The Pool of Tears

Episode Transcript

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Chapter two of Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandby Lewis Carroll. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Chapter two, The Pool of Tears. Curiouser and
curious, Sir, cried Alice.She was so much surprised that for the
moment she quite forgot how to speakgood English. Now I'm opening out like

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the largest telescope that ever was.Good Bye feet, for when she looked
down at her feet, they seemedto be almost out of sight. They
were getting so far off. Ohmy poor little feet. I wonder who
will put on your shoes and stockingsfor you? Now? DearS, I'm
sure I shan't be able. Ishall be a great deal too far off
to trouble myself about you. Youmust manage the best way you can.

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But I must be kind to them, thought Alice. Or perhaps they won't
walk the way I want to go. Let me see, I'll give them
a new pair of boots every Christmas. And she went on planning to herself
how she would manage it. Theymust go by the carrier, she thought,
And how funny it'll seem sending presentsto one's own feet, and how

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odd the directions will look Alice's rightfoot, esquire hearth rug near the fender
with Alice's love. Oh dear,what nonsense I'm talking. Just then her
head struck against the roof of thehall. In fact, she was now
more than nine feet high, andshe at once took up the little golden

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key and hurried off to the gardendoor. Poor Alice, it was as
much as she could do, lyingdown on one side to look through into
the garden with one eye, butto get through was more hopeless than ever.
She sat down and began to cryagain. You ought to be ashamed

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of yourself, said Alice. Agreat girl like you, she might well
say this, to go on cryingin this way, stop this moment,
I tell you. But she wenton all the same, shedding gallons of
tears, until there was a largepool all round her, about four inches
deep and reaching half down the hall. After a time, she heard a

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little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to
see what was coming. It wasthe white rabbit, returning, splendidly dressed
with a pair of white kid glovesin one hand and a large fan in
the other. He came trotting alongin a great hurry, muttering to himself
as he came. Oh, theduchess, the duchess. Oh, won't

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she be savage if I've kept herwaiting. Alice felt so desperate that she
was ready to ask help of anyone. So when the rabbit came near
her, she began in a low, timid voice, if you please,
sir. The rabbit started violently,dropped the white kid gloves and the fan,

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and scurried away into the darkness ashard as he could go. Alice
took up the fan and gloves,and as the hall was very hot,
she kept fanning herself all the time. She went on talking, dear,
dear, how queer everything is today? And yesterday things went on just
as usual. I wonder if I'vebeen changed in the night. Let me

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think, was I the same whenI got up this morning? I almost
think I can remember feeling a littledifferent. But if I'm not the same,
the next question is who in theworld am I? Ah, that's
the great puzzle. And she beganthinking over all the children she knew that
were of the same age as herself, to see if she could have been

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changed for any of them. I'msure I'm not Ada, she said,
for her hair goes in such longringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets
at all. And I'm sure Ican't be Mabel, for I know all
sorts of things, and she,oh, she knows such a very little.
Besides, she's she, and I'mI, And oh dear, how

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puzzling it all is. I'll tryif I know all the things I used
to know. Let me see,four times five is twelve, and four
times six is thirteen, and fourtimes seven is Oh dear, I shall
never get to twenty at that rate. However, the multiplication table doesn't signify.

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Let's try geography. London is thecapital of Paris, and Paris is
the capital of Rome, and Rome. No, that's all wrong. I'm
certain I must have been changed forMabel. I'll try and say, how
doth the little and She crossed herhands on her lap as if she were
saying lessons, and began to repeatit, But her voice sounded hoarse and

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strange, and the words did notcome the same as they used to do.
How doth the little crocodile improve hisshining tail? And pour the waters
of the nile on every golden sea? How cheerfully. He seems to grin,
how neatly spread his claws and welcomelittle fishes in with gently smiling jaws.

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I'm sure those are not the rightwords, said poor Alice, and
her eyes filled with tears again asshe went on, I must be Mabel
after all, and I shall haveto go and live in that poky little
house and have next to no toysto play with, and oh, ever,
so many lessons to learn. No, I've made up my mind about

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it. If I'm Mabel, I'llstay down here. It'll be no use
there putting their heads down and sayingcome up again, dear. I shall
only look up and say who amI? Then tell me that first,
and then if I like being thatperson, I'll come up. If not,
I'll stay down here till I'm somebodyelse. But oh, dear,
cried Alice with a sudden burst oftears. I do wish they would put

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their heads down. I am sovery tired of being all alone here.
As she said this, she lookeddown at her hands and was surprised to
see that she had put on oneof the rabbit's little white kid gloves while
she was talking. How can Ihave done that she thought I must be
growing small again. She got upand went to the table to measure herself

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by it, and found that asnearly as she could guess, she was
now about two feet high, andwas going on shrinking rapidly. She soon
found out that the cause of thiswas the fan she was holding, and
she dropped it hastily, just intime to avoid shrinking away altogether. That
was a narrow escape, said Alice, a good deal frightened at the sudden

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change, but very glad to findherself still in existence. And now for
the garden, and she ran withall speed back to the little door.
But alas the little door was shutagain, and the little golden key was
lying on the glass table as before. And things are worse than ever,
thought the poor child. For Inever was so small as this before,

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never, And I declare it's toobad that it is. As she said
these words, her foot slipped,and in another moment, splash, she
was up to her chin in saltwater. Her first idea was that she
had somehow fallen into the sea,and in that case I can go back

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by railway, she said to herself. Alice had been to the sea side
once in her life, and hadcome to the general conclusion that wherever you
go to on the English coast,you find a number of bathing machines in
the sea, some children digging inthe sand with wooden spades, then a
row of lodging houses, and behindthem a railway station. However, she

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soon made out that she was inthe pool of tears, which she had
wept when she was nine feet high. I wish I hadn't cried so much,
said Alice, as she swam abouttrying to find her way out.
I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in
my own tears, that will bea queer thing, to be sure.

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However, everything is queer to day. Just then she heard something splashing about
in the pool a little way off, and she swam nearer to make out
what it was. At first shethought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus,
but then she remembered how small shewas now, and she soon made
out that it was only a mousethat had slipped in like herself. Would

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it be of any use, now, thought Alice to speak to this mouse.
Everything is so out of the waydown here that I should think it
very likely it can talk at anyrate. There's no harm in trying.
So she began, Oh, mouse, do you know the way out of
this pool? I am very tiredof swimming about here? O mouse?

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Alice thought this must be the rightway of speaking to a mouse. She
had never done such a thing before, but she remembered having seen in her
brother's Latin grammar a mouse of amouse to a mouse, a mouse O
mouse. The mouse looked at herrather inquisitively, and seemed to her to

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wink with one of its little eyes. But it said nothing. Perhaps it
doesn't understand English, thought Alice,I dare say it's a French mouse.
Come over with William the conqueror.For with all her knowledge of history,
Alice had no very clear notion howlong ago anything had happened. So she
began again, ouh em shot,which was the first sentence in her French

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lesson book. The mouse gave asudden leap out of the water and seemed
to quiver all over with fright.Oh I beg your pardon, cried Alice,
hastily, afraid that she had hurtthe poor animal's feelings. I quite
forgot you didn't like cats, notlike cats, cried the mouse in a
shrill, passionate voice. Would youlike cats if you were me? Well,

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perhaps not, said Alice in asoothing tone. Don't be angry about
it. And yet I wish Icould show you our cat Dinah. I
think you'd take a fancy to catsif you could only see her. She
is such a dear, quiet thing, Alice went on, half to herself,
as she swam lazily about in thepool. And she sits purring so
nicely by the fire, licking herpaws and washing her face. And she

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is such a nice soft thing tonurse, and she's such a capital one
for catching mice. Oh, Ibeg your pardon, cried Alice again.
For this time the mouse was bristlingall over, and she felt certain it
must be really offended. We won'ttalk about her any more, if you'd
rather not we indeed, cried themouse, who was trembling down to the

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end of his tail, As ifI would talk on such a subject.
Our family always hated cats, nasty, low vulgar things. Don't let me
hear the name again. I won't, indeed, said Alice, in a
great hurry to change the subject ofconversation. Are you are you fond of

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of dogs? The mouse did notanswer, so Alice went on eagerly.
There is such a nice little dognear our house. I should like to
show you a little bright eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such
long curly brown hair, And it'llfetch things when you throw them, and
it'll sit up and beg for itsdinner, and all sorts of things.

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I can't remember half of them.And it belongs to a farmer, you
know. And he says it's souseful, it's worth a hundred pounds.
He says it kills all the rats. And oh, dear, cried Alice
in a sorrowful tone, I'm afraidI've offended it again, for the mouse
was swimming away from her as hardas it could go, and making quite

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a commotion in the pool as itwent. So she called softly after it.
Mouse, dear, do come backagain, and we won't talk about
cats or dogs ether if you don'tlike them. When the mouse heard this,
it turned round and swam slowly backto her. Its face was quite
pale with passion, Alice thought,and it said, in a low trembling

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voice, let us get to theshore and then I'll tell you my history
and you'll understand why it is Ihate cats and dogs. It was high
time to go, for the poolwas getting quite crowded with the birds and
animals that had fallen into it.There were a duck and a dodo,
a lorry and an eaglet, andseveral other curious creatures. Alice led the

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way, and the whole party swamto the shore. End of Chapter two
read by Kara Shallenburg March two thousandten in San Diego, California,