Читать книгу Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A2 - Льюис Кэрролл, Льюїс Керролл, Furniss Harry - Страница 4

Now Alice started to grow taller and taller. Her feet were now very far away, and she almost couldn't see them. “Goodbye, feet!” she said. “Oh, my poor little feet, who will put shoes on you now? I will be too far away. But I will send you a new pair of shoes every Christmas. How funny it will be!”

At that moment, her head hit the roof of the hall. She took the little golden key from the table and went to the small garden door.

Poor Alice! This time she could look into the garden with only one eye. So she sat down and began to cry again. Soon there was a large pool around her.

Suddenly she heard footsteps far away and quickly dried her eyes to see what it was. The White Rabbit returned! It wore beautiful clothes and had a pair of white gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other. Alice needed help very much. When the Rabbit came near her, she began very quietly. “Please, sir-” The Rabbit was very scared. It dropped the white gloves and the fan and ran away.

Alice took the Rabbit's gloves and the fan and began to think how strange everything was that day. “And yesterday things were so usual. Did I change during the night? Who am I? That's the great puzzle!”

“I'm sure I'm not Ada,” she said. “Her hair is curly and my hair isn't curly at all. And I'm sure I can't be Mabel because I know a lot of things, and she, oh! she knows so little! What is more, SHE'S she, and I'M I, and – oh, how difficult it all is! Do I really know the things I knew once? Four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is – Oh no! It is all wrong! No, Math doesn't mean anything. Let's try Geography. London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome – no, THAT'S all wrong, I'm sure! Am I Mabel now? I'll try and say ‘How does the little —'”.

She had had to learn this poem for one of her lessons once, and she knew it very well. But now, when she tried to repeat it, her voice sounded strange, and the words were all different.

“I'm sure those are not the right words,” said poor Alice, and she started to cry again, “I must be Mabel then. And they will make me live in that terrible little house, and I will have no toys, and oh! I will have to learn so many lessons! No, I made a decision. If I'm Mabel, I'll stay in this rabbit hole! They will come for me and they will try to make me come back. But I will only look at them and say, ‘Who am I then? Tell me that. Then, if I like that person, I will come up. If I will not like that person, I'll stay down here and try to become somebody else'” cried Alice, “But oh! Why don't they come for me right now and call me back home? I am soVERY tired of being all alone here!”

Suddenly she noticed one of the Rabbit's white gloves on her hand. She put it on! “How could I do that?” she thought. “Maybe I am growing small again.” So she went to the table to check it and found that she wasn't much taller than the table now and she was continuing to get smaller and smaller. And then she understood that it was the fan in her hand and she quickly dropped it.

“And now to the garden!” and Alice ran fast to the little door, but the little door was locked again, and the golden key was still on the glass table.

She made a step but the floor under her feet was wet and then – SPLASH! She was in salt water. She thought about the sea, but soon she understood that it was a lake of her own tears.

She heard something splashing about in the lake and swam nearer to see what it was. At first, she thought it was some big and scary animal. But then she remembered how small she was and understood that it was only a mouse.

“Should I speak to this mouse?” thought Alice. “I think it can talk. I'll try.” So she began. “O Mouse, do you know the way out of this lake? I do not want to swim anymore!” But the mouse said nothing.

“Perhaps it doesn't understand English,” thought Alice. “Maybe it's a French mouse.” So she tried again – this time with the first sentence in her French lesson book. “Ou'est ma chatte?” It meant. “Where is my cat?” The scared Mouse jumped up out of the water. “Oh, I am so sorry” cried Alice, “I forgot! You don't like cats.”

“Don't like cats!” cried the Mouse. “What mouse likes cats?”

“Well, you are right,” said Alice; “don't be angry. But our cat Dinah is very different. I think you will like her. She is such a nice quiet thing.”

“No! Our family always HATED cats! They are awful! I don't want to hear this word again!” the Mouse was trembling.

“I am sorry!” said Alice. “Do you… do you… do you like dogs?” The Mouse didn't answer, so Alice started to talk about dogs. But the Mouse was swimming away from her.

“Mouse dear! Come back again, and we won't talk about cats or dogs if you don't like them!” Alice called softly. When the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her. “Get to the dry place. There I'll tell you my story and you'll understand why I hate cats and dogs,” it said.

More and more animals were swimming in the pool: a Duck, a Parrot, a Little Eagle, some strange bird and others. Alice swam towards the dry floor, and everybody swam after her.

Dictionary

golden – золотой

gloves – перчатки

fan – веер

four times five is twelve – четырежды пять – двенадцать

poem – стихотворение

tears – слёзы