第1章
掉進兔子洞
麗絲厭倦了在河岸上一直坐在她姐姐身邊。她無事可做。她偷瞄了一兩眼她姐姐正在讀的書。書的內容不是很吸引人,上面連圖片和對話都沒有。
沒有圖片和對話的書有什麼好呢?愛麗絲想。
她想著自己是不是應該去找些雛菊來做串菊花項鏈。她就要開始找的時候,一隻粉眼睛的白兔子從她身旁跑過。一隻兔子在她附近跑過,這事並沒有什麼特別的。但是,這隻兔子很不同。這隻兔子會說話!
“哦,天哪!哦,天哪!我要遲到了!”他說。但是兔子從口袋裡掏出懷表看的時候,愛麗絲就開始在田地上追他了。她就要追上兔子的時候,正好看見他鑽進籬笆下一個大的兔子洞。
幾乎就在瞬間,愛麗絲跟著他下去了。她從未想過以後要如何出來。
這個洞在很多方面就像隧道一樣,一直延伸下去。然後到了一個地方突然一拐,愛麗絲還來不及反應就掉下去了。她下墜得好快!就好像她掉進了井裡。她以為要麼這口井很深很深,要麼她下墜得比較慢。
愛麗絲可以悠哉地看看四周。首先,她想往下看看自己會去往哪裡。但是下面漆黑一片,什麼都看不見。然後她看看井壁。井壁上滿是櫥櫃和書架,還有一些地圖和圖片掛在釘子上。
愛麗絲經過的時候,從書架上抓了一隻罐子。上面有標簽:橘子醬。令她很失望的是,裡面是空的。她不敢把罐子丟掉,以免砸到下面的什麼人。於是,在她繼續下墜的過程中,她把罐子放在了一個書架上。
好吧,愛麗絲想著,經過這樣一次墜落之後,我就不會把從梯子上跌落當回事了。就算我從房頂上掉下來,也不會像這樣掉個沒完的。
掉啊,掉啊,掉啊。這就掉個沒完了嗎?我想知道我已經掉下去多少英裡了?愛麗絲想著。我肯定在向地球中心靠近了。讓我想想,可能下面還有四千英裡。
然後,她有了個奇怪的想法。我想,我是否會一直掉而穿過地球呢?我想,我得問問我是不是到了新西蘭或澳大利亞。
愛麗絲往下掉的時候還不忘行屈膝禮, 因為她想表現得禮貌些。“如果我問了,他們會覺得我是個笨女孩的!”愛麗絲大聲說了出來。她決定再也不問誰她會在哪個國家著地。她會自己找到答案。她一定會的!
掉啊,掉啊,掉啊。沒有別的事可做。於是愛麗絲很快又開始說話了。“我可憐的貓!戴娜今晚會很想念我的。我好希望他們記得在茶點時間給她牛奶喝。”愛麗絲嘆息道,“噢,戴娜!我多麼希望你和我一起在這裡。不過好像這裡沒有老鼠。或許你可以抓蝙蝠。貓也喫蝙蝠的吧?”
愛麗絲開始有點困了。她繼續自言自語道:“貓喫蝙蝠嗎?蝙蝠喫貓嗎?”她不知道答案。她就要睡過去的時候,突然,砰的一聲!她掉到一堆樹葉子上了。終於不再往下掉了!
愛麗絲一點都沒有受傷。她一躍而起。那裡非常非常黑。在她前面,有一條長長的通道。那隻白兔正蹦蹦跳跳地朝前跑著!
CHAPTER 1
Down the Rabbit Hole
Alice was tired of sitting by her sister on the riverbank. She had nothing to do. Once or twice she peeked into the book her sister was reading. It wasn’t very exciting. It had no pictures or any dialogue in it.
What good is a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversations?
She wondered if she should search for daisies to make a daisy chain. She was about to begin her search when a white rabbit with pink eyes ran by her. There wasn’t anything particularly odd about a rabbit running close to her. But this rabbit was different. This rabbit spoke!
“Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” it said. But it wasn’t until the rabbit took a watch out of its pocket that Alice ran across the field after it. She caught up with it just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit hole under the hedge.
Within a minute, Alice went down after it. She never once considered how in the world she’d get back out again.
The hole went straight on like a tunnel for quite a ways. Then it dipped down so suddenly that Alice had no time to think about stopping herself. She fell so fast! It was as if she was going down a well. She decided that either the well was very deep or she was falling slowly.
Alice had plenty of time to look around her. At first, she tried to look down to see where she was going. But it was too dark to see anything. Then she looked to the sides of the well. They were filled with cupboards and bookshelves. There were maps lying about and pictures hung on pegs.
Alice grabbed one of the jars on the shelves as she passed. It was labeled Orange Marmalade. To her great disappointment, it was empty. She didn’t dare drop the jar and hurt anyone underneath. So she managed to place it on a shelf as she continued her fall.
Well, thought Alice, after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down the stairs. Even if I fell off the house it would not be such a fall as this.
Down, down, down. Would the fall ever end? I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen, Alice thought. I must be getting near the center of the earth. Let me see, that would be about 4,000 miles down.
Then she had an eerie thought. I wonder if I shall fall through the earth? I’d have to ask if I were inNew ZealandorAustralia, I suppose.
Alice tried to curtsy as she fell, for she wanted to appear polite. “They’d think I was a silly girl for asking!” Alice said aloud. She decided she’d never ask anyone which country she landed in. She’d find out the answer herself. She must!
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do. So Alice soon began talking again. “My poor cat! Dinah will miss me terribly tonight. I do hope they’ll remember her saucer of milk at teatime.” Alice sighed. “Oh, Dinah! I do wish you were here with me. There are no mice in the air though. Perhaps you’d catch a bat. Do cats eat bats I wonder?”