Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and called out to her in an angry tone, \u201cWhy, Mary Ann, what are<\/em> you doing out here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!\u201d And Alice was so much frightened that she ran off at once in the direction it pointed to, without trying to explain the mistake it had made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe took me for his housemaid,\u201d she said to herself as she ran. \u201cHow surprised he\u2019ll be when he finds out who I am! But I\u2019d better take him his fan and gloves\u2014that is, if I can find them.\u201d As she said this, she came upon a neat little house, on the door of which was a bright brass plate with the name \u201cW. RABBIT,\u201d engraved upon it. She went in without knocking, and hurried upstairs, in great fear lest she should meet the real Mary Ann, and be turned out of the house before she had found the fan and gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow queer it seems,\u201d Alice said to herself, \u201cto be going messages for a rabbit! I suppose Dinah\u2019ll be sending me on messages next!\u201d And she began fancying the sort of thing that would happen: \u201c\u2018Miss Alice! Come here directly, and get ready for your walk!\u2019 \u2018Coming in a minute, nurse! But I\u2019ve got to see that the mouse doesn\u2019t get out.\u2019 Only I don\u2019t think,\u201d Alice went on, \u201cthat they\u2019d let Dinah stop in the house if it began ordering people about like that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with a table in the window, and on it (as she had hoped) a fan and two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves: she took up the fan and a pair of the gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking-glass. There was no label this time with the words \u201cDRINK ME,\u201d but nevertheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips. \u201cI know something<\/em> interesting is sure to happen,\u201d she said to herself, \u201cwhenever I eat or drink anything; so I\u2019ll just see what this bottle does. I do hope it\u2019ll make me grow large again, for really I\u2019m quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It did so indeed, and much sooner than she had expected: before she had drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing against the ceiling, and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken. She hastily put down the bottle, saying to herself \u201cThat\u2019s quite enough\u2014I hope I shan\u2019t grow any more\u2014As it is, I can\u2019t get out at the door\u2014I do wish I hadn\u2019t drunk quite so much!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alas! it was too late to wish that! She went on growing, and growing, and very soon had to kneel down on the floor: in another minute there was not even room for this, and she tried the effect of lying down with one elbow against the door, and the other arm curled round her head. Still she went on growing, and, as a last resource, she put one arm out of the window, and one foot up the chimney, and said to herself \u201cNow I can do no more, whatever happens. What will<\/em> become of me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Luckily for Alice, the little magic bottle had now had its full effect, and she grew no larger: still it was very uncomfortable, and, as there seemed to be no sort of chance of her ever getting out of the room again, no wonder she felt unhappy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was much pleasanter at home,\u201d thought poor Alice, \u201cwhen one wasn\u2019t always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn\u2019t gone down that rabbit-hole\u2014and yet\u2014and yet\u2014it\u2019s rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what can<\/em> have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I\u2019ll write one\u2014but I\u2019m grown up now,\u201d she added in a sorrowful tone; \u201cat least there\u2019s no room to grow up any more here<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut then,\u201d thought Alice, \u201cshall I never<\/em> get any older than I am now? That\u2019ll be a comfort, one way\u2014never to be an old woman\u2014but then\u2014always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn\u2019t like that!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, you foolish Alice!\u201d she answered herself. \u201cHow can you learn lessons in here? Why, there\u2019s hardly room for you<\/em>, and no room at all for any lesson-books!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so she went on, taking first one side and then the other, and making quite a conversation of it altogether; but after a few minutes she heard a voice outside, and stopped to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMary Ann! Mary Ann!\u201d said the voice. \u201cFetch me my gloves this moment!\u201d Then came a little pattering of feet on the stairs. Alice knew it was the Rabbit coming to look for her, and she trembled till she shook the house, quite forgetting that she was now about a thousand times as large as the Rabbit, and had no reason to be afraid of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Presently the Rabbit came up to the door, and tried to open it; but, as the door opened inwards, and Alice\u2019s elbow was pressed hard against it, that attempt proved a failure. Alice heard it say to itself \u201cThen I\u2019ll go round and get in at the window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat<\/em> you won\u2019t!\u201d thought Alice, and, after waiting till she fancied she heard the Rabbit just under the window, she suddenly spread out her hand, and made a snatch in the air. She did not get hold of anything, but she heard a little shriek and a fall, and a crash of broken glass, from which she concluded that it was just possible it had fallen into a cucumber-frame, or something of the sort.<\/p>\n\n\n Next came an angry voice\u2014the Rabbit\u2019s\u2014\u201cPat! Pat! Where are you?\u201d And then a voice she had never heard before, \u201cSure then I\u2019m here! Digging for apples, yer honour!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDigging for apples, indeed!\u201d said the Rabbit angrily. \u201cHere! Come and help me out of this!<\/em>\u201d (Sounds of more broken glass.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow tell me, Pat, what\u2019s that in the window?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure, it\u2019s an arm, yer honour!\u201d (He pronounced it \u201carrum.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn arm, you goose! Who ever saw one that size? Why, it fills the whole window!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure, it does, yer honour: but it\u2019s an arm for all that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s got no business there, at any rate: go and take it away!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear whispers now and then; such as, \u201cSure, I don\u2019t like it, yer honour, at all, at all!\u201d \u201cDo as I tell you, you coward!\u201d and at last she spread out her hand again, and made another snatch in the air. This time there were two<\/em> little shrieks, and more sounds of broken glass. \u201cWhat a number of cucumber-frames there must be!\u201d thought Alice. \u201cI wonder what they\u2019ll do next! As for pulling me out of the window, I only wish they could!<\/em> I\u2019m sure I<\/em> don\u2019t want to stay in here any longer!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at last came a rumbling of little cartwheels, and the sound of a good many voices all talking together: she made out the words: \u201cWhere\u2019s the other ladder?\u2014Why, I hadn\u2019t to bring but one; Bill\u2019s got the other\u2014Bill! fetch it here, lad!\u2014Here, put \u2019em up at this corner\u2014No, tie \u2019em together first\u2014they don\u2019t reach half high enough yet\u2014Oh! they\u2019ll do well enough; don\u2019t be particular\u2014Here, Bill! catch hold of this rope\u2014Will the roof bear?\u2014Mind that loose slate\u2014Oh, it\u2019s coming down! Heads below!\u201d (a loud crash)\u2014\u201cNow, who did that?\u2014It was Bill, I fancy\u2014Who\u2019s to go down the chimney?\u2014Nay, I<\/em> shan\u2019t! You<\/em> do it!\u2014That<\/em> I won\u2019t, then!\u2014Bill\u2019s to go down\u2014Here, Bill! the master says you\u2019re to go down the chimney!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! So Bill\u2019s got to come down the chimney, has he?\u201d said Alice to herself. \u201cShy, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn\u2019t be in Bill\u2019s place for a good deal: this fireplace is narrow, to be sure; but I think<\/em> I can kick a little!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and waited till she heard a little animal (she couldn\u2019t guess of what sort it was) scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her: then, saying to herself \u201cThis is Bill,\u201d she gave one sharp kick, and waited to see what would happen next.<\/p>\n\n\n The first thing she heard was a general chorus of \u201cThere goes Bill!\u201d then the Rabbit\u2019s voice along\u2014\u201cCatch him, you by the hedge!\u201d then silence, and then another confusion of voices\u2014\u201cHold up his head\u2014Brandy now\u2014Don\u2019t choke him\u2014How was it, old fellow? What happened to you? Tell us all about it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice, (\u201cThat\u2019s Bill,\u201d thought Alice,) \u201cWell, I hardly know\u2014No more, thank ye; I\u2019m better now\u2014but I\u2019m a deal too flustered to tell you\u2014all I know is, something comes at me like a Jack-in-the-box, and up I goes like a sky-rocket!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo you did, old fellow!\u201d said the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe must burn the house down!\u201d said the Rabbit\u2019s voice; and Alice called out as loud as she could, \u201cIf you do, I\u2019ll set Dinah at you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a dead silence instantly, and Alice thought to herself, \u201cI wonder what they will<\/em> do next! If they had any sense, they\u2019d take the roof off.\u201d After a minute or two, they began moving about again, and Alice heard the Rabbit say, \u201cA barrowful will do, to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA barrowful of what?<\/em>\u201d thought Alice; but she had not long to doubt, for the next moment a shower of little pebbles came rattling in at the window, and some of them hit her in the face. \u201cI\u2019ll put a stop to this,\u201d she said to herself, and shouted out, \u201cYou\u2019d better not do that again!\u201d which produced another dead silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes as they lay on the floor, and a bright idea came into her head. \u201cIf I eat one of these cakes,\u201d she thought, \u201cit\u2019s sure to make some<\/em> change in my size; and as it can\u2019t possibly make me larger, it must make me smaller, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So she swallowed one of the cakes, and was delighted to find that she began shrinking directly. As soon as she was small enough to get through the door, she ran out of the house, and found quite a crowd of little animals and birds waiting outside. The poor little Lizard, Bill, was in the middle, being held up by two guinea-pigs, who were giving it something out of a bottle. They all made a rush at Alice the moment she appeared; but she ran off as hard as she could, and soon found herself safe in a thick wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe first thing I\u2019ve got to do,\u201d said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, \u201cis to grow to my right size again; and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it; and while she was peering about anxiously among the trees, a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her. \u201cPoor little thing!\u201d said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard to whistle to it; but she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought that it might be hungry, in which case it would be very likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.<\/p>\n\n\n Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of stick, and held it out to the puppy; whereupon the puppy jumped into the air off all its feet at once, with a yelp of delight, and rushed at the stick, and made believe to worry it; then Alice dodged behind a great thistle, to keep herself from being run over; and the moment she appeared on the other side, the puppy made another rush at the stick, and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it; then Alice, thinking it was very like having a game of play with a cart-horse, and expecting every moment to be trampled under its feet, ran round the thistle again; then the puppy began a series of short charges at the stick, running a very little way forwards each time and a long way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last it sat down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, and its great eyes half shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape; so she set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath, and till the puppy\u2019s bark sounded quite faint in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd yet what a dear little puppy it was!\u201d said Alice, as she leant against a buttercup to rest herself, and fanned herself with one of the leaves: \u201cI should have liked teaching it tricks very much, if\u2014if I\u2019d only been the right size to do it! Oh dear! I\u2019d nearly forgotten that I\u2019ve got to grow up again! Let me see\u2014how is<\/em> it to be managed? I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great question is, what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The great question certainly was, what? Alice looked all round her at the flowers and the blades of grass, but she did not see anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the circumstances. There was a large mushroom growing near her, about the same height as herself; and when she had looked under it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her that she might as well look and see what was on the top of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of her or of anything else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":532,"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/earlywithdrawal.net\/victoriana\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/illustration-11-300x210.png\")
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