For a minute or two Alice stood and looked at the house. She did not know what to do next.

Chapter Nine

THE CAT THAT CAN GRIN

For a minute or two Alice stood and looked at the house. She did not know what to do next.

Suddenly a servant in livery[1] ran out of the forest. He had the face of a fish, but Alice knew that he was a servant because he was in livery. He knocked at the door of the house. Another servant in livery opened it. He had a round face and large eyes like a frog.

They looked so funny! Alice came a little nearer. She wanted to see and hear better.

The Fish-Servant had a great letter under his arm. He gave it to the Frog-Servant and said:

“From the Queen. She is asking the Duchess to come to play croquet.”

Then they bowed to each other.

It was so funny that Alice began to laugh. She laughed and laughed.

“I must run back into the forest,” she thought.

When she came back, the Fish-Servant was not there. The Frog-Servant was sitting on the ground near the door. He was looking up into the sky.

Alice went up to the door and knocked. “Don’t knock!” said the Frog-Servant. “I am on this side of the door. Who will open the door for you? And the people in the house are making such a noise, that nobody will hear you!”

He was right. There was a great noise in the house. They were shouting and sneezing! They were breaking dishes and plates to pieces[2]...

“Please,” said Alice politely, “how can I get into the house?”

There was no answer from the Frog-Servant. “How can I get into the house?” asked Alice again.

At this moment the door opened and a large plate flew out of the house. It hit the servant’s nose, fell on the ground and broke to small pieces.

“I think I shall sit here all day tomorrow too,” the servant said. He was looking up into the sky all the time, and Alice thought:

“I am sure he does not see what is happening in front of his nose because he is always looking up.”

“How can I get into the house?” asked Alice a third time.

“Why do you want to get into the house?” asked the Frog.

Alice did not like his tone.

“All these animals talk too much,” she thought.

“Why am I talking to him?” thought Alice. “He is very stupid.”

And she opened the door and went in.

She was in a large kitchen now. It was very hot there. The Duchess was sitting in the middle of it on a chair which had only three legs. She had a baby in her arms. The cook was cooking something in a large pot.

“The pot is full of soup,” thought Alice, “and there is too much pepper in that soup.” She began to sneeze. And she sneezed and sneezed because there was pepper in the air.

A large cat was sitting on the floor. It was grinning from ear to ear[3].

“Please, will you tell me,” asked Alice politely, “why your cat grins?”

“Because it’s a Cheshire cat[4],” answered the Duchess. “Pig!”

She cried out the last word so suddenly that Alice jumped up. The next moment she saw that the Duchess was speaking to the baby, and not to her.

Alice began again: “How funny that cats can grin!”

“They all can,” said the Duchess.

“I didn’t know that,” Alice said very politely. She was glad to talk to the Duchess.

“You don’t know much,” said the Duchess, “and that is a fact.”

Alice did not like her tone. She wanted to talk about something else. Suddenly the cook began to throw plates and dishes at the Duchess and the baby. The Duchess did not look angry when they hit her. But Alice jumped up and cried:

“Oh! What are you doing?”

“You may play with the baby for a few minutes if you like. I must go and get ready to play croquet with the Queen,” said the Duchess and threw the baby at Alice. Alice caught the baby and went out with it into the open air[5].

“I must take this child away with me, or they will kill it,” thought Alice.

The baby was not crying, but suddenly it began to grunt like a pig.

“Don’t grunt,” said Alice, “you are not a pig, you are a baby.”

But when she looked at the child she saw that it was not a baby. It was a little pig.

“What shall I do with the pig at home?” thought Alice. “No, I can’t take it with me.” She put the little animal on the grass, and it ran away into the forest.

Alice walked into the forest. Suddenly she saw the Cheshire Cat. It was sitting in a tree. The Cat asked Alice:

“Will you play croquet with the Queen today?”

“I like to play croquet very much,” answered Alice, “but I don’t know the Queen and the Queen doesn’t know me.”

“You will see me there,” said the Cat and disappeared. Alice waited for some time and after a few minutes the Cat appeared again.

“By the way[6], what became of the baby?” asked the Cat.

“It became a pig,” answered Alice.

“That’s right,” said the Cat.

Suddenly the end of the Cat’s tail disappeared. Then its body disappeared, then its head. Now Alice could see in the air only the Cat’s grin. But soon the grin disappeared, too.

“Well,” said Alice, “I know many cats without a grin, but a grin without a cat! How funny!”

[1] livery — ливрея; одежда, которую носили лакеи

[2] to pieces [pi:siz] — на куски

[3] It was grinning from ear to ear. — Он улыбался во весь рот (букв, от уха до уха).

[4] Cheshire cat — Чеширский кот; Чешир — графство в Англии, где продавался сыр в форме головки смеющегося кота

[5] into the open air — на свежий (букв, открытый) воздух

[6] By the way — Кстати, между прочим

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