Read Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland Online

13

CHAPTER II. THE POOL OF TEARS

'Not like cats!' cried the Mouse, in a shrill, passionate voice, 'Would you like 
cats if you were me?' 

'Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone, 'don't be angry about it. 
And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah: I think you'd take a fancy to cats 
if you could only see her. She is such a dear quiet thing,' Alice went on, half to 
herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool, 'and she sits purring so nicely by the 
fire, licking her paws and washing her face - and she is such a nice soft thing to 
nurse - and she's such a capital one for catching mice - oh, I beg your pardon!' 
cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over and she felt certain 
it must be really offended, 'We won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not.' 

'We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of his tail, 
As if I 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 of con- 
versation, Are you - are you fond - of - of dogs?' The Mouse did not answer, 
so Alice went on eagerly, 'There is such a nice little dog near our house I should 
like to show you! A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly 
brown hair! And it'll fetch things when you throw them and it'll sit up and beg for 
its dinner, and all sorts of things - 1 can't remember half of them - and it belongs 
to a farmer, you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds! He 
says it kills all the rats and - oh dear!' cried Alice in a sorrowful tone, 'I'm afraid 
I've offended it again!' For the Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it 
could go, and making quite a commotion in the pool as it went. 

So she called softly after it, 'Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we won't 
talk about cats or dogs either, if you don't like them!' When the Mouse heard this, 
it turned round and swam slowly back to her; its face was quite pale (with passion, 
Alice thought) and it said in a low trembling voice, 'Let us get to the shore, and 
then I'll tell you my history, and you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.' 

It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with the birds 
and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an 
Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party 
swam to the shore.