Alice stood at the top of the hill and looked down.

　　‘Which way should I go？’she wondered．On one side she could see，a long way away，some kind of large animals walking around．She wasn't sure that she liked the look of them，so she decided to go the other way．She ran down the hill and jumped over the first of the six little brooks.

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　　‘Tickets，please！’said the Ticket Inspector，putting his head in at the window. In a moment everybody was holding out a ticket；the tickets were almost as big as the people，and seemed to fill the train.

　　‘Show your ticket，child！’the Inspector went on，looking angrily at Alice. And then several voices said all together，‘Don't keep him waiting，child！His time costs a thousand pounds a minute！’

　　‘I'm afraid I haven't got a ticket，’Alice said in a frightened voice．‘There wasn't a ticket-office where I came from．’

　　‘Why didn't you buy one from the engine-driver？’said the Inspector. And again the voices said，‘The engine-driver's time costs a thousand pounds a minute！’

　　The Inspector looked at Alice first through his glasses，then over the top of them．Then he said，‘You're travelling the wrong way，’and shut up the window and went away．

　　‘She ought to know which way she's going，’said the gen-tleman sitting opposite Alice（he was dressed in white paper），‘but perhaps she doesn't know her own name．’

　　A Goat，that was sitting next to the gentleman in white，said loudly，‘She ought to know her way to the ticket-office，but perhaps she can't read or write．’

　　There was a Beetle next to the Goat，and he had something to say about Alice as well．Then other voices spoke，but Alice could not see who they were．One voice sounded like a horse，she thought．And then a very small voice，right next to her ear，said，‘You could make a poem out of that-something about“a horse，of course”.’

　　The gentleman in white paper spoke again．‘Don't worry，my dear，’he whispered．‘Just buy a return ticket every time the train stops．’

　　‘No， I won't！’Alice said crossly．‘I don't belong to this railway journey at all．I was in a wood just now，and I wish I could get back there．’

　　Then she heard the little voice again．She looked round，but could see nothing．‘I know you are a friend，’the voice said in her ear，‘a dear friend. And you won't hurt me，although I am an insect.’

　　‘What kind of insect？’Alice asked，a little worried．But just then there came a long scream from the engine，and eve-rybody jumped up．The Horse put his head out of the window，then pulled it back in and said calmly，‘It's only a brook that we have to jump across.’

　　Alice did not like the idea of trains jumping brooks．‘But we'll get into the Fourth Square，I suppose，’she said to her-self．In another moment she felt the train go straight up into the air．Frightened，she caught at the thing nearest to her hand，which happened to be the Goat's beard．

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　　But the beard seemed to disappear as she touched it，and she found herself sitting quietly under a tree．There was an Insect sitting near her，on a low branch of the tree．

　　It was a very large insect indeed-almost as big as a chick-en．Alice thought．

　　‘So you don't like all insects？’the Insect said， quietly con-tinuing their conversation．

　　‘I like them when they can talk，’Alice said．‘None of them ever talk，where I come from．But everything here is so different．I probably don't even know the names of the insects here．’

　　‘Can you remember your own name？’asked the Insect．

　　‘Of course，’said Alice．‘Nobody forgets their own name．’

　　‘Don't they？’said the Insect．‘There's a wood down there，for example，where things have no names．’

　　Alice looked round，and saw a dark wood on the other side of an open field．When she looked back，the Insect had flown away．She got up and began to walk across the field.‘This must be the way to the Eighth Square，’she thought，‘but I hope I don't lose my name in this wood.’

　　She soon reached the wood and was pleased to get out of the hot sun and into the shadows under the trees.‘How nice and cool it is in here，under the…under the…under the what？’she said，surprised that she could not think of the word．She put her hand on a tree．‘What does it call itself？I do believe it's got no name！’

　　She stood for a moment，thinking.‘And now，who am I？I will remember，if I can.’She tried and tried，but she just could not remember her name. It began with an‘L’，she thought，but she wasn't really sure．

　　So she hurried on through the wood， hoping to get to the other side quickly，and after a while she came out into another open field．She stopped，and thought hard.‘Why，it's Alice，of course！’she said．‘My name's Alice-I won't forget itagain．And now，which way should I go？’

　　It was not a difficult question to answer．There was only one road，and a large signpost，which said：

　　To TWEEDLEDUM'S HOUSE

　　To THE HOUSE OF TWEEDLEDEE

　　‘I'll just call in and say hello，’Alice said，‘and ask them the way to the Eighth Square．I would like to get there before it gets dark．’So she walked on，talking to herself as she went. After a long time the road came into another wood and suddenly turned a corner，and there in front of her Alice saw two fat little men standing under a tree.

　　3．镜中动物

　　爱丽丝站在山顶上向下面看。她心里纳闷：“我该走哪条路？”在很远的一边，她能够看见某种庞大的动物四处走动。很难说她喜爱它们的外貌。于是她决定走另外一条路。她跑步下山，跳过六条小溪中的第一条。

　　* * * * *

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　　“请出示车票！”检票员把头伸进窗户大声嚷嚷。片刻之后，每个乘客都拿出了车票；车票几乎与人一样大，似乎把整个火车都给塞满了。

　　“孩子，出示你的车票！”检票员面带怒色看着爱丽丝又讲了一句。紧接着有好几个声音同时说道：“孩子，别让他久等了！他每分钟值1000英镑。”

　　爱丽丝带着惊恐的声音说：“我恐怕没有车票。我来的那个地方没有票房。”

　　检票员说：“你怎么不向机车司机买张票。”许多声音又在说：“机车司机的每分钟值1000英镑。”

　　检票员先透过望远镜看爱丽丝，然后又从镜子上面看了看，说：“你乘错车了。”随后关上窗户就走了。

　　坐在爱丽丝对面的先生（他的衣裤是用白纸做成的）说：“她应该清楚走哪条路的，但她可能不知道自己的名字。”

　　坐在那一身白衣先生旁边的一只山羊大声嚷嚷道：“她应该知道去票房的路的，可能她是个文盲吧。”

　　坐在山羊边上的是只甲壳虫，他也要说爱丽丝几句。然后还有其他的声音，但爱丽丝看不清楚到底是谁，她想其中有一个声音好像是马发出的。随后有一个很细微的声音凑着她的耳朵讲：“你可以根据那个编一首诗，内容当然是一匹马的故事。”

　　穿一身白纸的先生又说：“小宝贝，别着急。”他低声说，“火车每停一站就买张回程票。”

　　爱丽丝生气地应声道：“不，我不买！我根本不属于这次列车。刚才我还在树林里，我希望能回去。”

　　然后她又听见那个细微的声音。她看了看周围，但什么也没有。“我知道你是个朋友，一个亲爱的朋友。我是只昆虫，你不会伤害我吧。”声音在她耳边响起。

　　爱丽丝问：“哪一类昆虫？”她有点儿焦急。就在同时，火车头长鸣一声，每个人都吓得跳了起来。马向窗外探出了头，然后重又缩回来，平静地说：“只是一条小河，我们得跳过去。”

　　爱丽丝不喜欢火车跳越小河这个想法。“不过我想我们即将进入第四格，”她自言自语道。过了一会儿，她感觉火车径向空中开去。她惊恐万状，随手抓住离她最近的一个东西，凑巧是山羊胡子。

　　* * * * *

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　　但她一触到山羊胡子，胡子似乎就失踪了。她发现自己静静地坐在一棵树下。一只昆虫坐在她身旁的低矮的树枝上。

　　爱丽丝想，这真是只硕大的昆虫--几乎同小鸡一样大。

　　“这么说你不喜欢昆虫？”那只昆虫问，轻声地继续他们的对话。

　　爱丽丝答道：“他们能说话，我就喜欢。我来的那地方，没一只昆虫讲过话。但这里什么都不一样。这里的昆虫我可能连名字都叫不上来呢。”

　　“你记得住自己的名字吗？”昆虫问。

　　“当然记得，没人会忘记自己的名字。”爱丽丝答道。

　　“是吗？譬如那边有一片树林，里边的东西就没有名字。”昆虫说道。

　　爱丽丝环顾四周，看见一个开阔地的另一边有一片黑树林。她回转头时，昆虫早就飞走了。她站了起来，踏步跨越这片田野。她心里想：“这条路肯定通向第八格，可是我希望我不会把自己的名字丢落在这儿。”

　　不久她就抵达树林。终于摆脱了烈日烤晒，享受到树阴下的清凉世界，这使她很高兴。“在这儿，在……下，在……下，在什么（？）下，多凉爽啊！”她很奇怪，怎么就是想不起那个词儿。她把手放在树上，问：“它怎样称呼自己的？我确信它是无名无姓的。”

　　她站了一会儿，想：“那么，我是谁呢？我一定会想起来的。”她想了又想，就是记不起自己的名字。她想自己名字好像是“L”开头，但又难以确定。

　　因此她快速穿过树林，希望早点到另一边去。过了一会儿，她又来到了一个开阔地。她停住，拚命地想。“哦，当然是爱丽丝了！”她说，“我叫爱丽丝--我不会再忘了。现在，我该走哪条路？”

　　回答这问题并不困难。其实只有一条路，边上有一个巨大的路标，上面写着：

　　前方是特威丹的屋子

　　前方是特威帝的屋子

　　“我这就登门问个好，”爱丽丝说道，“然后询问一下去第八格的路。太阳下山前我要赶到那里。”爱丽丝又继续上路了，边走边自言自语，过了许久，脚下的路通到了另一片树林，又急转了个弯。就在前方，爱丽丝看见两个胖墩墩的小人站在树下。