Of course the first thing to do was to make a grand survey ofthe country she was going to travel through. `It's somethingvery like learning geography,' thought Alice, as she stood ontiptoe in hopes of being able to see a little further.`Principal rivers -- there

However, this was anything but a regular bee: in fact it wasan elephant -- as Alice soon found out, though the idea quitetook her breath away at first. `And what enormous flowers theymust be!' was her next idea. `Something like cottages with theroofs taken off, and stalks put to them -- and what quantities ofhoney they must make! I think I'll go down and -- no, I won't

`I think I'll go down the other way,' she said after a pause:`and perhaps I may visit the elephants later on. Besides, I doso want to get into the Third Square!'

So with this excuse she ran down the hill and jumped over thefirst of the six little brooks.

`Tickets, please!' said the Guard, putting his head in at thewindow. In a moment everybody was holding out a ticket: theywere about the same size as the people, and quite seemed to fillthe carriage.

`Now then! Show your ticket, child!' the Guard went on,looking angrily at Alice. And a great many voices all saidtogether (`like the chorus of a song,' thought Alice), `Don'tkeep him waiting, child! Why, his time is worth a thousandpounds a minute!'

`I'm afraid I haven't got one,' Alice said in a frightenedtone: `there wasn't a ticket-office where I came from." Andagain the chorus of voices went on. `There wasn't room for onewhere she came from. The land there is worth a thousand poundsan inch!'

`Don't make excuses,' said the Guard: `you should have boughtone from the engine-driver.' And once more the chorus of voiceswent on with `The man that drives the engine. Why, the smokealone is worth a thousand pounds a puff!'

Alice thought to herself, `Then there's no use in speaking."The voices didn't join in this time, as she hadn't spoken, but toher great surprise, they all

`I shall dream about a thousand pounds tonight, I know Ishall!' thought Alice.

All this time the Guard was looking at her, first through atelescope, then through a microscope, and then through an opera-glass. At last he said, `You're travelling the wrong way,' andshut up the window and went away.

`So young a child,' said the gentleman sitting opposite to her(he was dressed in white paper), `ought to know which way she'sgoing, even if she doesn't know her own name!'

A Goat, that was sitting next to the gentleman in white, shuthis eyes and said in a loud voice, `She ought to know her way tothe ticket-office, even if she doesn't know her alphabet!'

There was a Beetle sitting next to the Goat (it was a veryqueer carriage-full of passengers altogether), and, as the ruleseemed to be that they should all speak in turn,

Alice couldn't see who was sitting beyond the Beetle, but ahoarse voice spoke next. `Change engines -- ' it said, and wasobliged to leave off.

`It sounds like a horse,' Alice thought to herself. And anextremely small voice, close to her ear, said, `You might make ajoke on that -- something about "horse" and "hoarse," you know.'

Then a very gentle voice in the distance said, `She must belabelled "Lass, with care," you know -- '

And after that other voices went on (What a number of peoplethere are in the carriage!' thought Alice), saying, `She must goby post, as she's got a head on her -- ' `She must be sent as amessage by the telegraph -- ' `She must draw the train herselfthe rest of the way -- ' and so on.

But the gentleman dressed in white paper leaned forwards andwhispered in her ear, `Never mind what they all say, my dear, buttake a return-ticket every time the train stops."

`Indeed I shan't!' Alice said rather impatiently. `I don'tbelong to this railway journey at all -- I was in a wood just now-- and I wish I could get back there.'

`You might make a joke on

`Don't tease so,' said Alice, looking about in vain to seewhere the voice came from; `if you're so anxious to have a jokemade, why don't you make one yourself?'

The little voice sighed deeply: it was

`I know you are a friend, the little voice went on; `a dearfriend, and an old friend. And you won't hurt me, though I

`What kind of insect?' Alice inquired a little anxiously. Whatshe really wanted to know was, whether it could sting or not, butshe thought this wouldn't be quite a civil question to ask.

`What, then you don't -- ' the little voice began, when it wasdrowned by a shrill scream from the engine, and everybody jumpedup in alarm, Alice among the rest.

The Horse, who had put his head out of the window, quietly drewit in and said, `It's only a brook we have to jump over.'Everybody seemed satisfied with this, though Alice felt a littlenervous at the idea of trains jumped at all. `However, it'lltake us into the Fourth Square, that's some comfort!' she said toherself. In another moment she felt the carriage rise straightup into the air, and in her fright she caught at the thingnearest to her hand. which happened to be the Goat's beard.

But the beard seemed to melt away as she touched it, and shefound herself sitting quietly under a tree -- while the Gnat (forthat was the insect she had been talking to) was balancing itselfon a twig just over her head, and fanning her with its wings.

It certainly was a

` -- then you don't like all insects?' the Gnat went on, asquietly as if nothing had happened.

`I like them when they can talk,' Alice said. `None of themever talk, where

`What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where

`I don't

`Of course they answer to their names?' the Gnat remarkedcarelessly.

`I never knew them do it.'

`What's the use of their having names the Gnat said, `if theywon't answer to them?'

`No use to

`I can't say,' the Gnat replied. `Further on, in the wooddown there, they've got no names -- however, go on with your listof insects: you're wasting time.'

`Well, there's the Horse-fly,' Alice began, counting off thenames on her fingers.

`All right,' said the Gnat: `half way up that bush, you'll seea Rocking-horse-fly, if you look. It's made entirely of wood,and gets about by swinging itself from branch to branch.'

`What does it live on?' Alice asked, with great curiosity.

`Sap and sawdust,' said the Gnat. `Go on with the list.'

Alice looked up at the Rocking-horse-fly with great interest,and made up her mind that it must have been just repainted, itlooked so bright and sticky; and then she went on.

`And there's the Dragon-fly.'

`Look on the branch above your head,' said the Gnat, `and thereyou'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding,its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning inbrandy.'

`And what does it live on?'

`Frumenty and mince pie,' the Gnat replied; `and it makes isnest in a Christmas box.'

`And then there's the Butterfly,' Alice went on, after she hadtaken a good look at the insect with its head on fire, and hadthought to herself, `I wonder if that's the reason insects are sofond of flying into candles -- because they want to turn intoSnap-dragon-flies!'

`Crawling at your feet,' said the Gnat (Alice drew her feetback in some alarm), `you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Itswings are thin slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust,and its head is a lump of sugar.'

`And what does

`Weak tea with cream in it.'

A new difficulty came into Alice's head. `Supposing itcouldn't find any?' she suggested.

`Then it would die, of course.'

`But that must happen very often,' Alice remarked thoughtfully.

`It always happens,' said the Gnat.

After this, Alice was silent for a minute or two, pondering.The Gnat amused itself meanwhile by humming round and round herhead: at last it settled again and remarked, `I suppose youdon't want to lose your name?'

`No, indeed,' Alice said, a little anxiously.

`And yet I don't know,' the Gnat went on in a careless tone:`only think how convenient it would be if you could manage to gohome without it! For instance, if the governess wanted to callyou to your lessons, she would call out "come here -- ," andthere she would have to leave off, because there wouldn't be anyname for her to all, and of course you wouldn't have to go, youknow.'

`That would never do, I'm sure,' said Alice: `the governesswould never think of excusing me lessons for that. If shecouldn't remember my name, she'd call me "Miss!" as the servantsdo.'

`Well. if she said "Miss," and didn't say anything more,' theGnat remarked, `of course you'd miss your lessons. That's ajoke. I wish

`Why do you wish

But the Gnat only sighed deeply, while two large tears camerolling down its cheeks.

`You shouldn't make jokes,' Alice said, `if it makes you sounhappy.'

Then came another of those melancholy little sighs, and thistime the poor Gnat really seemed to have sighed itself away, for,when Alice looked up, there was nothing whatever to be seen onthe twig, and, as she was getting quite chilly with sitting stillso, long she got up and walked on.

She very soon came to an open field, with a wood on the otherside of it: it looked much darker than the last wood, and Alicefelt a

`This must be the wood, she said thoughtfully to herself,`where things have no names. I wonder what'll become of

She was rambling on in this way when she reached the wood: itlooked very cool and shady. `Well, at any rate it's a greatcomfort,' she said as she stepped under the trees, `after beingso hot, to get into the -- into

She stood silent for a minute, thinking: then she suddenlybegan again. `Then it really

Just then a Fawn came wandering by: it looked at Alice withits large gentle eyes, but didn't seem at all frightened. `Herethen! Here then!' Alice said, as he held out her hand and triedto stroke it; but it only started back a little, and then stoodlooking at her again.

`What do you call yourself?' the Fawn said at last. Such asoft sweet voice it had!

`I wish I knew!' thought poor Alice. She answered, rathersadly, `Nothing, just now.'

`Think again,' it said: `that won't do.'

Alice thought, but nothing came of it. `Please, would you tellme what

`I'll tell you, of you'll move a little further on,' the Fawnsaid. `I can't remember here.'

So they walked on together though the wood, Alice with her armsclasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they cameout into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a suddenbound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice's arms.`I'm a Fawn!' it cried out in a voice of delight, `and, dear me!you're a human child!' A sudden look of alarm came into itsbeautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away afull speed.

Alice stood looking after it, almost ready to cry with vexationat having lost her dear little fellow-traveller so suddenly.`However, I know my name now.' she said, `that's

It was not a very difficult question to answer, as there wasonly one road through the wood, and the two finger-posts bothpointed along it. `I'll settle it,' Alice said to herself, `whenthe road divides and they point different ways.'

But this did not seem likely to happen. She went on and on, along way, but wherever the road divided there were sure to be twofinger-posts pointing the same way, one marked `TO TWEEDLEDUM'SHOUSE' and the other `TO THE HOUSE OF TWEEDLEDEE.'

`I do believe,' said Alice at last, `that they live in the samehouse! I wonder I never thought of that before -- But I can'tstay there long. I'll just call and say "how d'you do?" and askthem the way out of the wood. If I could only get the EighthSquare before it gets dark!' So she wandered on, talking toherself as she went, till, on turning a sharp corner, she cameupon two fat little men, so suddenly that she could not helpstarting back, but in another moment she recovered herself,feeling sure that they must be