Alice in Wonderland

'

' You be quiet, it isn't your baby!' the Duchess shouted. She began to sing to it. These were the words of the song:

Be angry with your little boy, And hit him when he cries: He has to know that he's a child, He's really not your size!

The cook sang the song too. When they finished, they sang it again. The Duchess started to throw the baby up and down. At the end of the song, she threw the baby to Alice.

'Here, you can have it now,' she said. 'I have to get ready. I'm going to see the Queen.'

The cook threw another plate at the Duchess. It didn't hit her, but she left the room quickly.

♦

Alice looked at the baby. It was a strange little thing and not very pretty. She took it outside.' I'll have to take this child away from here, or they'll kill it!' she thought. The baby made a strange little sound and she looked at it again.

' Its nose is changing!' she cried. She looked at it very carefully. ' Its face is changing, everything is changing! Oh! It's not a baby any more, it's a pig!'

It was very strange, but the baby was now a pig.

' What am I going to do with it ?' Alice thought. The pig made another, louder sound. Alice put the little animal down and it ran happily away into the wood.

'It wasn't a pretty baby, but it's quite a pretty pig,' thought Alice.

♦

She looked round her and jumped. The Cheshire Cat was up in one of the trees. The Cat smiled at Alice.

' It looks kind, but perhaps it will get angry. They all get angry in this place,' thought Alice. So she spoke to it very politely. ' Cheshire Cat, dear,' she said.

The Cat's smile got bigger.

'Please, can you help me? I want to go somewhere new,' said Alice.

'Where do you want to go ?' asked the Cat.

' Somewhere different,' Alice said.

'Somewhere different,' repeated the Cat. It thought for a minute or two. Then it said, 'Walk that way and you'll come to a house. A man lives there. He makes hats and he's very strange. We call him the "Mad Hatter".'

' But I don't want to meet a strange man,' said Alice.

The cat didn't answer her.