When they got out of the lake, Alice was very cold. Her clothes were wet and she did not know how to dry them. The birds and animals were as cold and as wet as Alice was.

Chapter Five

WAS THE MOUSE’S TAIL SAD?

When they got out of the lake, Alice was very cold. Her clothes were wet and she did not know how to dry them. The birds and animals were as cold and as wet as Alice was.

“Which of you can tell us how to get dry?[1]” asked Alice.

“I shall make you dry[2],” said the Crow. “Let’s play games or run a race[3]. Then we shall get dry very soon.”

But nobody counted “One, two, three, — run!” So they did not start together. Everybody started and stopped when they liked.

After twenty minutes they were quite dry. The Crow shouted: “The race is over!” They all sat down.

“Who is the first?” everybody asked. “Everybody is!” cried the Crow. “We must all have prizes.”

“Yes, everybody must have a prize!” cried the birds and animals. Then they stood around Alice and shouted: “Prizes, prizes!”

Alice did not know what to do. She put her hand into her pocket and found some sweets there. She gave them as prizes to the birds and animals.

“But you must have a prize too,” said the Mouse.

“What else have you in your pocket?” asked the Crow.

“Only a pencil,” answered Alice.

“Give it to me,” said the Crow.

The Crow took the pencil from Alice. Then they all looked up at Alice and the Crow gave it back to her:

“We are happy to give you this prize!” she said.

“They are giving me my pencil as a prize!” thought Alice. “It is so silly!”

But she was afraid to laugh. So very politely she took the pencil and said, “Thank you very much!”

Then all the birds and animals ate their sweets. After that they asked the Mouse to tell them its story.

“Tell us,” said Alice, “why you don’t like С and D. (She was afraid to say Cats and Dogs.)” “My tale is long and sad,” began the Mouse. “Oh, yes, it is a long tail[4],” said Alice and looked at the Mouse’s tail. “But why do you call it sad?”

“Oh, you are not listening,” cried the Mouse. “You are not trying to understand me. You are a very silly girl!”

And the Mouse got up and walked away. “Please come back,” said Alice, “come back and finish your story, we want to hear it.”

But the Mouse only walked a little quicker. “I am so sorry that Dinah is not here,” said Alice.

“And please, who is Dinah?” asked the Canary.

Alice liked her cat so much that she was always ready to speak about Dinah. So she said: “Dinah is our cat. She catches mice and birds and she eats them...”

Suddenly Alice saw that all the birds and animals began to walk away. The Crow said: “The night air is bad for me. I must go home.” The Canary said to its children: “Come away, my dears, it is time to go to bed.”

They all went away, and soon Alice was quite alone.

“Oh, why did I speak about Dinah to the birds?” she thought. “I am sure she is the best cat in England, but nobody likes her here. Oh, my dear Dinah! How I want to see you!”

Here poor Alice began to cry again. Suddenly she heard a noise.

“Is the Mouse coming back?” she thought.

[1] Which of you can tell us how to get dry? — Кто из вас (букв, который из вас) скажет, каким образом нам обсушиться?

[2] I shall make you dry — Я обсушу вас (букв. Я сделаю вас сухими)

[3] or run a race — или бежать наперегонки (race — состязание в беге)

[4] Слова tale [teil] — рассказ и tail [teil] — хвост имеют одинаковое звучание. Алиса решает, что речь идет о хвосте.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04