，四乘六是十三，四乘七……唉，这样背下去永远到不了二十；况且乘法表也没大意思。让我试试地理知识看：伦敦是巴黎的首都，而巴黎是罗马的首都，罗马是……不，不，全错了。我一定，一定已经变成了玛贝尔了。让我再试试背《小鳄鱼怎样……》。”于是她把手交叉地放在膝盖上，就像背课文那样，一本正经地背起来了。她的声音嘶哑、古怪，吐字也和平时不一样：
小鳄鱼怎样保养
它闪亮的尾巴，
把尼罗河水灌进
每一片金色的鳞甲。
它笑得多么快乐，
伸开爪子的姿势多么文雅，
它在欢迎那些小鱼
游进它温柔微笑着的嘴巴。
“我相信背错了。”可怜的爱丽丝一边说着，一边又掉下了眼泪：“我一定真的成了玛贝尔了，我得住在破房子里，什么玩具也没有，还得学那么多的功课。不行！我拿定主意了，如果我是玛贝尔，我就呆在这井下，他们把头伸到井口说：‘上来吧！亲爱的！”我只往上问他们：‘你们先得告诉我，我是谁，如果变成我喜欢的人，我就上来，如果不是，我就一直呆在这里，除非我再变成什么人’……可是，亲爱的！”爱丽丝突然哭起来：“我真想让他们来叫我上去呀！实在不愿意孤零零地呆在这儿了。”
她说话时，无意中看了一下自己的手，见到一只手上戴了小白兔的白羊羔皮手套，她奇怪极了，“这怎么搞的？”她想，“我一定又变小了，”她起来步到桌子边，量一量自己，正像她猜测的那样，她现在大约只有二英寸高了，而且还在迅速地缩下去，她很快发现是拿着的那把扇子在作怪，于是她赶紧扔掉扇子，总算快，要不就缩得没有了。
“好险呀！”爱丽丝说。她真的吓坏了，但总算自己还存在，因此很高兴，“现在，该去花园了！”她飞快地跪到小门那儿，但是，哎哟，小门又锁上了，小金钥匙像从前一样仍在玻璃桌子上。“现在更糟糕了，”可怜的小爱丽丝想，“因为我还没有这样小过，从来没有重我该说这太糟了！太糟了！”
她说话时，突然滑倒了，“扑通”一声，咸咸的水已经淹到她的下巴了。她第一个念头是掉进海里了。她对自己说：“那么我可以坐火车回去了，”——爱丽丝到海边去过，看到海滨有许多车，孩子们在沙滩上用木铲挖洞玩。还有一排出租的住房，住房后面是个火车站——然而不久，她就明白了，自己是在一个眼泪的池塘里，这是她九英尺高的时候流出来的眼泪。
“但愿我刚才没哭得这么厉害！”爱丽丝说话时来回游着，想找条路游出去，现在我受报应了，我的眼沼快要把自己淹死啦！这又是桩怪事，说真的，今天尽是怪事！”
就在这时，她听到不远的地方有划水声，就向前游去，想看看是什么，起初，她以为这一定是只海象或者河马。然而，她一想起自己是多么小的时候，就立即明白了，这不过是只老鼠，是像自己一样滑进水里来的。
“它来有什么用处呢？”爱丽丝想，“同一只老鼠讲话吗？这井底下的事情都是那么奇怪，也许它会说话的，不管怎样，试试也没害处，”于是，爱丽丝就说，“喂，老鼠！你知道从池塘里出去的路吗？我已经游得很累了。喂，老鼠！”爱丽丝认为这是同老鼠谈话的方式，以前，她没有做过这种事，可她记得哥哥的《拉丁文语法》中有：“一只老鼠……一只老鼠……喂，老鼠！”现在这老鼠狐疑地看着她，好像还把一只小眼睛向她眨了眨，但没说话。
“也许它不懂英语，”爱丽丝想，“她是同征服者威廉（威廉（1027或1028-1087）原为诺曼第（现法国的诺曼第半岛）公爵，后来征服并统一了英国）一起来的，”（尽管爱丽丝有些历史知识，可搞不清这些事情已经多久了。）于是，她又用法语说：“我的猫在哪里，”这是她的法文课本的第一句话。老鼠一听这话，突然跳出水面，吓得浑身发抖，爱丽丝怕伤害了这个可怜的小动物的感情，赶快说：“请原谅我！我忘了你不喜欢猫。”
“不喜欢猫！”老鼠激动而尖声地喊着，“假如你是我的话，你喜欢猫吗？”
“也许不，”爱丽丝抚慰着说，“别生我的气了。可是我还是希望你能够看到我的猫——，黛娜，只要你看到她，就会喜欢猫了，她是一个多么可爱而又安静的小东西呀。”爱丽丝一面懒散地游着，一面自言自语地继续说，“她坐在火炉边打起呼噜来真好玩，还不时舔舔爪子，洗洗脸，摸起来绵软得可爱。还有，她抓起老鼠来真是个好样的……，哦，请原谅我。”这次真把老鼠气坏了。爱丽丝又喊道：“如果你不高兴的话，咱们就不说她了。”
“还说‘咱们’呢！”老鼠喊着，连尾巴梢都发抖了，“好像我愿意说似的！我们家族都仇恨猫，这种可恶的、下贱的、粗鄙的东西！再别让我听到这个名字了！”
“我不说了，真的！”爱丽丝说着，急忙改变了话题，“你……喜欢……喜欢……狗吗？”老鼠没回答，于是，爱丽丝热心地说了下去，“告诉你，我家不远有一只小狗，—只眼晴明亮的小猎狗，你知道，它长着那么长的棕色卷毛。它还会接住你扔的东西，又会坐起来讨吃的，还会玩各式各样的把戏，它是一个农民的，你可知道，那个农民说它真顶用，要值一百英镑哪！说它还能杀掉所有的老鼠……哦，亲爱的！”爱丽丝伤心地说，“我怕又惹你生气了。”老鼠已经拼命游远了，它游开时，还弄得池塘的水一阵波动。
爱丽丝跟在老鼠的后面柔声细气地招呼它：“老鼠啊，亲爱的，你还是回来吧，你不喜欢的话，咱们再也不谈猫和狗了！”老鼠听了这话，就转过身慢慢地向她游来，它脸色苍白（爱丽丝想一定是气成这样的），用低而颤抖的声音说：“让我们上岸去吧，然后我将把我的历史告诉你，这样你就会明白我为什么也恨猫和狗了。”
真是该走了，因为池塘里已经有了一大群鸟兽，有一只鸭子、—只渡渡鸟（一种现已绝种的鸟，原产非洲毛里求斯。）、一只鹦鹉，一只小鹰和一些稀奇古怪的动物。爱丽丝领着路，和这群鸟兽一起自岸边游去。
And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. `They must go by the carrier,' she thought; `and how funny it'll seem, sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd the directions will look!
ALICE'S RIGHT FOOT, ESQ. HEARTHRUG, NEAR THE FENDER, (WITH ALICE'S LOVE).
Oh dear, what nonsense I'm talking!'
Just then her head struck against the roof of the hall: in fact she was now more than nine feet high, and she at once took up the little golden key and hurried off to the garden door.
Poor Alice! It was as much as she could do, lying down on one side, to look through into the garden with one eye; but to get through was more hopeless than ever: she sat down and began to cry again.
`You ought to be ashamed of yourself,' said Alice, `a great girl like you,' (she might well say this), `to go on crying in this way! Stop this moment, I tell you!' But she went on all the same, shedding gallons of tears, until there was a large pool all round her, about four inches deep and reaching half down the hall.
After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!' Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one; so, when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, `If you please, sir--' The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and skurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.
Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: `Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT'S the great puzzle!' And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them.
`I'm sure I'm not Ada,' she said, `for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, SHE'S she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is! I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! However, the Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography. London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome--no, THAT'S all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been changed for Mabel! I'll try and say "How doth the little--"' and she crossed her hands on her lap as if she were saying lessons, and began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and the words did not come the same as they used to do:--
`How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale!
`How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spread his claws, And welcome little fishes in With gently smiling jaws!'
`I'm sure those are not the right words,' said poor Alice, and her eyes filled with tears again as she went on, `I must be Mabel after all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky little house, and have next to no toys to play with, and oh! ever so many lessons to learn! No, I've made up my mind about it; if I'm Mabel, I'll stay down here! It'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I shall only look up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else"--but, oh dear!' cried Alice, with a sudden burst of tears, `I do wish they WOULD put their heads down! I am so VERY tired of being all alone here!'
As she said this she looked down at her hands, and was surprised to see that she had put on one of the Rabbit's little white kid gloves while she was talking. `How CAN I have done that?' she thought. `I must be growing small again.' She got up and went to the table to measure herself by it, and found that, as nearly as she could guess, she was now about two feet high, and was going on shrinking rapidly: she soon found out that the cause of this was the fan she was holding, and she dropped it hastily, just in time to avoid shrinking away altogether.
`That WAS a narrow escape!' said Alice, a good deal frightened at the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence; `and now for the garden!' and she ran with all speed back to the little door: but, alas! the little door was shut again, and the little golden key was lying on the glass table as before, `and things are worse than ever,' thought the poor child, `for I never was so small as this before, never! And I declare it's too bad, that it is!'
As she said these words her foot slipped, and in another moment, splash! she was up to her chin in salt water. Her first idea was that she had somehow fallen into the sea, `and in that case I can go back by railway,' she said to herself. (Alice had been to the seaside once in her life, and had come to the general conclusion, that wherever you go to on the English coast you find a number of bathing machines in the sea, some children digging in the sand with wooden spades, then a row of lodging houses, and behind them a railway station.) However, she soon made out that she was in the pool of tears which she had wept when she was nine feet high.
`I wish I hadn't cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. `I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.'
Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at first she thought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus, but then she remembered how small she was now, and she soon made out that it was only a mouse that had slipped in like herself.
`Would it be of any use, now,' thought Alice, `to speak to this mouse? Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, that I should think very likely it can talk: at any rate, there's no harm in trying.' So she began: `O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming about here, O Mouse!' (Alice thought this must be the right way of speaking to a mouse: she had never done such a thing before, but she remembered having seen in her brother's Latin Grammar, `A mouse--of a mouse--to a mouse--a mouse--O mouse!' The Mouse looked at her rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes, but it said nothing.
`Perhaps it doesn't understand English,' thought Alice; `I daresay it's a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror.' (For, with all her knowledge of history, Alice had no very clear notion how long ago anything had happened.) So she began again: `Ou est ma chatte?' which was the first sentence in her French lesson-book. The Mouse gave a sudden leap out of the water, and seemed to quiver all over with fright. `Oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the poor animal's feelings. `I quite forgot you didn't like cats.'
`Not like cats!' cried the Mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice. `Would YOU like cats if you were me?'
`Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone: `don't be angry about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet thing,' Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool, `and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face--and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse--and she's such a capital one for catching mice--oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt certain it must be really offended. `We won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not.'
`We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of his tail. `As if I would talk on such a subject! Our family always HATED cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name again!'
`I won't indeed!' said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of conversation. `Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?' The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: `There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! And it'll fetch things when you throw them, and it'll sit up and beg for its dinner, and all sorts of things--I can't remember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer, you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds! He says it kills all the rats and--oh dear!' cried Alice in a sorrowful tone, `I'm afraid I've offended it again!' For the Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go, and making quite a commotion in the pool as it went.
So she called softly after it, `Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we won't talk about cats or dogs either, if you don't like them!' When the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her: its face was quite pale (with passion, Alice thought), and it said in a low trembling voice, `Let us get to the shore, and then I'll tell you my history, and you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.'
It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore.
她继续盘算该怎么送礼：“我得把礼物打成包裹寄给它们，”她想，“呀，多滑稽，给自己的脚寄礼物鼠这地址写起来可太离奇了：
壁炉边搁脚拦杆上
爱丽丝的右脚收
爱丽丝寄
“哦，亲爱的，我说的什么废话呀！”就在这一刹那，她的头撞到了大厅的屋顶上。她现在至少有九英尺高了，她急忙拿起小金钥匙向小花园的门跑去。
可怜的爱丽丝！现在最多只能侧身躺在地下，用一只眼睛往花园里望，更没有可能进去了，于是她又哭了。
“你不害澡吗？”爱丽丝对自己说，“像你这么大的姑娘（说得很对），还要哭。马上停止，我命令你！”但她还不停地哭，足足掉了一桶眼泪。她还继续哭，直到身边成了个大池塘，有四英尺深，半个大厅都变成池塘了。
过了一会儿，她听到远处轻微的脚步声，她急忙擦干眼泪，看看谁来了。原来那只小白兔又回来了，打扮得漂漂亮亮的，一只手里本着一双白羊羔皮手套，另一只手里拿着一把大扇子，正急急忙忙地小跑着过来。小白兔一边走．一边喃喃自语地说：“哦，公爵夫人，公爵夫人！唉！假如我害她久等了，她可别生气呵！”爱丽丝很希望来个人帮助自己，因此见到小白兔很失望。但是在小白兔走近时，她还是怯生生地小声说：“劳驾，先生……”这可把兔子吓了一跳，扔掉了白羔皮手套和扇子，拼命地跑进暗处去了。
爱丽丝拾起了扇子和手套。这时屋里很热，她就一边搧着扇子，一边自言自语地说：“亲爱的，亲爱的，今天可净是怪事，昨天还是那么正常，是不是夜里发生的变化？让我想想：我早晨起来时是不是还是我自己，我想起来了，早晨就觉得有点不对头。但是，要是我不是自己的话，那么我能是谁呢，唉！这可真是个谜啊！”于是她就挨个儿地去想和她相同年龄的女孩子，她是变成了她们中的哪一个了？
“我敢说，我不是爱达，”爱丽丝说，“因为她是长长的卷发，而我的根本不卷。我肯定不是玛贝尔，因为我知道各种各祥的事情，而她，哼！她什么也不知道。而且，她是她，我是我，哎哟！亲爱的，把我迷惑住了，真叫人伤脑筋。我试试看，还记得不自己得过去知道的事情。让我想一想四乘五是十二，四乘六是十三，四乘七……唉，这样背下去永远到不了二十；况且乘法表也没大意思。让我试试地理知识看：伦敦是巴黎的首都，而巴黎是罗马的首都，罗马是……不，不，全错了。我一定，一定已经变成了玛贝尔了。让我再试试背《小鳄鱼怎样……》。”于是她把手交叉地放在膝盖上，就像背课文那样，一本正经地背起来了。她的声音嘶哑、古怪，吐字也和平时不一样：
小鳄鱼怎样保养
它闪亮的尾巴，
把尼罗河水灌进
每一片金色的鳞甲。
它笑得多么快乐，
伸开爪子的姿势多么文雅，
它在欢迎那些小鱼
游进它温柔微笑着的嘴巴。
“我相信背错了。”可怜的爱丽丝一边说着，一边又掉下了眼泪：“我一定真的成了玛贝尔了，我得住在破房子里，什么玩具也没有，还得学那么多的功课。不行！我拿定主意了，如果我是玛贝尔，我就呆在这井下，他们把头伸到井口说：‘上来吧！亲爱的！”我只往上问他们：‘你们先得告诉我，我是谁，如果变成我喜欢的人，我就上来，如果不是，我就一直呆在这里，除非我再变成什么人’……可是，亲爱的！”爱丽丝突然哭起来：“我真想让他们来叫我上去呀！实在不愿意孤零零地呆在这儿了。”
她说话时，无意中看了一下自己的手，见到一只手上戴了小白兔的白羊羔皮手套，她奇怪极了，“这怎么搞的？”她想，“我一定又变小了，”她起来步到桌子边，量一量自己，正像她猜测的那样，她现在大约只有二英寸高了，而且还在迅速地缩下去，她很快发现是拿着的那把扇子在作怪，于是她赶紧扔掉扇子，总算快，要不就缩得没有了。
“好险呀！”爱丽丝说。她真的吓坏了，但总算自己还存在，因此很高兴，“现在，该去花园了！”她飞快地跪到小门那儿，但是，哎哟，小门又锁上了，小金钥匙像从前一样仍在玻璃桌子上。“现在更糟糕了，”可怜的小爱丽丝想，“因为我还没有这样小过，从来没有重我该说这太糟了！太糟了！”
她说话时，突然滑倒了，“扑通”一声，咸咸的水已经淹到她的下巴了。她第一个念头是掉进海里了。她对自己说：“那么我可以坐火车回去了，”——爱丽丝到海边去过，看到海滨有许多车，孩子们在沙滩上用木铲挖洞玩。还有一排出租的住房，住房后面是个火车站——然而不久，她就明白了，自己是在一个眼泪的池塘里，这是她九英尺高的时候流出来的眼泪。
“但愿我刚才没哭得这么厉害！”爱丽丝说话时来回游着，想找条路游出去，现在我受报应了，我的眼沼快要把自己淹死啦！这又是桩怪事，说真的，今天尽是怪事！”
就在这时，她听到不远的地方有划水声，就向前游去，想看看是什么，起初，她以为这一定是只海象或者河马。然而，她一想起自己是多么小的时候，就立即明白了，这不过是只老鼠，是像自己一样滑进水里来的。
“它来有什么用处呢？”爱丽丝想，“同一只老鼠讲话吗？这井底下的事情都是那么奇怪，也许它会说话的，不管怎样，试试也没害处，”于是，爱丽丝就说，“喂，老鼠！你知道从池塘里出去的路吗？我已经游得很累了。喂，老鼠！”爱丽丝认为这是同老鼠谈话的方式，以前，她没有做过这种事，可她记得哥哥的《拉丁文语法》中有：“一只老鼠……一只老鼠……喂，老鼠！”现在这老鼠狐疑地看着她，好像还把一只小眼睛向她眨了眨，但没说话。
“也许它不懂英语，”爱丽丝想，“她是同征服者威廉（威廉（1027或1028-1087）原为诺曼第（现法国的诺曼第半岛）公爵，后来征服并统一了英国）一起来的，”（尽管爱丽丝有些历史知识，可搞不清这些事情已经多久了。）于是，她又用法语说：“我的猫在哪里，”这是她的法文课本的第一句话。老鼠一听这话，突然跳出水面，吓得浑身发抖，爱丽丝怕伤害了这个可怜的小动物的感情，赶快说：“请原谅我！我忘了你不喜欢猫。”
“不喜欢猫！”老鼠激动而尖声地喊着，“假如你是我的话，你喜欢猫吗？”
“也许不，”爱丽丝抚慰着说，“别生我的气了。可是我还是希望你能够看到我的猫——，黛娜，只要你看到她，就会喜欢猫了，她是一个多么可爱而又安静的小东西呀。”爱丽丝一面懒散地游着，一面自言自语地继续说，“她坐在火炉边打起呼噜来真好玩，还不时舔舔爪子，洗洗脸，摸起来绵软得可爱。还有，她抓起老鼠来真是个好样的……，哦，请原谅我。”这次真把老鼠气坏了。爱丽丝又喊道：“如果你不高兴的话，咱们就不说她了。”
“还说‘咱们’呢！”老鼠喊着，连尾巴梢都发抖了，“好像我愿意说似的！我们家族都仇恨猫，这种可恶的、下贱的、粗鄙的东西！再别让我听到这个名字了！”
“我不说了，真的！”爱丽丝说着，急忙改变了话题，“你……喜欢……喜欢……狗吗？”老鼠没回答，于是，爱丽丝热心地说了下去，“告诉你，我家不远有一只小狗，—只眼晴明亮的小猎狗，你知道，它长着那么长的棕色卷毛。它还会接住你扔的东西，又会坐起来讨吃的，还会玩各式各样的把戏，它是一个农民的，你可知道，那个农民说它真顶用，要值一百英镑哪！说它还能杀掉所有的老鼠……哦，亲爱的！”爱丽丝伤心地说，“我怕又惹你生气了。”老鼠已经拼命游远了，它游开时，还弄得池塘的水一阵波动。
爱丽丝跟在老鼠的后面柔声细气地招呼它：“老鼠啊，亲爱的，你还是回来吧，你不喜欢的话，咱们再也不谈猫和狗了！”老鼠听了这话，就转过身慢慢地向她游来，它脸色苍白（爱丽丝想一定是气成这样的），用低而颤抖的声音说：“让我们上岸去吧，然后我将把我的历史告诉你，这样你就会明白我为什么也恨猫和狗了。”
真是该走了，因为池塘里已经有了一大群鸟兽，有一只鸭子、—只渡渡鸟（一种现已绝种的鸟，原产非洲毛里求斯。）、一只鹦鹉，一只小鹰和一些稀奇古怪的动物。爱丽丝领着路，和这群鸟兽一起自岸边游去。
And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. `They must go by the carrier,' she thought; `and how funny it'll seem, sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd the directions will look!
ALICE'S RIGHT FOOT, ESQ. HEARTHRUG, NEAR THE FENDER, (WITH ALICE'S LOVE).
Oh dear, what nonsense I'm talking!'
Just then her head struck against the roof of the hall: in fact she was now more than nine feet high, and she at once took up the little golden key and hurried off to the garden door.
Poor Alice! It was as much as she could do, lying down on one side, to look through into the garden with one eye; but to get through was more hopeless than ever: she sat down and began to cry again.
`You ought to be ashamed of yourself,' said Alice, `a great girl like you,' (she might well say this), `to go on crying in this way! Stop this moment, I tell you!' But she went on all the same, shedding gallons of tears, until there was a large pool all round her, about four inches deep and reaching half down the hall.
After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!' Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one; so, when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, `If you please, sir--' The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and skurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.
Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: `Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT'S the great puzzle!' And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them.
`I'm sure I'm not Ada,' she said, `for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, SHE'S she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is! I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! However, the Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography. London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome--no, THAT'S all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been changed for Mabel! I'll try and say "How doth the little--"' and she crossed her hands on her lap as if she were saying lessons, and began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and the words did not come the same as they used to do:--
`How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale!
`How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spread his claws, And welcome little fishes in With gently smiling jaws!'
`I'm sure those are not the right words,' said poor Alice, and her eyes filled with tears again as she went on, `I must be Mabel after all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky little house, and have next to no toys to play with, and oh! ever so many lessons to learn! No, I've made up my mind about it; if I'm Mabel, I'll stay down here! It'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I shall only look up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else"--but, oh dear!' cried Alice, with a sudden burst of tears, `I do wish they WOULD put their heads down! I am so VERY tired of being all alone here!'
As she said this she looked down at her hands, and was surprised to see that she had put on one of the Rabbit's little white kid gloves while she was talking. `How CAN I have done that?' she thought. `I must be growing small again.' She got up and went to the table to measure herself by it, and found that, as nearly as she could guess, she was now about two feet high, and was going on shrinking rapidly: she soon found out that the cause of this was the fan she was holding, and she dropped it hastily, just in time to avoid shrinking away altogether.
`That WAS a narrow escape!' said Alice, a good deal frightened at the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence; `and now for the garden!' and she ran with all speed back to the little door: but, alas! the little door was shut again, and the little golden key was lying on the glass table as before, `and things are worse than ever,' thought the poor child, `for I never was so small as this before, never! And I declare it's too bad, that it is!'
As she said these words her foot slipped, and in another moment, splash! she was up to her chin in salt water. Her first idea was that she had somehow fallen into the sea, `and in that case I can go back by railway,' she said to herself. (Alice had been to the seaside once in her life, and had come to the general conclusion, that wherever you go to on the English coast you find a number of bathing machines in the sea, some children digging in the sand with wooden spades, then a row of lodging houses, and behind them a railway station.) However, she soon made out that she was in the pool of tears which she had wept when she was nine feet high.
`I wish I hadn't cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. `I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.'
Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at first she thought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus, but then she remembered how small she was now, and she soon made out that it was only a mouse that had slipped in like herself.
`Would it be of any use, now,' thought Alice, `to speak to this mouse? Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, that I should think very likely it can talk: at any rate, there's no harm in trying.' So she began: `O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming about here, O Mouse!' (Alice thought this must be the right way of speaking to a mouse: she had never done such a thing before, but she remembered having seen in her brother's Latin Grammar, `A mouse--of a mouse--to a mouse--a mouse--O mouse!' The Mouse looked at her rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes, but it said nothing.
`Perhaps it doesn't understand English,' thought Alice; `I daresay it's a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror.' (For, with all her knowledge of history, Alice had no very clear notion how long ago anything had happened.) So she began again: `Ou est ma chatte?' which was the first sentence in her French lesson-book. The Mouse gave a sudden leap out of the water, and seemed to quiver all over with fright. `Oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the poor animal's feelings. `I quite forgot you didn't like cats.'
`Not like cats!' cried the Mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice. `Would YOU like cats if you were me?'
`Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone: `don't be angry about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet thing,' Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool, `and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face--and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse--and she's such a capital one for catching mice--oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt certain it must be really offended. `We won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not.'
`We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of his tail. `As if I would talk on such a subject! Our family always HATED cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name again!'
`I won't indeed!' said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of conversation. `Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?' The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: `There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! And it'll fetch things when you throw them, and it'll sit up and beg for its dinner, and all sorts of things--I can't remember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer, you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds! He says it kills all the rats and--oh dear!' cried Alice in a sorrowful tone, `I'm afraid I've offended it again!' For the Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go, and making quite a commotion in the pool as it went.
So she called softly after it, `Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we won't talk about cats or dogs either, if you don't like them!' When the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her: its face was quite pale (with passion, Alice thought), and it said in a low trembling voice, `Let us get to the shore, and then I'll tell you my history, and you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.'
It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore.