Once upon a time, I knew some little children, about as big as you; and they had a little pet dog of their own; and it was called _Dash_. And this is what they told me about its birthday-treat. “Do you know, one day we remembered it was Dash’s birthday that day. So we said ‘Let’s give Dash a nice birthday-treat, like what we have on _our_ birthdays!’ So we thought and we thought ‘Now, what is it _we_ like best of all, on _our_ birthdays?’ And we thought and we thought. And at last we all called out together “Why, its _oatmeal-porridge_, of course!” So of course we thought Dash would be _quite_ sure to like it very much, too. [Illustration] “So we went to the cook, and we got her to make a saucerful of nice oatmeal-porridge. And then we called Dash into the house, and we said ‘Now, Dash, you’re going to have your birthday-treat!’ We expected Dash would jump for joy: but it didn’t, one bit! “So we put the saucer down before it, and we said ‘Now, Dash, don’t be greedy! Eat it nicely, like a good dog!’ “So Dash just tasted it with the tip of its tongue: and then it made, oh, such a horrid face! And then, do you know, it did _hate_ it so, it wouldn’t eat a bit more of it! So we had to put it all down its throat with a spoon!” I wonder if Alice will give _this_ little Puppy some porridge? I don’t think she _can_, because she hasn’t got any with her. I can’t see any saucer in the picture. VII. THE BLUE CATERPILLAR. Would you like to know what happened to Alice, after she had got away from the Puppy? It was far too large an animal, you know, for _her_ to play with. (I don’t suppose _you_ would much enjoy playing with a young Hippopotamus, would you? You would always be expecting to be crushed as flat as a pancake under its great heavy feet!) So Alice was very glad to run away, while it wasn’t looking. Well, she wandered up and down, and didn’t know what in the world to do, to make herself grow up to her right size again. Of course she knew that she had to eat or drink _something_: that was the regular rule, you know: but she couldn’t guess _what_ thing. [Illustration] However, she soon came to a great mushroom, that was so tall that she couldn’t see over the top of it without standing on tip-toe. And what do you think she saw? Something that I’m sure _you_ never talked to, in all your life! It was a large Blue Caterpillar. I’ll tell you, soon, what Alice and the Caterpillar talked about: but first let us have a good look at the picture. That curious thing, standing in front of the Caterpillar, is called a “hookah”: and it’s used for smoking. The smoke comes through that long tube, that winds round and round like a serpent. And do you see its long nose and chin? At least, they _look_ exactly like a nose and chin, don’t they? But they really _are_ two of its legs. You know a Caterpillar has got _quantities_ of legs: you can see some more of them, further down.