seen from France
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Yemen
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Oman
seen from United States
seen from Yemen
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Syria
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Poland
seen from United Kingdom
A dino pattern inspired by my lil bean who loves dinosaurs 🦖🦕
Chapter 13
Who Stole the Tarts?
DID you ever hear how the Queen of Hearts made some tarts? And can you tell me what became of them ?
“Why, of course I can! Doesn’t the song tell all about it?
The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts: All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, And took them quite away! ”
Well, yes, the Song says so. But it would never do to punish the poor Knave, just because there was a Song about him. They had to take him prisoner, and put chains on his wrists, and bring him before the King of Hearts, so that there might be a regular trial.
Now, if you look at the big picture, at the beginning of this book, you’ll see what a grand thing a trial is, when the Judge is a King!
The King is very grand, isn’t he? But he doesn’t look very happy. I think that big crown, on the top of his wig, must be very heavy and uncomfortable. But he had to wear them both, you see, so that people might know he was a Judge and a King.
And doesn’t the Queen look cross? She can see the dish of tarts on the table, that she had taken such trouble to make. And she can see the bad Knave (do you see the chains hanging from his wrists?) that stole them away from her: so I don’t think it’s any wonder if she does feel a little cross.
The White Rabbit is standing near the King, reading out the Song, to tell everybody what a bad Knave he is: and the Jury (you can just see two of them, up in the Jury-box, the Frog and the Duck) have to settle whether he’s “guilty” or “not guilty.”
Now I’ll tell you about the accident that happened to Alice.
You see, she was sitting close by the Jury-box: and she was called as a witness. You know what a “witness” is? A “witness” is a person who has seen the prisoner do whatever he’s accused of, or at any rate knows something that’s important in the trial.
But Alice hadn’t seen the Queen make the tarts: and she hadn’t seen the Knave take the tarts: and, in fact, she didn’t know anything about it: so why in the world they wanted her to be a witness, I’m sure I ca’n’t tell you!
Anyhow, they did want her. And the White Rabbit blew his big trumpet, and shouted out “Alice!” And so Alice jumped up in a great hurry. And then—
Let’s try if we can make out all the twelve. You know there ought to be twelve to make up a Jury. I can see the Frog, and the Dormouse, and the Rat and the Ferret, and the Hedgehog, and the Lizard, and the Bantam-Cock, and the Mole, and the Duck, and the Squirrel, and a screaming bird, with a long beak, just behind the Mole.
But that only makes eleven: we must find one more creature.
Oh, do you see a little white head, coming out behind the Mole, and just under the Duck’s beak? That makes up the twelve.
Mr. Tenniel says the screaming bird is a Storkling (of course you know what that is?) and the little white head is a Mouseling. Isn’t it a little darling?
Alice picked them all up again, very carefully, and I hope they weren’t much hurt!
Preface
< Chapter 12
> Chapter 14
Chapter 11 The Queen's Garden
THIS is a little bit of the beautiful garden I told you about. You see Alice had managed at last to get quite small, so that she could go through the little door. I suppose she was about as tall as a mouse, if it stood on its hind-legs: so of course this was a very tiny rose-tree: and these are very tiny gardeners.
What funny little men they are! But are they men, do you think? I think they must be live cards, with just a head, and arms, and legs, so as to look like little men. And what are they doing with that red paint, I wonder? Well, you see, this is what they told Alice. The Queen of Hearts wanted to have a red rose-tree just in that corner: and these poor little gardeners had made a great mistake, and had put in a white one instead: and they were so frightened about it, because the Queen was sure to be angry, and then she would order all their heads to be cut off!
She was a dreadfully savage Queen, and that was the way she always did, when she was angry with people. “Off with their head!” They didn’t really cut their heads off, you know: because nobody ever obeyed her: but that was what she always said.
Now ca’n’t you guess what the poor little gardeners are trying to do? They’re trying to paint the roses red, and they’re in a great hurry to get it done before the Queen comes. And then perhaps the Queen won’t find out it was a white rose-tree to begin with: and then perhaps the little men won’t get their heads cut off!
You see there were five large white roses on the tree—such a job to get them all painted red! But they’ve got three and a half done, now, and if only they wouldn’t stop to talk—work away, little men, do work away! Or the Queen will be coming before it’s done! And if she finds any white roses on the tree, do you know what will happen? It will be “Off with their heads!” Oh, work away, my little men! Hurry, hurry!
The Queen has come! And isn’t she angry? Oh, my poor little Alice!
Preface
< Chapter 10
> Chapter 12
Chapter 9
The Chesire-Cat
ALL alone, all alone! Poor Alice! No Baby, not even a Pig to keep her company!
So you may be sure she was very glad indeed, when she saw the Cheshire-Cat, perched up in a tree, over her head.
The Cat has a very nice smile, no doubt: but just look what a lot of teeth it’s got! Isn’t Alice just a little shy of it?
Well, yes, a little. But then, it couldn’t help having teeth, you know: and it could have helped smiling, supposing it had been cross. So, on the whole, she was glad.
Doesn’t Alice look very prim, holding her head so straight up, and with her hands behind her, just as if she were going to say her lessons to the Cat!
And that reminds me. There’s a little lesson I want to teach you, while we’re looking at this picture of Alice and the Cat. Now don’t be in a bad temper about it, my dear Child! It’s a very little lesson indeed!
Do you see that Fox-Glove growing close to the tree? And do you know why it’s called a Fox-Glove? Perhaps you think it’s got something to do with a Fox? No indeed! Foxes never wear Gloves!
The right word is “Folk’s-Gloves.” Did you ever hear that Fairies used to be called “the good Folk?"
Now we’ve finished the lesson, and we’ll wait a minute, till you’ve got your temper again.
Well? Do you feel quite good-natured again? No temper-ache? No crossness about the corners of the mouth? Then we’ll go on.
“Cheshire Puss!” said Alice. (Wasn’t that a pretty name for a Cat?) “Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?”
And so the Cheshire-Cat told her which way she ought to go, if she wanted to visit the Hatter, and which way to go, to visit the March Hare. “They’re both mad!” said the Cat.
And then the Cat vanished away, just like the flame of a candle when it goes out!
So Alice set off, to visit the March Hare. And as she went along, there was the Cat again! And she told it she didn’t like it coming and going so quickly.
So this time the Cat vanished quite slowly, beginning with the tail, and ending with the grin. Wasn’t that a curious thing, a Grin without any Cat? Would you like to see one?
If you turn up the corner of this leaf, you’ll have Alice looking at the Grin: and she doesn’t look a bit more frightened than when she was looking at the Cat, does she?
Preface
< Chapter 8
> Chapter 10
Chapter 7
The Blue Caterpillar
WOULD you like to know what happened to Alice, after she had got away from the Puppy? It was far too large an animal, you know, for her to play with. (I don’t suppose you would much enjoy playing with a young Hippopotamus, would you? You would always be expecting to be crushed as flat as a pancake under its great heavy feet!) So Alice was very glad to run away, while it wasn’t looking.
Well, she wandered up and down, and didn’t know what in the world to do, to make herself grow up to her right size again. Of course she knew that she had to eat or drink something: that was the regular rule, you know: but she couldn’t guess what thing.
However, she soon came to a great mushroom, that was so tall that she couldn’t see over the top of it without standing on tip-toe. And what do you think she saw? Something that I’m sure you never talked to, in all your life!
It was a large Blue Caterpillar.
I’ll tell you, soon, what Alice and the Caterpillar talked about: but first let us have a good look at the picture.
That curious thing, standing in front of the Caterpillar, is called a “hookah”: and it’s used for smoking. The smoke comes through that long tube, that winds round and round like a serpent.
And do you see its long nose and chin? At least, they look exactly like a nose and chin, don’t they? But they really are two of its legs. You know a Caterpillar has got quantities of legs: you can see some more of them, further down.
What a bother it must be to a Caterpillar, counting over such a lot of legs, every night, to make sure it hasn’t lost any of them !
And another great bother must be, having to settle which leg it had better move first. I think, if you had forty or fifty legs, and if you wanted to go a walk, you’d be such a time in settling which leg to begin with, that you’d never go a walk at all !
And what did Alice and the Caterpillar talk about, I wonder ?
Well, Alice told it how very confusing it was, being first one size and then another.
And the Caterpillar asked her if she liked the size she was, just then.
And Alice said she would like to be just a little bit larger—three inches was such a wretched height to be! (Just mark off three inches on the wall, about the length of your middle finger, and you’ll see what size she was.)
And the Caterpillar told her one side of the mushroom would make her grow taller, and the other side would maker her grow shorter.
So Alice took two little bits of it with her to nibble, and managed to make herself quite a nice comfortable height, before she went on to visit the Duchess.
Preface
< Chapter 6
> Chapter 8
Chapter 6 The Dear Little Puppy
WELL, it doesn’t look such a very little Puppy, does it? But then, you see, Alice had grown very small indeed: and that’s what makes the Puppy look so large. When Alice had eaten one of those little magic cakes, that she found in the White Rabbit’s house, it made her get quite small, directly, so that she could get through the door: or else she could never have got out of the house again. Wouldn’t that have been a pity? Because then she wouldn’t have dreamed all the other curious things that we’re going to read about.
So it really was a little Puppy, you see. And isn’t it a little pet? And look at the way it’s barking at the little stick that Alice is holding out for it! You can see she was a little afraid of it, all the time, because she’s got behind that great thistle, for fear it should run over her. That would have been just about as bad, for her, as it would be for you to be run over by a waggon and four horses!
Have you got a little pet puppy at your home? If you have, I hope you’re always kind to it, and give it nice things to eat.
Once upon a time, I knew some little children, about as big as you; and they had a little pet dog of their own; and it was called Dash. And this is what they told me about its birthday-treat.
“Do you know, one day we remembered it was Dash’s birthday that day. So we said ‘let’s give Dash a nice birthday-treat, like what we have on our birthdays!’ So we thought and we thought ‘Now, what is it we like best of all, on our birthdays?’ And we thought and we thought. And at last we all called out together ‘Why, it's oatmeal-porridge, of course!’ So of course we thought Dash would be quite sure to like it very much, too.
“So we went to the cook, and we got her to make a saucerful of nice oatmeal-porridge. And then we called Dash into the house, and we said ‘Now, Dash, you’re going to have your birthday-treat!' We expect Dash would jump for joy: but it didn’t, one bit !
“So we put the saucer down before it, and we said ‘Now, Dash, don’t be greedy ! Eat it nicely, like a good dog !’
“So Dash just tasted it with the tip of its tongue: and then it made, oh, such a horrid face! And then, do you know, it did hate it so, it wouldn’t eat a bit more of it! So we had to put it all down its throat with a spoon!”
I wonder if Alice will give this little Puppy some porridge? I don’t think she can, because she hasn’t got any with her. I can’t see any saucer in the picture.
Preface
< Chapter 5
> Chapter 7
Chapter 5
Bill, the Lizard
NOW I’m going to tell you about Alice’s Adventures in the White Rabbit’s house.
Do you remember how the Rabbit dropped his gloves and his fan, when he was so frightened at hearing Alice’s voice, that seemed to come down from the sky? Well, of course he couldn’t go to visit the Duchess without his gloves and his fan: so, after a bit, he came back again to look for them.
By this time the Dodo and all the other curious creatures had gone away, and Alice was wandering about all alone.
So what do you think he did? Actually he thought she was his housemaid, and began ordering her about! “Mary Ann!” he said. “Go home this very minute, and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!”
Perhaps he couldn’t see very clearly with his pink eyes: for I’m sure Alice doesn’t look very like a housemaid, does she ? However she was a very good-natured little girl: so she wasn’t a bit offended, but ran off to the Rabbit’s house as quick as she could.
It was lucky she found the door open: for, if she had had to ring, I suppose the real Mary Ann would have come to open the door: and she would never have let Alice come in. And I’m sure it was very lucky she didn’t meet the real Mary Ann, as she trotted upstairs: for I’m afraid she would have taken Alice for a robber!
So at last she found her way into the Rabbit’s room: and there was a pair of gloves lying on the table, and she was just going to take them up and go away, when she happened to see a little bottle on the table. And of course it had the words "DRINK ME!" on the label. And of course Alice drank some!
Well, I think that was rather lucky, too: don’t you? For, if she hadn’t drunk any, all this wonderful adventure, that I’m about to tell you about, wouldn’t have happened at all. And wouldn’t that have been a pity ?
You’re getting so used to Alice’s Adventures, that I daresay you can guess what happened next? If you ca’n’t, I’ll tell you.
She grew, and she grew, and she grew. And in a very short time the room was full of Alice: just in the same way as a jar is full of jam! There was Alice all the way up to the ceiling: and Alice in every corner of the room!
The door opened inwards: so of course there wasn’t any room to open it: so when the Rabbit got tired of waiting, and came to fetch his gloves for himself, of course he couldn’t get in.
So what do you think he did? (Now we come to the picture). He sent Bill, the Lizard, up to the roof of the house, and told him to get down the chimney. But Alice happened to have one of her feet in the fire-place: so, when she heard Bill coming down the chimney, she just gave a little tiny kick, and away went Bill, flying up into the sky!
Poor little Bill! Don’t you pity him very much? How frightened he must have been!
Preface
< Chapter 4
> Chapter 6
Chapter 4
The Caucus-Race
WHEN Alice and the Mouse had got out of the Pool of Tears, of course they were very wet: and so were a lot of other curious creatures, that had tumbled in as well. There was a Dodo (that’s the great bird, in front, leaning on a walking-stick); and a Duck; and a Lory (that’s just behind the Duck, looking over its head); and an Eaglet (that’s on the left-hand side of the Lory); and several others.
Well, and so they didn’t know how in the world they were to get dry again. But the Dodo—who was a very wise bird—told them the right way was to have a Caucus-Race. And what do you think that was ?
You don’t know? Well, you are an ignorant child! Now, be very attentive, and I’ll soon cure you of your ignorance!
First, you must have a race course. It ought to be a sort of circle, but it doesn’t much matter what shape it is, so long as it goes a good way round, and joins on to itself again.
Then, you must put all the racers on the course, here and there: it doesn’t matter where, so long as you don’t crowd them too much together.
Then, you needn’t say “One, two, three, and away!” but let them all set off running just when they like, and leave off just when they like.
So all these creatures, Alice and all, went on running round and round, till they were all quite dry again. And then the Dodo said everybody had won, and everybody must have prizes!
Of course Alice had to give them their prizes. And she had nothing to give them but a few comfits she happened to have in her pocket. And there was just one a-piece, all round. And there was no prize for Alice !
So what do you think they did? Alice had nothing left but her thimble. Now look at the picture, and you’ll see what happened.
“Hand it over here!” said the Dodo.
Then the Dodo took the thimble and handed it back to Alice, and said “We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble!” And then all the other creatures cheered.
Wasn’t that a curious sort of present to give her? Suppose they wanted to give you a birthday-present, would you rather they should go to you toy-cupboard, and pick out your nicest doll, and say “Here, my love, here’s a lovely birthday-present for you!” or would you like them to give you something new, something that didn’t belong to you before?
Preface
< Chapter 3
> Chapter 5
