Lewis Carroll
English
Alice, a young girl, is sitting by a riverbank with her sister when she spots a White Rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch. Driven by curiosity, she follows it down a rabbit hole, falling into a bizarre and fantastical world. Her descent is a long, slow fall during which she passes cupboards and bookshelves, and even manages to grab an empty marmalade jar. She lands safely and finds herself in a long hall with many locked doors. A small glass table holds a golden key, which unlocks a tiny door leading to a beautiful garden. However, Alice is too large to fit through. She discovers a bottle labeled "DRINK ME" which shrinks her to ten inches tall, but she forgets the key at the table. She then finds a cake labeled "EAT ME." After eating it, she grows enormously tall, her head hitting the ceiling. She cries, creating a large pool of tears. The White Rabbit reappears, looking for gloves and a fan he dropped. Alice tries to speak to him but he flees. Fanning herself with his fan, she shrinks again and falls into the pool of her own tears. She encounters a Mouse, whom she frightens by mentioning cats. After a brief, tense conversation, the Mouse agrees to tell his history if they can reach dry land. They join a company of other wet animals and birds, all of whom decide to participate in a "Caucus-Race" to get dry. The race has no clear start or end, and everyone is declared a winner and receives a prize (comfits from Alice's pocket and a thimble from the Dodo). The Mouse then begins to tell his sad tale but gets offended by Alice's misunderstanding of the word "tail" and storms off. Alice's mention of her cat Dinah causes the other animals to flee. Alice finds the White Rabbit's house and, mistaking her for a housemaid named Mary Ann, he sends her in to fetch his gloves and fan. Inside, she drinks from another bottle, which causes her to grow so large she fills the entire house. The Rabbit and his servant Bill try to get her out, but Alice kicks Bill down the chimney. She then eats a cake that shrinks her, allowing her to escape. Outside, she encounters a large puppy, which she pacionsly plays with using a stick. She then meets a Caterpillar sitting on a mushroom, who questions her identity and offers cryptic advice about growing taller or shorter by eating from different sides of the mushroom. Alice eats from both sides, experiencing drastic changes in size until she finally returns to her normal height. She then encounters a house and, after shrinking herself again, knocks on the door. Inside, she finds a chaotic scene with a sneezing Duchess, a crying baby, and a grinning Cheshire Cat. The cook throws pans at the Duchess. Alice tries to reason with the Duchess about manners and arithmetic, but is interrupted by the order to "chop off her head!" The Duchess gives the baby to Alice, who finds it transforms into a pig and trots away. The Cheshire Cat appears and informs Alice that everyone in Wonderland is mad. Alice attends a mad tea-party with the March Hare and the Hatter, who are stuck in time at six o'clock. They ask her riddles with no answers and engage in nonsensical conversation. The Dormouse is also present, often asleep. Alice becomes frustrated and leaves. She enters a house and finds herself in the garden. She witnesses gardeners painting white roses red to hide their mistake from the Queen of Hearts. The Queen arrives with her procession and Alice is brought before her. The Queen orders Alice's execution for speaking out of turn, but the King intervenes. Alice joins a bizarre game of croquet played with flamingos and hedgehogs, where the Queen constantly shouts "Off with their heads!" The Cheshire Cat reappears and advises Alice to ask the Duchess about the Cat's removal. The King and Queen try to have the Cat beheaded, but it vanishes. Alice meets the Duchess, who has been pardoned. The Duchess talks incessantly about morals, often nonsensically. The Queen suddenly reappears and banishes the Duchess. Alice is then taken by a Gryphon to meet the Mock Turtle, who sadly recounts his past life as a real turtle and his strange education. The Gryphon and Mock Turtle then demonstrate a Lobster Quadrille, a nonsensical dance. The scene shifts to a trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. The Hatter and the Cook are called as witnesses, but their testimonies are confused and unhelpful. Alice begins to grow larger during the trial. When called to testify, she asserts her lack of knowledge, and a rule is invoked to have her leave due to her size. The White Rabbit presents a set of verses as evidence, which no one can interpret. Alice declares them meaningless, and the Queen orders her execution. As Alice protests and grows to her full size, the cards attack her, and she wakes up on the riverbank, realizing it was all a dream.
