A Mad Tea-Party

Alice walked through the trees, looking for the beautiful garden. She felt a little tired and a little lonely, but she did not want to stop. Soon she saw a tall mushroom growing near a big tree. Sitting on top of it was a big blue Caterpillar. He was not looking at Alice at all.

"Who are you?" the Caterpillar asked slowly, in a quiet way. "I—I don't really know, sir," Alice said. "I was a different size this morning, and now everything about me keeps changing." "What do you mean?" asked the Caterpillar. "I can't explain myself," Alice said, "because I'm not myself today. I keep growing bigger, and then smaller again."

"I don't understand you at all," said the Caterpillar. "Well, I'm sorry," said Alice, "but this mushroom keeps changing me, and that's very strange." "This mushroom?" said the Caterpillar. "One side will make you grow taller. The other side will make you grow shorter." Then the Caterpillar climbed down from the mushroom and left without another word.

Alice broke off a small piece from each side of the mushroom. First, she took a bite from the piece in her right hand. At once, her neck grew very long, up above the trees! A bird flew near her and shouted, "You're a snake! Go away!" Alice was surprised, but she quickly took a bite from the piece in her left hand. Her neck grew short again, and soon she was back to the right size, about knee-high. "That's much better," Alice said, feeling glad. "Now I look like myself again, and no bird will call me a snake."

"Now I must find that beautiful garden," Alice said to herself. She walked on and soon saw a small house. In a tree next to the house sat a big cat with a big smile on its face. "Excuse me," Alice said politely. "Could you tell me which way to go?" "That's up to you," the Cat said, still smiling. "Where do you want to go?" "I don't really know," said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you walk," said the Cat.

"What is your name?" Alice asked. "I am the Cheshire Cat," it said. "If you go that way, you will find a Hatter, and he is having a tea party today." "Is he polite? Is he friendly?" Alice asked. "He is a little mad," said the Cat. "But I don't want to meet mad people," Alice said. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat. "We are all mad here. I am mad. You are mad, too." Then, very slowly, the Cat began to disappear. First its body was gone, then its tail, and at last only its big smile stayed in the air for a moment before it, too, was gone.

Alice walked the way the Cat had pointed and soon found a table under a tree, ready for tea. A man in a big hat sat at one end. Next to him, a small, tired mouse called the Dormouse sat between two chairs, almost sleeping. The table was long, but only three chairs were used. Alice sat down in a chair nearby.

"There's no room! No room!" the Hatter and the Dormouse called out. "There's enough room," Alice said, and she sat down there. "Have some tea," the Hatter said. Alice looked at the table. "I don't see any tea," she said. "There isn't any," said the Hatter. "Then it wasn't very polite of you to offer it," Alice said.

The Hatter looked at his watch and shook it. "What day is it?" he asked. Alice was not sure, so she did not answer. "My watch is wrong," the Hatter said sadly. "It's always six o'clock here. It's always time for tea, so we never get time to wash the cups." "So you just move to a clean cup?" Alice asked. "Yes," said the Hatter. "When we finish one cup, we move to the next one."

Then the Hatter asked Alice a strange question that had no answer at all. Alice tried very hard to answer it, but she could not think of anything. "I give up," she said at last. "What is the answer?" "I don't know," said the Hatter. "I have no idea. I never think about the answer." Alice thought this was a very strange game, and she did not want to play it anymore.

Alice thought this was a very strange way to have tea. She tried to ask the Hatter more questions, but his answers were always strange, and none of them made her happy. The Dormouse went to sleep in the middle of a story and had to be woken up again and again. Every time it woke up, it started a new story, but it always fell asleep before the end. After a while, Alice stood up. "This is the strangest tea party I have ever seen," she said. "I am not staying here." She turned and walked away into the trees.

As Alice walked, she saw a tree with a small door in it. She opened the door and found herself back in the long room with the glass table! "This time, I know what to do," she thought happily. She still had a piece of mushroom in her pocket. She took a small bite, and she began to grow smaller and smaller, until she was only twenty centimeters tall again.

Alice walked over to the small door, which was open now. She looked through it one more time at the beautiful garden with its bright flowers and green trees. Then, at last, she walked through the small door and stepped into the garden. "Finally," she said happily, "I made it into the wonderful garden!" She looked around at the tall flowers and the soft grass. She smiled a big smile and started to walk into the garden, ready for what would happen next.