Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [135]
Well, I think that was rather lucky, too: don’t you? For, if she hadn’t drunk any, all this wonderful adventure, that I’m about to tell you about, wouldn’t have happened at all. And wouldn’t that have been a pity?
You’re getting so used to Alice’s Adventures, that I daresay you can guess what happened next? If you ca’n’t, I’ll tell you.
She grew, and she grew, and she grew. And in a very short time the room was full of Alice: just in the same way as a jar is full of jam! There was Alice all the way up to the ceiling: and Alice in every corner of the room!
The door opened inwards: so of course there wasn’t any room to open it: so when the Rabbit got tired of waiting, and came to fetch his gloves for himself, of course he couldn’t get in.
So what do you think he did? (Now we come to the picture). He sent Bill, the Lizard, up to the roof of the house, and told him to get down the chimney. But Alice happened to have one of her feet in the fire-place: so, when she heard Bill coming down the chimney, she just gave a little tiny kick, and away went Bill, flying up into the sky!
Poor little Bill! Don’t you pity him very much? How frightened he must have been!
Chapter VI.
The Dear Little Puppy
WELL, it doesn’t look such a very little Puppy, does it? But then, you see, Alice had grown very small indeed: and that’s what makes the Puppy look so large. When Alice had eaten one of those little magic cakes, that she found in the White Rabbit’s house, it made her get quite small, directly, so that she could get through the door: or else she could never have got out of the house again. Wouldn’t that have been a pity? Because then she wouldn’t have dreamed all the other curious things that we’re going to read about.
So it really was a little Puppy, you see. And isn’t it a little pet? And look at the way it’s barking at the little stick that Alice is holding out for it! You can see she was a little afraid of it, all the time, because she’s got behind that great thistle, for fear it should run over her. That would have been just about as bad, for her, as it would be for you to be run over by a wagon and four horses!
Have you got a little pet puppy at your home? If you have, I hope you’re always kind to it, and give it nice things to eat.
Once upon a time, I knew some little children, about as big as you; and they had a little pet dog of their own; and it was called Dash. And this is what they told me about its birthday-treat.
“Do you know, one day we remembered it was Dash’s birthday that day. So we said “let’s give Dash a nice birthday-treat, like what we have on our birthdays!” So we thought and we thought “now, what is it we like best of all, on our birthdays?” And we thought and we thought. And at last we all called out together “Why, it’s oatmeal-porridge, of course!” So of course we thought Dash would be quite sure to like it very much, too.
“So we went to the cook, and we got her to make a saucerful of nice oatmeal-porridge. And then we called Dash into the house, and we said “now, Dash, you’re going to have your birthday-treat!” We expect Dash would jump for joy: but it didn’t, one bit!
“So we put the saucer down before it, and we said “now, Dash, don’t be greedy! Eat it nicely, like a good dog!”
“So Dash just tasted it with the tip of its tongue: and then it made, oh, such a horrid face! And then, do you know, it did hate it so, it wouldn’t eat a bit more of it! So we had to put it all down its throat with a spoon!”
I wonder if Alice will give this little Puppy some porridge? I don’t think she can, because she hasn’t got any with her. I ca’n’t see any saucer in the picture.
Chapter VII.
The Blue Caterpillar
WOULD you like to know what happened to Alice, after she had got away from the Puppy? It was far too large an animal, you know, for her to play with. (I don’t suppose you would much enjoy playing with a young Hippopotamus, would you? You would always be expecting to be crushed as flat as a pancake under its great heavy feet!) So Alice was very glad to run away, while it wasn