Down the Rabbit-Hole

Alice sat by the river with her sister on a warm afternoon. Her sister was reading a book, but the book had no pictures. Alice felt bored. "What is the use of a book," she thought, "without pictures or talking in it?"

Then something white ran past her. It was a rabbit with pink eyes. The Rabbit had a watch in its pocket. "Oh, I am late!" the Rabbit said, sounding worried. Alice was surprised. She had never seen a rabbit with a watch and a pocket before. She jumped up and ran after it across the field.

The Rabbit ran into a hole under a tree. Alice followed it without thinking twice. Suddenly, the hole went straight down, like a deep well. Alice fell down, down, down. She fell so slowly that she had lots of time to look around. She saw pictures and books on the wall. She saw small bottles with words written on them. She picked up one bottle, but it was empty, so she put it back.

At last, Alice landed softly on a pile of dry leaves. She was not hurt at all. She stood up and saw a long room with many doors. Every door was closed. In the middle of the room, there was a small glass table. On the table, there was a small yellow key.

Alice tried the key on every door, but the key was too small for all of them. Then she found a small door near the wall, about the size of a mouse hole. The little key was just right! Alice opened the door and saw a beautiful garden with many flowers and green grass. She wanted to go in, but she was much too big to go through the door.

Alice went back to the glass table. This time, she found a small bottle with a paper tag on it. The tag said "DRINK ME." Alice was careful. "I will check first," she thought, "to see if this bottle is dangerous." It did not look dangerous, so she drank a little. It tasted like cake and fruit together. Alice began to feel smaller and smaller. Soon, she was only twenty centimeters tall!

"Now I can go through the small door!" Alice said happily. But when she got to the door, she remembered the yellow key. It was still on the glass table, high above her now. She could not get it. She sat down on the floor and cried.

Then Alice saw a small box under the table. Inside the box, there was a cake with the words "EAT ME" written on it. "Well, I will try it," Alice said to herself. "If it makes me bigger, I can get the key. If it makes me smaller, I can go under the door." She ate a piece of the cake. She grew bigger and bigger, taller than the room itself! Now she was much too big for the long room.

Alice began to cry again, but this time her tears were huge. They fell like rain and made a big pool of water on the floor. Just then, she heard footsteps. The White Rabbit came back, wearing gloves and holding a fan in one hand. When he saw giant Alice, he was so afraid that he dropped his gloves and his fan and ran away as fast as he could.

Alice picked up the fan and began to fan herself with it. To her surprise, she started to grow smaller again! She fanned herself again and again until she was small enough to swim. But she was still standing in the pool of her own tears, and now it looked like a big ocean to her.

As Alice swam through the water, she saw something moving near her. It was a mouse! "Excuse me, Mouse," Alice said politely. "Do you know the way out of this pool?" The Mouse did not answer at first, but it swam a little closer. Alice wanted to be friendly. "I have a cat at home," she said. "Her name is Dinah, and she is very good at catching mice and birds."

The Mouse looked afraid. It swam away as fast as it could. "Oh, I am sorry!" Alice called after it. "I forgot that mice do not like cats!" But the Mouse was already gone. Alice swam alone to the edge of the pool. She climbed out, feeling wet, small, and a little lonely and sad.

Soon, Alice heard fast footsteps again. It was the White Rabbit, looking for his gloves and his fan everywhere. "Mary Ann!" he called to Alice. "Why are you standing out here? Go home now and bring me my gloves!" The Rabbit thought Alice was his maid! Alice did not want any trouble, so she ran off to find his house.

Inside the Rabbit's small house, Alice found a bottle sitting on a table. She was thirsty, so this time she drank from it without checking the tag first. At once, she began to grow again, bigger and bigger! Soon one arm was out of a window and one foot was out of another window. She was stuck inside the small house!

The White Rabbit came back and saw a huge arm coming out of his window. He was very afraid. He and his friends threw small rocks through the window at Alice. But the rocks turned into little cakes when they landed on the floor! Alice picked one up and ate it. Slowly, she began to grow smaller again.

When Alice was small enough, she ran out of the house quickly and into some tall trees nearby. "I must find my way back to the beautiful garden," she thought. She looked around for the White Rabbit, but he was gone. Alice stood alone among the tall trees, feeling small, tired, and a little afraid. But she was also curious. She stood still for a moment, and then she started to walk. "This is a strange place," she said to herself, "but I want to see more of it." What other strange things would she find in this wonderland?