Алиса в Стране чудес / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

'Mary Ann! Mary Ann!' said the voice. 'Bring me my gloves!'

Alice knew it was the Rabbit, and she trembled. The Rabbit came up to the door, and tried to open it; but the door opened inwards, and Alice's elbow was pressed hard against it.

The Rabbit said to itself 'Then I'll go round and get in at the window.'

'You won't' thought Alice, and she suddenly spread out her hand. She heard a little shriek and a crash of broken glass. Next came an angry voice-the Rabbit's-'Pat! Pat! Where are you?'

And another voice, 'I'm here!'

'Now tell me, Pat, what's that in the window?'

'It's an arm, your honour!'

'An arm, you fool! So big! It fills the whole window!'

'Sure, it does, your honour: but it's an arm.'

'Well, go and take it away!'

There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear whispers; such as, 'I don't like it, your honour, at all, at all!'

'Do as I tell you, you coward! We must burn the house down!' said the Rabbit's voice; and Alice shouted as loud as she could, 'If you do this, I'll call Dinah!'

There was a dead silence instantly, and Alice thought to herself, 'What will they do next?'

After a minute or two, a shower of little pebbles came in at the window, and some of them hit her in the face. Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes, and a bright idea came into her head.

'If I eat one of these cakes,' she thought, 'it'll make some change in my size; it can make me smaller, I suppose.'

So she swallowed one of the cakes, and she became smaller. Soon she was small enough to get through the door. She ran out of the house, and found a crowd of little animals and birds outside. Alice ran away. She was running and running, and finally she saw a large mushroom near her, about the same height as herself. Her eyes immediately met a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top, quietly smoking a hookah.

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a sleepy voice.

'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar.

Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I–I hardly know, just at present-at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I changed several times.'

'What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain!'

'I can't, I'm afraid,' said Alice very politely. 'I —…'

'You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. 'Who are YOU?'

It brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation.

Alice thought that the Caterpillar was in a very unpleasant state of mind, and she turned away.

'Come back!' the Caterpillar demanded. 'I want to tell you something important!'

Alice turned and came back again.

'Keep your temper,' said the Caterpillar.

'Is that all?' asked Alice.

'No,' said the Caterpillar.

Alice was waiting.

'So you think you changed, do you?' said the Caterpillar.

'I'm afraid I am,' said Alice; 'I can't remember some things.'

'What things can't you remember?' asked the Caterpillar.