Alice (Fictitious character from Carroll) -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Fantasy fiction; Imaginary places -- Juvenile fiction
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had
plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what
was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out
what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she
looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with
cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures
hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she
passed; it was labelled “ORANGE MARMALADE”, but to her great
disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear
of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of the
cupboards as she fell past it.
“Well!” thought Alice to herself, “after such a fall as this, I shall
think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think me
at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the
top of the house!” (Which was very likely true.)
Down, down, down. Would the fall _never_ come to an end? “I wonder how
many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud. “I must be
getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would
be four thousand miles down, I think—” (for, you see, Alice had learnt
several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and
though this was not a _very_ good opportunity for showing off her
knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good
practice to say it over) “—yes, that’s about the right distance—but
then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?” (Alice had no
idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice
grand words to say.)
Presently she began again. “I wonder if I shall fall right _through_
the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk
with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—” (she was rather
glad there _was_ no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all
the right word) “—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the
country is, you know. Please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?”
(and she tried to curtsey as she spoke—fancy _curtseying_ as you’re
falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) “And what
an ignorant little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do
to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account