for a minute or two she stood looking at the house, and wondering what to do next, when suddenly a footman in livery came running out of the wood--(she considered him to be a footman because he was in livery: otherwise, judging by his face only, she would have called him a fish)--and rapped loudly at the door with his knuckles. it was opened by another footman in livery, with a round face, and large eyes like a frog; and both footmen, alice noticed, had powdered hair that curled all over their heads. she felt very curious to know what it was all about, and crept a little way out of the wood to listen.
the fish-footman began by producing from under his arm a great letter, nearly as large as himself, and this he handed over to the other, saying, in a solemn tone, `for the duchess. an invitation from the queen to play croquet.' the frog-footman repeated, in the same solemn tone, only changing the order of the words a little, `from the queen. an invitation for the duchess to play croquet.'
then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled together.
alice laughed so much at this, that she had to run back into the wood for fear of their hearing her; and when she next peeped out the fish-footman was gone, and the other was sitting on the ground near the door, staring stupidly up into the sky.
alice went timidly up to the door, and knocked.
`there's no sort of use in knocking,' said the footman, `and that for two reasons. first, because i'm on the same side of the door as you are; secondly, because they're making such a noise inside, no one could possibly hear you.' and certainly there was a most extraordinary noise going on within--a constant howling and sneezing, and every now and then a great crash, as if a dish or kettle had been broken to pieces.
`please, then,' said alice, `how am i to get in?'
`there might be some sense in your knocking,' the footman went on without attending to her, `if we had the door between us. for instance, if you were inside, you might knock, and i could let you out, you know.' he was looking up into the sky all the time he was speaking, and this alice thought decidedly uncivil. `but perhaps he can't help it,' she said to herself; `his eyes are so very nearly at the top of his head. but at any rate he might answer questions.--how am i to get in?' she repeated, aloud.
`i shall sit here,' the footman remarked, `till tomorrow--'
at this moment the door of the house opened, and a large plate came skimming out, straight at the footman's head: it just grazed his nose, and broke to pieces against one of the trees behind him.
`--or next day, maybe,' the footman continued in the same tone, exactly as if nothing had happened.
`how am i to get in?' asked alice again, in a louder tone.
`are you to get in at all?' said the footman. `that's the first question, you know.'
it was, no doubt: only alice did not like to be told so. `it's really dreadful,' she muttered to herself, `the way all the creatures argue. it's enough to drive one crazy!'
the footman seemed to think this a good opportunity for repeating his remark, with variations. `i shall sit here,' he said, `on and off, for days and days.'
`but what am i to do?' said alice.
`anything you like,' said the footman, and began whistling.
`oh, there's no use in talking to him,' said alice desperately: `he's perfectly idiotic!' and she opened the door and went in.
the door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from one end to the other: the duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was leaning over the fire, stirring a large cauldron which seemed to be full of soup.
`there's certainly too much pepper in that soup!' alice said to herself, as well as she could for sneezing.
there was certainly too much of it in the air. even the duchess sneezed occasionally; and as for the baby, it was sneezing and howling alternately without a moment's pause. the only things in the kitchen that did not sneeze, were the cook, and a large cat which was sitting on the hearth and grinning from ear to ear.
`please would you tell me,' said alice, a little timidly, for she was not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, `why your cat grins like that?'
`it's a cheshire cat,' said the duchess, `and that's why. pig!'
she said the last word with such sudden violence that alice quite jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the baby, and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again:--
`i didn't know that cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, i didn't know that cats could grin.'
`they all can,' said the duchess; `and most of 'em do.'
`i don't know of any that do,' alice said very politely, feeling quite pleased to have got into a conversation.
`you don't know much,' said the duchess; `and that's a fact.'
alice did not at all like the tone of this remark, and thought it would be as well to introduce some other subject of conversation. while she was trying to fix on one, the cook took the cauldron of soup off the fire, and at once set to work throwing everything within her reach at the duchess and the baby --the fire-irons came first; then followed a shower of saucepans, plates, and dishes. the duchess took no notice of them even when they hit her; and the baby was howling so much already, that it was quite impossible to say whether the blows hurt it or not.
`oh, please mind what you're doing!' cried alice, jumping up and down in an agony of terror. `oh, there goes his precious nose'; as an unusually large saucepan flew close by it, and very nearly carried it off.
`if everybody minded their own business,' the duchess said in a hoarse growl, `the world would go round a deal faster than it does.'
`which would not be an advantage,' said alice, who felt very glad to get an opportunity of showing off a little of her knowledge. `just think of what work it would make with the day and night! you see the earth takes twenty-four hours to turn round on its axis--'
`talking of axes,' said the duchess, `chop off her head!'
alice glanced rather anxiously at the cook, to see if she meant to take the hint; but the cook was busily stirring the soup, and seemed not to be listening, so she went on again: `twenty-four hours, i think; or is it twelve? i--'
`oh, don't bother me,' said the duchess; `i never could abide figures!' and with that she began nursing her child again, singing a sort of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a violent shake at the end of every line:
`speak roughly to your little boy, and beat him when he sneezes: he only does it to annoy, because he knows it teases.'
chorus.
(in which the cook and the baby joined):--
`wow! wow! wow!'
while the duchess sang the second verse of the song, she kept tossing the baby violently up and down, and the poor little thing howled so, that alice could hardly hear the words:--
`i speak severely to my boy, i beat him when he sneezes; for he can thoroughly enjoy the pepper when he pleases!'
chorus.
`wow! wow! wow!'
`here! you may nurse it a bit, if you like!' the duchess said to alice, flinging the baby at her as she spoke. `i must go and get ready to play croquet with the queen,'
and she hurried out of the room. the cook threw a frying-pan after her as she went out, but it just missed her.
alice caught the baby with some difficulty, as it was a queer- shaped little creature, and held out its arms and legs in all directions, `just like a star-fish,' thought alice. the poor little thing was snorting like a steam-engine when she caught it, and kept doubling itself up and straightening itself out again, so that altogether, for the first minute or two, it was as much as she could do to hold it.
as soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it, (which was to twist it up into a sort of knot, and then keep tight hold of its right ear and left foot, so as to prevent its undoing itself,) she carried it out into the open air. `if i don't take this child away with me,' thought alice, `they're sure to kill it in a day or two: wouldn't it be murder to leave it behind?' she said the last words out loud, and the little thing grunted in reply (it had left off sneezing by this time). `don't grunt,' said alice; `that's not at all a proper way of expressing yourself.'
the baby grunted again, and alice looked very anxiously into its face to see what was the matter with it. there could be no doubt that it had a very turn-up nose, much more like a snout than a real nose; also its eyes were getting extremely small for a baby: altogether alice did not like the look of the thing at all. `but perhaps it was only sobbing,' she thought, and looked into its eyes again, to see if there were any tears.
no, there were no tears. `if you're going to turn into a pig, my dear,' said alice, seriously, `i'll have nothing more to do with you. mind now!' the poor little thing sobbed again (or grunted, it was impossible to say which), and they went on for some while in silence.
alice was just beginning to think to herself, `now, what am i to do with this creature when i get it home?' when it grunted again, so violently, that she looked down into its face in some alarm. this time there could be no mistake about it: it was neither more nor less than a pig, and she felt that it would be quite absurd for her to carry it further.
so she set the little creature down, and felt quite relieved to see it trot away quietly into the wood. `if it had grown up,' she said to herself, `it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather a handsome pig, i think.' and she began thinking over other children she knew, who might do very well as pigs, and was just saying to herself, `if one only knew the right way to change them--' when she was a little startled by seeing the cheshire cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off.
the cat only grinned when it saw alice. it looked good- natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
`cheshire puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `come, it's pleased so far,' thought alice, and she went on. `would you tell me, please, which way i ought to go from here?'
`that depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the cat.
`i don't much care where--' said alice.
`then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the cat.
`--so long as i get somewhere,' alice added as an explanation.
`oh, you're sure to do that,' said the cat, `if you only walk long enough.'
alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. `what sort of people live about here?'
`in that direction,' the cat said, waving its right paw round, `lives a hatter: and in that direction,' waving the other paw, `lives a march hare. visit either you like: they're both mad.'
`but i don't want to go among mad people,' alice remarked.
`oh, you can't help that,' said the cat: `we're all mad here. i'm mad. you're mad.'
`how do you know i'm mad?' said alice.
`you must be,' said the cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on `and how do you know that you're mad?'
`to begin with,' said the cat, `a dog's not mad. you grant that?'
`i suppose so,' said alice.
`well, then,' the cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. now i growl when i'm pleased, and wag my tail when i'm angry. therefore i'm mad.'
`i call it purring, not growling,' said alice.
`call it what you like,' said the cat. `do you play croquet with the queen to-day?'
`i should like it very much,' said alice, `but i haven't been invited yet.'
`you'll see me there,' said the cat, and vanished.
alice was not much surprised at this, she was getting so used to queer things happening. while she was looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.
`by-the-bye, what became of the baby?' said the cat. `i'd nearly forgotten to ask.'
`it turned into a pig,' alice quietly said, just as if it had come back in a natural way.
`i thought it would,' said the cat, and vanished again.
alice waited a little, half expecting to see it again, but it did not appear, and after a minute or two she walked on in the direction in which the march hare was said to live. `i've seen hatters before,' she said to herself; `the march hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is may it won't be raving mad--at least not so mad as it was in march.' as she said this, she looked up, and there was the cat again, sitting on a branch of a tree.
`did you say pig, or fig?' said the cat.
`i said pig,' replied alice; `and i wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make one quite giddy.'
`all right,' said the cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
`well! i've often seen a cat without a grin,' thought alice; `but a grin without a cat! it's the most curious thing i ever saw in my life!'
she had not gone much farther before she came in sight of the house of the march hare: she thought it must be the right house, because the chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was thatched with fur. it was so large a house, that she did not like to go nearer till she had nibbled some more of the lefthand bit of mushroom, and raised herself to about two feet high: even then she walked up towards it rather timidly, saying to herself `suppose it should be raving mad after all! i almost wish i'd gone to see the hatter instead!
她站在小房跟前看了一两分钟，想着下一步该干什么。突然间，一个穿着制服的仆人（她认为仆人是由于穿着仆人的制服，如果只看他的脸，会把他看成一条鱼的）从树林跑来，用脚使劲儿地踢着门。另一个穿着制服，长着圆脸庞和像青蛙一样大眼睛的仆人开了门，爱丽丝注意到这两个仆人，都戴着涂了脂的假发。她非常想知道这到底是怎么回事，于是就从树林里探出头来听。
鱼仆人从胳膊下面拿出一封很大的信，这信几乎有他身子那么大，然后把信递给那一个，同时还用严肃的声调说：“致公爵夫人：王后邀请她去玩槌球。”那位青蛙仆人只不过把语序变了一下，用同样严肃的声调重复着说：“王后的邀请：请公爵夫人去玩槌球。”
然后他们俩都深深地鞠了个躬，这使得他们的假发缠在一起了。这情景惹得爱丽丝要发笑了，她不得不远远地跑进树林里，免得被他们听到。她再出来偷看时，鱼仆人已经走了，另一位坐在门口的地上，呆呆地望着天空愣神。
爱丽丝怯生生地走到门口，敲了门。
“敲门没用。”那位仆人说，“这有两个原因：第一，因为我同你一样，都在门外，第二，他们在里面吵吵嚷嚷，根本不会听到敲门声。”确实，里面传来了很特别的吵闹声：有不断的嚎叫声，有打喷嚏声，还不时有打碎东西的声音，好像是打碎盘子或瓷壶的声音。
“那么，请告诉我，”爱丽丝说，“我怎么进去呢？”
“如果这扇门在我们之间，你敲门，可能还有意义，”那仆人并不注意爱丽丝，继续说着，“假如，你在里面敲门，我就能让你出来。”他说话时，一直盯着天空，爱丽丝认为这是很不礼貌的。“也许他没有办法，”她对自己说，“他的两只眼睛几乎长到头顶上了，但至少是可以回答问题的，我该怎样进去呢？”因此，她又大声重复地说。
“我坐在这里，”那仆人继续说他的，“直到明天……”
就在这时，这个房子的门开了，一只大盘子朝仆人的头飞来，掠过他的鼻子，在他身后的一棵树上撞碎了。
“……或者再过一天。”仆人继续用同样的口吻说，就像什么也没发生过。
“我该怎么进去呢？”爱丽丝更大声地问，
“你到底要不要进去呢？”仆人说，“要知道这是该首先决定的问题，”这当然是对的，不过爱丽丝不愿意承认这点，“真讨厌，”她对自己喃喃地说道，“这些生物讨论问题的方法真能叫人发疯。”
那仆人似乎认为是重复自己的话的好机会，不过稍微改变了一点儿说法：“我将从早到晚坐在这几，一天又一天地坐下去。”
“可是我该干什么呢？”爱丽丝说，
“你想干什么就干什么？”仆人说服就吹起口哨来了。
“唉，同他说话没用！”爱丽丝失望地说，“他完全是个白痴！”然后她就推开门自己进去了。
这门直通一间大厨房，厨房里充满了烟雾，公爵夫人在房子中间，坐在—只三腿小凳上照料一个小孩。厨师俯身在炉子上的一只人锅里搅拌着，锅里好像盛满了汤。
“汤里的胡椒确实太多了！”爱丽丝费劲儿地对自己说，并不停地打着喷嚏。
空气里的胡椒味也确实太浓了，连公爵夫人也常常打喷嚏。至于那个婴孩，不是打喷嚏就是嚎叫，一刻也不停。这间厨房里只有两个生物不打喷嚏，就是女厨师和一只大猫，那只猫正趴在炉子旁，咧着嘴笑哩。
“请告诉我，”爱丽丝有点胆怯地问，因为她还不十分清楚自己先开口合不合规矩，“为什么你的猫能笑呢？”
“它是柴郡猫（郡：英国的行政区域单位，柴郡为一个郡的名称，由于本书影响，现在西方人都把露齿傻笑的人称为柴郡猫。），”公爵夫人说，“这就是为什么它会笑了。猪！”
公爵夫人凶狠地说出的最后的—个字，把爱丽丝吓了一大跳。但是，爱丽丝马上发觉她正在同婴孩说话，而不是对自己说，于是她又鼓起了勇气，继续说：
“我还不知道柴郡猫经常笑，实际上，我压根儿不知道猫会笑的。”
“它们都会的，”公爵夫人说，“起码大多数都会笑的。”
“我连一只都没见过。”爱丽丝非常有礼貌地说，并对这场开始了的谈话感到高兴。
“你知道的太少了，”公爵夫人说，“这是个事实。”
爱丽丝不喜欢这种谈话的口气，想最好换个话题，她正在想话题的时候，女厨师把汤锅从火上端开了，然后立即把她随手能拿着的每件东西扔向公爵夫人和婴孩。火钩子第一个飞来，然后，平底锅、盆子、盘子像暴风雨似地飞来了。公爵夫人根本不理会，甚至打到身上都没反应。而那婴孩早已经拼命地嚎叫了，也不知道这些东西打到了他身上没有。
“喂，当心点！”爱丽丝喊着，吓得心头不住地跳，“哎哟，他那小鼻子完了。”真的，一只特大平底锅紧擦着鼻子飞过，差点就把鼻子削掉了。
“如果每个人都关心自己的事，”公爵夫人嘶哑着嗓子嘟喷着说，“地球就会比现在转得快一些。”
“这没好处，”爱丽丝说，她很高兴有个机会显示一下自己的知识，“你想想这会给白天和黑夜带来什么结果呢？要知道地球绕轴转一回要用二十四个钟头。”
“说什么？”公爵夫人说，“把她的头砍掉！”
爱丽丝相当不安地瞧了女厨师一眼，看她是不是准备执行这个命令，女厨师正忙着搅汤，好像根本没听到，于是爱丽丝又继续说：“我想是二十四个小时，或许是十二个小时，我……”
“唉，别打扰我！”公爵夫人说，“我受不了数字！”她说着照料孩子去了，她哄孩子时唱着一种催睡曲，唱到每句的末尾，都要把孩子猛烈地摇儿下。
“对你的小男孩要粗暴地说话，在他打喷嚏的时候就读他，因为他这样只是为了捣乱，他只不过是在撒娇和卖傻。”合唱（女厨师和小孩也参加）：哇！哇！哇！
公爵夫人唱第二段歌时，把婴孩猛烈地扔上扔下，可怜的小家伙没命地嚎哭，所以爱丽丝几乎都听不清唱词了：“我对我的小孩说话严厉，他一打喷嚏我就读他个够味，因为他只要高兴，随时可以欣赏胡椒的味道。”合唱：哇！哇！哇！
“来！如果你愿意的话，抱他一会儿！”公爵夫人一边对爱丽丝说，一边就把小孩扔给她，“我要同王后玩链球去了，得准备一下。”说着就急忙地走出了房间。她往外走时，女厨师从后自向她扔了只炸油锅，但是没打着。
爱丽丝费劲儿地抓住那个小孩，因为他是个样子奇特的小生物，他的胳膊和腿向各个方向伸展，“真像只海星，”爱丽丝想，她抓着他时，这可怜的小家伙像蒸汽机样地哼哼着，还把身子一会儿蜷曲起来，一会儿伸开，就这样不停地折腾，搞得爱丽丝在最初的一两分钟里，只能勉强把他抓住。
她刚找到—种拿住他的办法（把他像打结一样团在一起，然后抓紧他的右耳朵和左脚，他就不能伸开了）时，就把他带到屋子外面的露天地方去了。“如果我不把婴孩带走，”爱丽丝想，“她们肯定在一两天里就会把他打死的。把他扔在这里不就害了他吗？”最后一句她说出声来了，那小家伙咕噜了一声作为回答（这段时间他已经不打喷嚏了）。别咕噜，”爱丽丝说，“你这样太不像样子了。”
那婴孩又咕噜了一声，爱丽丝很不安地看了看他的脸，想知道是怎么回事。只见他鼻子朝天，根本不像个常人样，倒像个猪鼻子；他的眼睛也变得很小不像个婴孩了。爱丽丝不喜欢这副模样。“也许他在哭吧，”爱丽丝想。她就看看他的眼睛，有没有眼泪。
没有，一点儿眼泪也没有。“如果你变成了一只猪，”爱丽丝严肃地说，“听着，我可再不理你了！”那可怜的小家伙又抽泣了一声（或者说又咕噜了—声，很难说到底是哪种），然后他们就默默地走了一会儿。
爱丽丝正在想：“我回家可把这小生物怎么办呢？，这时，他又猛烈地咕噜了一声，爱丽丝马上警觉地朝下看他的脸。这次一点儿都不会错了，它完全是只猪。她感到如果再带着它就太可笑了。
于是她把这小生物放下，看着它很快地跑进树林，感到十分轻松。“如果它长大的话，爱丽丝对自己说，“一定会成为可怕的丑孩子，要不就成为个漂亮的猪。”然后，她去一个个想她认识的孩子，看看谁如果变成猪更像样些，她刚想对自己说：“只要有人告诉他们变化的办法……”，这时，那只柴郡猫把她吓了一跳，它正坐在几码远的树枝上。
猫对爱丽丝只是笑，看起来倒是好脾气。爱丽丝想，不过它还是有很长的爪子和许多牙齿，因此还应该对它尊敬点。
“柴郡猫，”她胆怯地说。还不知道它喜欢不喜欢这个名字，可是，它的嘴笑得咧开了。“哦，它很高兴，”爱丽丝想，就继续说了：“请你告诉我，离开这里应该走哪条路？”
“这要看你想上哪儿去，”猫说。
“去哪里，我不大在乎。”爱丽丝说。
“那你走哪条路都没关系。”猫说。
“只要．能走到一个地方。”爱丽丝又补充说了一句。
“哦，那行，”猫说，“只要你走得很远的话。”
爱丽丝感到这话是没法反对的，所以她就试着提了另外的一个问题：“这周围住些什么？”
“这个方向”猫说着，把右爪子挥了一圈，“住着个帽匠；那个方向，”猫又挥动另一个爪子，“住着一只三月兔。你喜欢访问谁就访问谁，他们俩都是疯子。”
“我可不想到疯子中间去。”爱丽丝回答。
“啊，这可没法，”猫说，“我们这儿全都是疯的，我是疯的，你也是疯的。”
“你怎么知道我是疯的？”爱丽丝问。
“一定的，”猫说，“不然你就不会到这里来了。”
爱丽丝想这根本不能说明问题，不过她还是继续问：“你又怎么知遏你是疯子呢？”
“咱们先打这里说起，”猫说，“狗是不疯的，你同意吗？”
“也许是吧！爱丽丝说。
“好，那么，”猫接着说，“你知道，狗生气时就叫，高兴时就摇尾巴，可是我，却是高兴时就叫，生气时就摇尾巴。所以，我是疯子。”
“我把这说成是打呼噜，不是叫。”爱丽丝说。
“你怎么说都行，”猫说，“你今天同王后玩槌球吗？”
“我很喜欢玩槌球，”爱丽丝说，“可是到现在还没有邀请我嘛！”
“你，会在那儿看到我！”猫说着突然消失了。
爱丽丝对这个并不太惊奇，她已经习惯这些不断发生的怪事了。她看着猫坐过的地方，这时，猫又突然出现了。
“顺便问一声，那个婴孩变成什么了？”猫说，“我差一点忘了。”
“已经变成一只猪了。”爱丽丝平静地回答说，就好像猫再次出现是正常的。
“我就想它会那样的。”猫说着又消失了。
爱丽丝等了一会，还希望能再看见它，可是它再没出现。于是，她就朝着三月兔住的方向走去。“帽匠那儿，我也要去的。”她对自己说，“三月兔一定非常有趣，现在是五月，也许它不至于太疯——至少不会比三月份疯吧。”就在说这些话时，一抬头又看见那只猫，坐在一根树枝上。
“你刚才说的是猪，还是竹？”猫问。
“我说的是猪，”爱丽丝回答，“我希望你的出现和消失不要太突然，这样，把人搞得头都晕了。”
“好，”猫答应着。这次它消失得非常慢，从尾巴尖开始消失，一直到最后看不见它的笑脸，那个笑脸在身体消失后好久，还停留了好一会儿。
“哎哟，我常常看见没有笑脸的猫，”爱丽丝想，“可是还从没见过没有猫的笑脸呢。这是我见过的最奇怪的事儿了。”
她没走多远，就见到了一间房子，她想这一定是三月兔的房子了，因为烟囱像长耳朵，屋顶铺着兔子毛。房子很大，使她不敢走近。她咬了口左手的蘑菇，使自己长到了二英尺高，才胆怯地走去，一边对自己说：“要是它疯得厉害可怎么办？我还不如去看看帽匠呢！”
