Алиса в Стране чудес / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Алиса в Зазеркалье / Through the Looking-glass, and What Alice Found There

“Mouse dear! Come back again and we won’t talk about cats or dogs if you don’t like them!” Alice called softly. When the Mouse heard this it turned round and swam slowly back to her. “Let us[44 - Let us… – Давайте…] get to the shore and I’ll tell you my story and you’ll understand why I hate cats and dogs,” it said.

It was high time[45 - It was high time – Давно было пора] to go because more and more animals were swimming in the pool: there were a Duck and a Dodo,[46 - A Dodo – дронт (не умевшая летать вымершая птица отряда голубеобразных, обитавшая на островах Индийского океана и истребленная в XVII–XVIII вв. завезенными туда свиньями)] a Lory and an Eaglet and several other creatures. Alice swam to the shore and everybody swam after her.

Chapter 3. A Caucus-Race[47 - Caucus race – предвыборный марафон] and a Long Tale

The group looked very strange: the birds and the animals were all wet, angry and unhappy. The first question of course was how to get dry again: they discussed it and at last the Mouse said: “Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I’ll soon make you dry enough![48 - I’ll soon make you dry enough! – Я вас быстренько высушу!]” They all sat down at once, in a large ring with the Mouse in the middle.

“Are you all ready?” asked the mouse with an important look, “This is the driest thing I know. Silence, please!” and the Mouse began speaking about the history of England. After some time it asked turning to Alice: “How are you now, my dear?”

“As wet as ever,[49 - As wet as ever – Мокрая, как никогда.]” answered Alice sadly.

“In that case,” said the Dodo, rising to its feet, “the best thing to get dry would be a Caucus-race.” “And the best way to explain it is to do it.[50 - the best way to explain it is to do it – самый быстрый способ объяснить это – сделать это.]” It added.

First it marked out[51 - marked out – разметил] a race-course in a circle and then all the party stood along the course. And they began running when they liked and stopped when they liked so it was not easy to know when the race was over. However after half an hour of running the Dodo suddenly cried: “The race is over!” and they all crowded around it asking: “But who has won?”

The Dodo couldn’t answer this question at once so it sat for a long time thinking while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said: “EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes.”

“But who will give us the prizes?” The voices asked.

“Well, SHE, of course,” said the Dodo, pointing at Alice with one finger; and everybody at once crowded around her crying: “Prizes! Prizes!”

Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand into her pocket, and took out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt water had not got into it), and gave them to everybody as prizes.

“But she must have a prize herself,” said the Mouse.

“Of course,” the Dodo answered seriously. “What else have you got in your pocket?” he asked, turning to Alice.

“Only a thimble,” said Alice sadly.

“Give it to me,” it said.

Then they all crowded round her again, while the Dodo solemnly presented the thimble, saying “We beg you to accept this elegant thimble”; and, when it finished this short speech, they all cheered.

Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so serious that she couldn’t laugh; and she bowed, and took the thimble, looking as solemn as she could.

After they had eaten the comfits they sat down again in a ring and asked the Mouse to tell them something more.

“You promised to tell me your story,” said Alice, “and why you hate – C and D,” she added in a whisper.

“My tale[52 - tale – рассказ (созвучно с tail – хвост)] is long and sad!” said the Mouse sighing.

“It IS a long tail of course!” said Alice looking down at the Mouse’s tail with wonder. “But why do you call it sad?” And she continued thinking about it while the Mouse was speaking.

“You are not listening!” cried the Mouse to Alice angrily. “What are you thinking of?”

“I beg your pardon,[53 - I beg your pardon – Прошу прощения!]” said Alice very politely: “you had come to the fifth point, I think?”

“I had NOT!” cried the Mouse very angrily.

“A knot!” said Alice looking around. “Oh, let me help you to undo it!”

The Mouse stood up and said walking away. “You insult me by talking such nonsense!”

“I didn’t want to do it!” cried poor Alice. “But you’re so easily offended!”

The Mouse didn’t answer.

“Please come back and finish your story!” Alice called after it; and all the others repeated, “Yes, please do![54 - Yes, please do! – Да, пожалуйста!]” but the Mouse only shook its head and soon it was out of sight.

“What a pity our Dinah is not here!” Alice said aloud. “She would soon bring it here![55 - She would soon bring it here! – Она бы быстренько принесла ее сюда!]”

“And who is Dinah?” asked the Lory.

Alice was always ready to talk about her pet: “Dinah”s our cat. And she’s so good at catching mice! And oh, the same about birds![56 - the same about birds – то же самое и с птицами] Well, she’ll eat a little bird as soon as it looks at it![57 - she’ll eat a little bird as soon as it looks at it! – Она съедает птичку, едва взглянув на нее!]”

After Alice’s speech all the party hurried away on different pretexts[58 - on different pretexts – под различными предлогами] and Alice was soon alone.

“I wish I hadn’t spoken about[59 - I wish I hadn’t spoken about… – Не надо было говорить о…] Dinah! “She said to herself sadly. “It seems nobody likes her here, and I’m sure she’s the best cat in the world! Oh, my dear Dinah! I wonder if I shall ever see you again!” And here poor Alice began to cry again because she felt very lonely and low-spirited. However a little later she again heard footsteps in the distance. She looked up hoping that the Mouse had changed its mind[60 - had changed its mind – передумала] and was coming back to finish its story.

Chapter 4. The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

It was the White Rabbit coming slowly back and looking around as if it had lost something.[61 - as if it had lost something – как будто он что-то потерял] Alice heard it saying to itself: “The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! I’ll be executed,[62 - I’ll be executed – Меня казнят] I’m sure! Where COULD I drop them, I wonder?” Alice understood that it was looking for the fan and the pair of white kid gloves, and she began looking for them too, but they were nowhere to be seen.[63 - they were nowhere to be seen – их нигде не было видно.]

Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice and asked her in an angry tone, “Why, Mary Ann, what ARE you doing here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!” And Alice was so frightened that she ran immediately in the direction it pointed to.[64 - in the direction it pointed to – в направлении, которое он указал.]

“He took me for[65 - He took me for… – Он принял меня за…] his housemaid,” she said to herself as she ran. “How surprised he’ll be when he finds out who I am! But I’d better[66 - I’d better… – Мне бы лучше…] bring him his fan and gloves – of course, if I can find them.” As she said this, she came to a neat little house, on the door of which[67 - on the door of which – на двери которого] was a bright brass plate with the name “W. RABBIT” engraved upon it. She went in without knocking,[68 - without knocking – без стука] and hurried upstairs.

Soon she was in a tidy little room with a table in the window and on it were a fan and two or three pairs of tiny gloves. Alice took the fan and one pair and was going to leave the room[69 - was going to leave the room – собиралась выйти из комнаты] when she saw a little bottle. This time there was no label on it with the words “DRINK ME” but she still put it to her lips. “I know SOMETHING interesting will happen,” she said to herself “I hope I’ll grow large again, because I’m quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!”

It happened so quickly that in the next moment her head was pressing against[70 - her head was pressing against – ее голова упиралась в потолок] the ceiling. “Now I can’t get out of the door – Why did I drink so much?”

Alas! It was too late! She continued growing, and growing, and very soon had to kneel down[71 - had to kneel down – пришлось опуститься на колени] on the floor. Still she went on growing,[72 - she went on growing – она продолжала расти] and at last she put one arm out of the window, and one foot up the chimney, and said to herself “What WILL become of me?”

Fortunately Alice stopped growing but she felt very unhappy. “It was much pleasanter at home,” thought poor Alice, “when nobody grew larger and smaller. When I read fairy-tales, I thought that such things never happened, and now here I am in one of them![73 - now here I am in one of them – и вот я в одной из них]”

“Mary Ann! Mary Ann!” she heard the voice outside. “Fetch me my gloves this moment!” Alice knew it was the Rabbit coming to look for her.

When the Rabbit came up to the door, it tried to open it but couldn’t because Alice’s elbow was pressed against it. Alice heard it say[74 - Alice heard it say – Алиса услышала, как он сказал] to itself “Then I’ll go round and get in at the window.”

But when the Rabbit was just under the window she spread out her hand and immediately heard a little shriek and a fall and a crash of broken glass. Then the Rabbit’s angry voice cried: “Bill! Bill! Where are you? Come and help me! And take that thing away from the window!”

There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear whispers now and then[75 - now and then – время от времени] and at last she spread out her hand again. This time there were TWO little shrieks, and more sounds of broken glass. “I wonder what they’ll do next!” thought Alice.

“We must burn the house down!” said the Rabbit’s voice; and Alice called out as loud as she could, “If you do. I’ll set Dinah at you!”

There was a dead silence instantly. After a minute or two, they began moving about again and the next moment a lot of little pebbles came in through the window, and some of them hit her in the face. “I’ll put a stop to this,” she said to herself. But suddenly she noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes and a bright idea came into her head. “If I eat one of these cakes,” she thought, “it’ll surely make SOME change in my size; and as it can’t possibly make me larger, it must make me smaller, I suppose.”

So she swallowed one of the cakes, and began shrinking. As soon as she was small enough to get through the door, she ran out of the house. She ran off as hard as she could, and soon she was in a thick wood.