1 Looking-glass house

　

　　One thing was certain，it was the black kitten that began it all.The white kitten had been unable to do anything for the last quarter of an hour，because the old cat was washing its face，very slowly and very carefully．

　　But the black kitten was free to do what it wanted．And so，while Alice was sitting in a corner of the great armchair，half talking to herself and half asleep，the kitten was playing a grand game with a ball of wool．Soon the wool was lying in a terrible tangle all over the carpet，with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle．

　　‘Oh，you bad little thing！’cried Alice，when she saw the wool．She picked up the kitten and climbed back into the armchair．‘You really mustn't play with the wool，you know．It will take me so long to roll the ball up again．Why don't you play chess instead，Kitty？When I was playing a while ago，you were watching me so carefully．In fact，you look just like the Red Queen yourself．’

　　And Alice picked up the Red Queen from the chessmen on the table，and held it up to show the kitten．But the kitten tried to escape，and，to punish it，Alice lifted it up to the looking-glass above the fireplace．‘If you're not good，Kitty，’she said，‘I'll put you through into looking-glass house．How would you like that？

　　‘I do wonder，’Alice went on，‘if everything in that room is the same as in our room．The things that I can see look the same-except the books，because the words go the wrong way．But perhaps the rest of the house is really different and full of interesting things．Oh，I wish we could get through，Kitty！Let's pretend we can．Let's pretend the glass has gone soft and…Why，I do believe it has！It's turning into a kind of cloud…’

　　Alice did not know how it happened，but while she was speaking，she found herself climbing up to the looking-glass． And the glass was beginning to disappear，just like a bright silvery cloud．

　　In another moment Alice was through the glass and had jumped down into the looking-glass room．At once she began looking around and noticed that several things were very different from the old room．The pictures on the wall all seemed to be alive，and the clock above the fireplace had the face of a little old man，who smiled at her．

　　‘This room isn't as tidy as the other one，’Alice thought to herself，as she noticed several chessmen on the floor by the fireplace．But the next moment， with a little‘Oh！’of surprise，she was down on the floor herself，watching them．

　　The chessmen were walking around， arm in arm！

　　‘Here are the Red King and the Red Queen，’Alice said，in a whisper，in order not to frighten them．‘And there are two Castles walking together．And two of the Pawns，and a white Bishop reading a newspaper…I don't think they can hear me or see me，’she went on．‘I wonder-’

　　Then something on the table behind her made a noise．Alice turned to look and saw that one of the White Pawns had fallen over and begun to cry.She watched it with interest.

　　‘It is the voice of my child！’ cried the White Queen by the fireplace．‘My dear Lily！My sweet child！’and she began to climb wildly up the table leg.

　　Poor little Lily was now screaming loudly．Alice wanted to be helpful，so she picked up the Queen and put her on the table next to her noisy little daughter．

　　The Queen sat very still，with her mouth open，for almost a minute. Then she called down to the White King，who was still on the floor by the fireplace．‘Be careful of the storm！’

　　‘What storm？’said the King，looking round worriedly．

　　‘There's a terrible wind-it blew me up here in a second． You come up the usual way，and be careful！’

　　Alice watched as the White King slowly began to climb the table leg．Then she said，‘It will take you hours to get up.Why don't I help you？’Gently，she picked him up and moved him slowly upwards. The King was very surprised indeed. His eyes and his mouth got larger and larger，and rounder and rounder. Alice nearly dropped him because she was laughing so much．

　　When she put him down on the table， he immediately fell flat on his back and lay still. But after a while he sat up，andspoke to the Queen in a frightened whisper．

　　‘I tell you，my dear， I turned cold to the very ends of my hair！I shall never，never forget that moment．’

　　‘You will，’the Queen said，‘if you don't write it down．’

　　Alice watched with interest as the King took out a very large notebook and began writing．Then she saw a book lying on the table near her，and began to turn the pages．

　　‘It's all in some language that I don't know，’ she said to herself．It was like this．

　

　　Puzzled，she looked at it for some time，then suddenly understood．‘Of course，it's a looking-glass book！If I hold it up to the glass，the words will go the right way again.’

This was the poem that Alice read．

JABBERWOCKY

’Twas brillig，and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe；

All mimsy were the borogoves，

And the mome raths outgrabe．

　　‘It seems very pretty，’Alice said，‘but a little hard to un-derstand．’（Actually，she didn't understand a word of it，but didn't like to say so．）‘It seems to fill my head with ideas- but I don't know what they are！’

　　Then she suddenly jumped up，as another idea came to her．‘If I don't hurry，I shall have to go back through the looking-glass before I've seen the rest of the house，and the garden．I'll look at the garden first，I think．’

　　In a moment she was out of the room and running down the stairs．But it wasn't really running， because she was moving gently through the air and her feet weren't touching the stairs at all．At the bottom she managed to catch hold of the doorpost，and after that she was pleased to find herself walking again in a natural way．

　

1．镜子屋

　

　　小黑猫是这个故事的缘起，这是肯定的。小白猫什么事也干不了，因为，过去的一刻钟，他一直在慢悠悠地仔细地洗着自己的脸儿。

　　相反，小黑猫却自由自在。爱丽丝坐在一张大扶手椅的角上，自言自语，睡意蒙眬，就在这当儿，小黑猫逗着一个毛线团儿，玩得正开心。过不多时，整个地毯全是一团糟的毛线，小黑猫在中间追着自己的尾巴跑。

　　爱丽丝看见毛线，叫了声“你这个小淘气！”她提起小黑猫，重又回到扶手椅上。接着又说：“你真不应该追着线团儿玩。要把它绕好，我要费多大功夫呀！小猫儿，干吗不下下棋？刚才我下棋，你一直在用心看我。其实，你外表活像红方王后。”

　　爱丽丝从桌上棋子儿里拿了红方王后，举在空中给小黑猫看。但猫儿挣脱着想逃跑，爱丽丝就把它提到壁炉上方的镜子前，以示惩罚，并说：“猫儿，如果你不乖，我就让你穿透镜子，把你放到镜子屋去。你意下如何？”

　　爱丽丝继续说：“我的确不知道那儿房间的摆设是否跟我们这儿的一个样子，我看得见的东西外形都没有什么两样--只是书不同，因为字体方向倒错。可能屋子的其他方面确有差别，而且有许多好玩的东西。小猫，我们能到那儿去该多好！我们装作可以进到里面去。假设玻璃软化了……化作了一团云，我真的信以为真了呢！”

　　爱丽丝不明白这是怎么回事，但正在她说话的当儿，她发现自己正在往镜子上爬，镜子开始消失，就像银光闪闪的一朵云。

　　片刻之后，爱丽丝钻入镜子，跳进了镜子屋。她马上环顾四周，注意到有好几件东西与刚才的迥然相异。墙壁上的画中物都会动，活生生的，壁炉上方的闹钟像小老头的脸，向她微笑。

　　爱丽丝看见壁炉边地板上散落了几个棋子，想着，“这个房间没有刚才的整洁。”随后她发出了“哦”的一小声惊叹，坐在了地板上看着这些棋子。

　　这些棋子儿手挽着手四处走动！

　　为了不使他们害怕，爱丽丝轻声说：“红方国王与王后都在这儿，还有两枚车并排走，两枚卒子，还有一枚白象在读报……我想他们既听不见我，也看不见我。”她接着说：“我不清楚--”

　　随后，她身后的桌子上传来响声。爱丽丝转身瞧了瞧，看见一只白卒在桌上摔了一跤，哭了起来。她端详着，感到很有意思。

　　白方王后站在壁炉边，叫道：“那是我孩子的哭声！我可爱的百合！我的心肝宝贝！”然后拼命顺着桌腿往上爬。

　　可怜的小百合这时哭喊得更响亮了。爱丽丝想帮点忙。她提起王后，把她放在她乱喊乱叫的小女儿旁边。

　　王后坐在那儿，一动不动，张着嘴，持续了大约一分钟。然后她叫底下的白方国王：“当心风暴！”这时他正纹丝不动地站在壁炉旁边的地板上。

　　“什么风暴？”国王不安地四处环顾，问道。

　　“有一阵极其猛烈的风--一眨眼功夫，就把我吹到了这儿来。你还是走原路，千万当心！”

　　白方国王开始缓慢地往桌腿上爬，爱丽丝观望着。然后她说：“你爬上桌面得费几小时，为什么我不帮帮你呢？”她轻轻地把国王拎了起来，慢慢地往上移动。国王真是吃惊不小。眼睛、嘴巴张得越来越大，越来越圆。爱丽丝开怀大笑，差点儿松了手。

　　她把国王放到了桌面上。他马上仰面平躺，一动不动。可是过了会儿，他坐了起来，受惊地轻声对王后说：

　　“亲爱的，我确实怕得毛骨悚然！那片刻我永世也难忘。”

　　王后说：“如果你不记下来，肯定会忘记的。”

　　爱丽丝饶有兴趣地看着国王掏出了一本超大号笔记本并开始在上面写东西。她还看见旁边一张桌子上放着书，就随手翻了起来。

　　她自言自语道：“用的语言我一点都不懂。”其中有一首诗是这样写的：

　

　　她看了一会儿，开始迷惑不解，随后茅塞顿开。“当然，这是本镜子世界的书！把它放在镜子前面，词儿就会恢复到正确的顺序上来。”

　　下面是爱丽丝读到的诗：

　　怪 兽

　　烤晚餐肉时辰，粘柔的三不像怪兽

　　围着日晷草坪转悠钻地洞；

　　蓬头垢面的小鸟脆弱、发抖，

　　绿猪迷路，又吼叫又吹哨又打喷嚏。

　　爱丽丝说：“看起来是首好诗，但有点儿费解。”（其实，她一个字都不懂，但不愿意这么讲。）“这首诗好像把很多思想塞进了我的脑子，但那到底是些什么思想，又糊里糊涂。”

　　说完，她突然跳了一下，另一个想法来到了心头。“如果我不赶紧点，就得穿过镜子走回去了。这样我就看不见镜子屋的其他地方，以及那个花园。我想还是先看看花园吧。”

　　不一会儿，她就出了房间往楼下跑。其实那不是真跑，因为她是在空气中轻轻地飘过，双足一点儿也没有触到楼梯。到了底层她握住门柱。之后她很高兴地发现她又能正常地走路了。