Алиса в стране чудес / Alice in Wonderland

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“And who is Dinah, if I may ask such a thing?” said one of the birds.

Alice was glad to talk about her pet.

“Dinah is our cat; and it catches mice very fast. Moreover, Dinah catches birds even faster! And it eats them at once!”

These words caused a great stir in the party. The birds rushed off; they were saying, “We must get home, it’s late, it’s time to sleep.”

Everybody went home, and Alice was soon alone. Poor Alice began to cry again, because she felt very lonely. Suddenly she heard some noise.

Chapter IV

The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

It was the White Rabbit, he was looking anxiously around and muttering to itself “The Duchess! The Duchess! She’ll get my head cut off[28 - She’ll get my head cut off! – Она отрубит мне голову!]! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! Where did I lose them, I wonder?” Alice guessed in a moment that the Rabbit was looking for the fan and the pair of white gloves, but everything changed, and the great hall, with the glass table and the little door, vanished completely.

Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, and told her in an angry tone, “Why, Mary Ann[29 - Mary Ann – Мэри-Энн], what are you doing here? Run home, and bring me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!”

And Alice was so much afraid that she ran off at once.

“He took me for[30 - took me for – принял меня за] his housemaid,” she said to herself as she ran.

“But it’s better to bring him his fan and gloves—that is, if I can find them.”

As she said this, she came to a neat little house, on the door of which was a bright brass plate with the name “W. RABBIT” upon it. She went in, and hurried upstairs.

“How queer it is!” Alice said to herself. “I am the Rabbit’s servant. I think my next master will be Dinah herself!”

By this time she found her way into a tidy little room with a table by the window, and on it a fan and two or three pairs of tiny white gloves.

She took up the fan and a pair of gloves, and noticed a little bottle that stood near the looking-glass. There was no label this time with the words “DRINK ME,” but Alice opened it and put it to her lips.

“Let’s see,” she said to herself, “what this bottle does. I hope it’ll make me large again!”

It did so indeed, and soon her head was near the ceiling. She said, “That’s enough.