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<body> |
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<main> |
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<h1> |
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Down the Rabbit-Hole |
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</h1> |
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<p> |
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Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the |
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bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the |
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book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in |
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it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or |
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conversations?' |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot |
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day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making |
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a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the |
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daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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There was nothing so <i>very</i> remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so |
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<i>very</i> much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh |
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dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred |
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to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all |
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seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually <i>took a watch out of |
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its waistcoat-pocket</i>, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started |
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to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen |
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a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and |
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burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately |
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was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in |
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the world she was to get out again. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then |
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dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think |
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about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep |
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well. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty |
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of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to |
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happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was |
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coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the |
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sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and |
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book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She |
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took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled |
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'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did |
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not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put |
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it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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'Well!' thought Alice to herself, 'after such a fall as this, I shall |
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think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll all think me at |
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home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of |
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the house!' (Which was very likely true.) |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Down, down, down. Would the fall <i>never</i> come to an end! 'I wonder how many |
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miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud. 'I must be getting |
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somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four |
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thousand miles down, I think—' (for, you see, Alice had learnt |
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several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though |
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this was not a <i>very</i> good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as |
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there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it |
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over) '—yes, that's about the right distance—but then I wonder |
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what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude |
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was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.) |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Presently she began again. 'I wonder if I shall fall right <i>through</i> the |
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earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with |
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their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—' (she was rather |
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glad there <i>was</i> no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the |
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right word) '—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the |
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country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?' |
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(and she tried to curtsey as she spoke—fancy <i>curtseying</i> as you're |
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falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) 'And what an |
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ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to |
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ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.' |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began |
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talking again. 'Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!' |
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(Dinah was the cat.) 'I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at |
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tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no |
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mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very |
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like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?' And here Alice |
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began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy |
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sort of way, 'Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, 'Do bats |
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eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't |
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much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and |
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had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and |
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saying to her very earnestly, 'Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever |
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eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of |
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sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: |
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she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long |
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passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There |
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was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just |
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in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, 'Oh my ears and whiskers, |
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how late it's getting!' She was close behind it when she turned the |
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corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a |
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long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when |
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Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every |
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door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get |
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out again. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid |
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glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's first |
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thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, |
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alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at |
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any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, |
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she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was |
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a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key |
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in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted! |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much |
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larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into |
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the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark |
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hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool |
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fountains, but she could not even get her head through the doorway; 'and |
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even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, 'it would be of |
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very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like |
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a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.' For, you see, |
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so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to |
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think that very few things indeed were really impossible. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back |
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to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate |
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a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she |
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found a little bottle on it, ('which certainly was not here before,' said |
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Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words |
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'DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large letters. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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It was all very well to say 'Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not |
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going to do <i>that</i> in a hurry. 'No, I'll look first,' she said, 'and see |
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whether it's marked "<i>poison</i>" or not'; for she had read several nice little |
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histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts |
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and other unpleasant things, all because they <i>would</i> not remember the |
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simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker |
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will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger |
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<i>very</i> deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten |
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that, if you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it is almost |
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certain to disagree with you, sooner or later. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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However, this bottle was <i>not</i> marked 'poison,' so Alice ventured to taste |
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it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of |
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cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered |
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toast,) she very soon finished it off. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?</h2> |
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</main> |
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<div class="diagonal-bg"> |
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<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='100%' height='100%'><line x1='100%' y1='0' x2='1' y2='100%' stroke='#FF4B3B' stroke-width='30%'/></svg> |
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</div> |
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</body> |
Anyway we could change the stroke into an image instead?