Читать книгу Алиса в Стране чудес / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Алиса в Зазеркалье / Through the Looking-glass, and What Alice Found There - Льюис Кэрролл, Льюїс Керролл, Furniss Harry - Страница 8

For a minute or two Alice stood looking at the house, and thinking what to do next, when suddenly a footman in livery ran out of the wood (actually it was a fish in livery) and knocked loudly at the door. The door was opened by another footman[85] in livery, with large eyes like a frog’s;[86] and both footmen, Alice noticed, had curled powdered hair. She felt very curious, and walked a little out of the wood to listen.[87]

The Fish-Footman took a great letter from under his arm and gave it to the other footman, 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, “From the Queen. An invitation for the Duchess to play croquet.”

Then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled together.[88]

Alice laughed so much at this that she had to[89] run back into the wood because the creatures could hear her. When she looked out of the wood again she saw only the Frog-footman sitting on the ground near the door.

Alice went shyly up to the door and knocked.

“There’s no use in knocking,[90]” said the Footman, “for two reasons. Firstly, 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 hear you.” And really there was a great noise in the house.

“Please,” said Alice, “how can I get in?”

“I shall sit here,” the Footman said, “till tomorrow – ”

At this moment the door of the house opened, and a large plate came flying out and broke to pieces against one of the trees behind the Footman.

“ – or next day, maybe,” the Footman continued in the same tone.

“But what am I to do?[91]” said Alice.

“Anything you like,[92]” replied the Footman, and began whistling.

“Oh, there’s no use in talking to him!” said Alice, opened the door and went in.

Behind the door was a large kitchen full of smoke. The Duchess was sitting on a stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was cooking soup.

“There’s too much pepper in that soup!” Alice remarked to herself sneezing.

There was too much pepper in the air too. Even the Duchess sneezed sometimes; and the baby was sneezing and crying all the time. The only things in the kitchen that did not sneeze[93] were the cook and a large cat which was grinning widely.[94]

“Please could you tell me,” said Alice, a little modestly, “why your cat grins like that?”

“It’s a Cheshire cat,” said the Duchess, “and that’s why.[95] Pig!”

Alice saw that the Duchess addressed the baby and not her so she decided to continue:

“I didn’t know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn’t know that cats COULD grin.”

“They all can,” remarked the Duchess; “and most of them do.”

“Hey! You may nurse it a bit,[96] if you like!” the Duchess said to Alice, throwing the baby to her. “I must go and get ready to play croquet with the Queen,” and she hurried out of the room.

Alice caught the baby with some difficulty. And it took her some time to start nursing it because it was wriggling and grunting all the time.[97] As soon as she could keep it tight in her hands[98] she took it out into the open air.

Alice was just beginning to think to herself, “Now, what will I do with this creature when I get it home?” when it grunted again, so loudly, that she looked down into its face in some alarm. There could be NO mistake about it:[99] it was a pig, and she felt quite absurd to keep it in her hands.

So she put the little creature down and it trotted away into the wood. Suddenly she saw the Cheshire cat sitting in a tree. The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice.

“Cheshire Puss,” she began shyly. The Cat only grinned a little wider. “Could you please tell me which way to go from here?”

“It depends on[100] where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“It’s not so important for me where – ” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter[101] which way you go,” said the Cat.

“ – until I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’ll surely do that,” said the Cat, “if you walk long enough.[102]”

“And what people live about here?” asked Alice.

“In THAT direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw, “lives a Hatter: and in THAT direction,” waving the other paw, “lives a March Hare. Visit the one that you like: they’re both mad.”

“But I don’t want to go to mad people,” Alice answered.

“Oh,” said the Cat: “but we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”

“How do you know I’m mad?” inquired Alice.

“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t be here.[103] Do you play croquet with the Queen to-day?”

“I would like it very much,” said Alice, “but I haven’t been invited yet.[104]”

“You’ll see me there,” said the Cat, and vanished.

Suddenly it appeared again.

“By-the-way, what became of the baby?” wondered the Cat. “I forgot to ask.”

“It turned into a pig,” Alice quietly said.

“I thought so,” said the Cat, and vanished again.

Alice waited a little but it did not appear, so she walked in the direction of the March Hare’s house. “I’ve seen hatters before,” she said to herself; “the March Hare will be much more interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won’t be absolutely mad – at least not as mad as it was in March.” As she said this, she looked up, and there was the Cat again, sitting on a tree.

“Did you say pig, or fig?” asked the Cat.

“I said pig,” replied Alice; “and could you please stop appearing and vanishing so suddenly?”

“All right,” answered the Cat; and this time it vanished slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained in the tree for some time.

“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!”

And she walked to the March Hare’s house. She saw it quite soon: the chimneys looked like ears and the roof was covered with fur.