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<title>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</title>
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<section epub:type="chapter">
<h2 id="pgepubid00008"><a id="V_ADVICE_FROM_A_CATERPILLAR"></a>
Advice From A Caterpillar</h2>
<p>At last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and
addressed Alice in alanguid, sleepy voice.</p>
<p>"Who are <i>you</i>?" said the Caterpillar.</p>
<figure class="small">
<img src="images/i014_th.jpg" alt="Illo14" />
</figure>
<p>Alice replied, rather shyly, "I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at
least I know who I <i>was</i> when I got up this morning, but I think I must have
changed several times since then."</p>
<p> "Wha t do you mean by that?" said the Caterpillar, sternly. "Explain yourself!"<a id=
"Page_27" class="pageno" title="[Pg 27]"></a></p>
<p>"I can't explain<i>myself</i>, I'm afraid, sir," said Alice,"because I'm not
myself, you see—being so ma nydifferent sizes in a day is very confusing." She
drew hers elf up and said very gravely, "I think you ought to tell me who <i>you</i>
are, first."</p>
<p>"Why?" said the Caterpillar.</p>
<p>As Alice could not think of any good reason and the Caterpillar seemed to be in a
<i>very</i> u npleasant state of mind, she turned away.</p>
<p>"Come back!" the Caterpillar called after her. "I've something important to say!"
Alice turned and came back again.</p>
<p>"Keep your temper," said the Caterpillar.</p>
<p>"Is that all?" said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.</p>
<p>"No," said the Caterpillar.</p>
<p>It unfolded its arms, took the hookah out of its mouth again, and said, " So you
think you're changed, do you?"</p>
<p>"I'm afr aid, I am, sir," said Alice. "I can't remember things as I used—and I
don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!"</p>
<p>"What size d o you want to be?" asked the Caterpillar.</p>
<p>"Oh, I'mnot particular as to si ze," Alice hastily replied, "only one doesn't like
changing sooften, you know. I should like to be a <i>little</i> larger, sir, if you
wouldn't mind," said Alice. "Three inches is such a wretched height to be."</p>
<p>"It is a very good height indeed!" said the Caterpillar an grily, rearing itself
upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high).<a id="Page_28" class="pageno"
title="[Pg 28]"></a></p>
<p>In a minute or two, the Caterpillar got down off the mushroom and crawled away in to
the grass,merely remarking, as it went, "One side will make you grow taller, and the
other side will make you grow shorter."</p>
<p>"One side of <i>what</i>? The other side of <i >what</i>?" thought Alice to
herself.</p>
<p>"Of the mushroom," said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in
another moment, it was out of sight.</p>
<p>Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out
whichwere the two sides of it. At last she stretched her arms 'round it as far as they
would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand.</p>
<p>"And now which is which?" she said to herself, and nibbled a little of the
right-hand bit to trythe effect. The next moment she felt a violent blow underneath
her chin—it had struck her foot!</p>
<p>She was a gooddeal frightened b y this very sudden change, as she was shrinking
rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her chin was pressed
so closely against her foo tthat there was hardly room to open her mouth; but she did
it at last and managed to s wallow a morsel of the left-hand bit....</p>
<p>"Come, my head's free at last!" said Alice; but all she could see, when she loo ked
down, was an immense length of neck, which seemed to rise like a stalk out of a sea of
green leaves that lay far below her.</p>
<p>"Where <i>have</i> my shoulders got to? And oh, mypoor hands, how is it I can't see
you?"Shewas de<a id="Page_29" class="pageno" title="[Pg 29]"></a>lighted to find that
her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just
succeeded in curving it down into a gr aceful zigzag and was going to dive inamong the
leaves, when a s harp hiss made her draw back in a hurry —a large pigeon had flo wn
into her face and was beating her violently with its wings.</p>
<figure class="small">
<img src="images/i015_th.jpg" alt="Illo15" />
</figure>
<p>"Serpent!" cried the Pigeon.</p>
<p>"I'm <i>not</i> a serpent!" said Alice indignantly. "Let me alone!"</p>
<p>"I've tried the roo ts of trees, and I've tried banks, and I've tri ed hedges," the
Pigeon went on, "but those serpents! There's no pleasing them!"</p>
<p>Alice was more and more puzzled.</p>
<p>"As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs," said the Pigeon, "but I must be
on the look-out for serpents, night and day! And just as I'd taken the highest tree in
the wood," continued the Pigeon, raising its voice to a shriek, "and just as I was
thinkingI should be free of them at last, they must needs come wriggling down from the
sky! Ugh, Serpent!"</p>
<p>"But I'm <i>not</i> a serpent, I tell you!" said Alice. "I'm a—I'm a—I'm
a little girl," she added rather<a id="Page_30" class="pageno" title="[Pg 30]"></a>
doubtfully, as she remembered the numbe r of changes she had gone through that day.</p>
<p>"You're looking for eggs, I know <i>that</i> well enough," said the Pigeon; "and
what does it matter to me whether you're a little girl or a serpent?"</p>
<p>"It matters a good deal to <i>me</i>," said Alice h astily; "but I'm not looking for
eggs, as it happens, and if I was, I shouldn't want <i>yours</i>—I don't like
them raw."</p>
<p>"Well, be off, then!" said the Pige on in a sulky tone, as it settled down again into
its nest. Alice crouched down a mong the trees as well as she could, for her neck kept
getting entangled among the bra nches, and every now and then she had to stop and
untwist it. After awhile she rememb ered that she still held the pieces of mushroom in
her hands, and she set to work very carefully, nibbling first at one and then at the
other, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, until she had succeeded in
bringing herself down to her usual height.</p>
<p>It was so long since she had been anything near the right size that it felt quite
strange at first. "The next thing is to get into that beautiful garden—how
<i>is</i> that to be done, I wonder?" As she said this, she came suddenly upon an open
place, with a little house in it about four feet high. "Whoever lives there," thought
Alice, "it'll never do to come upon them <i>this</i> size;why, I should frighten them
out of their wits!" She did not venture to go near the house till she had brought
herself down to nine inches high.</p>
<p><a id="Page_31" class="pageno" title="[Pg 31]"></a></p>
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