Читать Алиса в Стране чудес / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Льюис Кэрролл

Alice was boring. She was sitting by her sister on the bank of the river, and doing nothing. Once or twice she looked at the book that her sister held in her hands, but there were no pictures in it. 'What is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversations?'

She decided to get up and pick some flowers, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran nearby. There was nothing remarkable in that; but the Rabbit said, 'Oh dear! Oh dear! I am late!' Then the Rabbit took a watch out of its pocket, and looked at it. Alice stood up. How strange! A rabbit has pockets, and a watch! She ran across the field after it. The Rabbit jumped into a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

Alice went after it. The rabbit-hole was like a tunnel. Alice began to fall down a deep well. The well was very deep, and she was falling very slowly. Down, down, down. Where is the end?

It took her a long time to go down, and as she went she had time to look at the strange things around her. First she tried to look down, but it was too dark to see. Then she looked at the sides of the well and saw many book-shelves; here and there she saw different maps. She took a jar from one of the shelves as she passed. On it was a label 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but there was no marmalade in it, so she put it back on one of the shelves.

'I'm sure I am going to the centre of the earth,' Alice said aloud. 'It is four thousand miles down, I think. But maybe I am falling right through the earth! How funny! The people there walk with their heads downward! I shall ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?'