Calico Illustrated Classics: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1 Down the Rabbit Hole Alice was tired of sitting by her sister on the riverbank She had nothing to do Once or twice she peeked into the book her sister was reading It wasn’t very exciting It had no pictures or any dialogue in it What good is a book thought Alice without pictures or conversations She wondered if she should search for daisies to make a daisy chain She was about to begin her search when a white rabbit with pink eyes ran by her There wasn’t anything particularly odd about a rabbit running close to her But this rabbit was different This rabbit spoke Oh dear Oh dear I shall be late it said But it wasn’t until the rabbit took a watch out 4
of its pocket that Alice ran across the field after it She caught up with it just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit hole under the hedge Within a minute Alice went down after it She never once considered how in the world she’d get back out again The hole went straight on like a tunnel for quite a ways Then it dipped down so suddenly that Alice had no time to think about stopping herself She fell so fast It was as if she was going down a well She decided that either the well was very deep or she was falling slowly Alice had plenty of time to look around her At first she tried to look down to see where she was going But it was too dark to see anything Then she looked to the sides of the well They were filled with cupboards and bookshelves There were maps lying about and pictures hung on pegs Alice grabbed one of the jars on the shelves labeled Orange as she passed Marmalade To her great disappointment it It was 5
was empty She didn’t dare drop the jar and hurt anyone underneath So she managed to place it on a shelf as she continued her fall Well thought Alice after such a fall as this I shall think nothing of tumbling down the stairs Even if I fell off the house it would not be such a fall as this Down down down Would the fall ever end I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen Alice thought I must be getting near the center of the earth Let me see that would be about 4,000 miles down Then she had an eerie thought I wonder if I shall fall through the earth I’d have to ask if I were in New Zealand or Australia I suppose Alice tried to curtsy as she fell for she wanted to appear polite They’d think I was a silly girl for asking Alice said aloud She decided she’d never ask anyone which country she landed in She’d find out the answer herself She must 6
