Chapter 1
Looking-Glass House
Alice was sitting in the great armchair, half talking to herself and half asleep. One of her kittens, Kitty, was playing with a ball of yarn, rolling it up and down on the floor. The whole room was in a mess[1].
“Oh, you wicked little thing!”[2] cried Alice and caught the kitten. She gave it a little kiss. “Where are your manners? Dinah has to teach you how to behave!” She sat down and began to wind up the ball again. Kitty sat next to her and watched the process.
“Oh, I was so angry, Kitty,” Alice went on, “when I saw all the mischief you have done! What have you got to say for yourself? [3]I will punish you some day!”
After a while Alice talked to the kitten again. “Oh, Kitty, can you play chess? Don’t smile, my dear, I’m asking you seriously. Kitty, dear, let’s pretend …”
“Let’s pretend …” was Alice’s favourite phrase.
“Let’s pretend that you’re the Red Queen! I think if you sit like this, you’ll look exactly like her. Try, dear!” And Alice took the Red Queen and showed it to the kitten. But the kitten couldn’t sit properly. In order to punish it, Alice held it up to the Looking-glass. “If you’re not good,” she said, “I’ll put you through into Looking-glass House. How would you like that? Would you like to live in Looking-glass House, Kitty? I wonder if they would give you milk there. Let’s pretend we can find a way into it, Kitty. Look, it’s turning into a sort of mist! It will be easy to get through …”
In another moment Alice was through the glass, and jumped down into the Looking-glass room.
She began looking about. She noticed some chessmen on the floor and thought that it wasn’t very tidy there. But in another moment, she saw that they were alive! The chessmen were walking about!
“Here are the Red King and the Red Queen,” Alice whispered, “and there are the White King and the White Queen … I don’t think they can hear me!” she went on, as she put her head closer down. “And I’m sure they can’t see me. I feel as if I were invisible …”
Something began squeaking on the table behind Alice, and she turned her head and saw that one of the White Pawns fell down.
“It is the voice of my child!” the White Queen cried out. “My dear Lily!”
Alice wanted to help the White Queen, and she picked up the Queen and set her on the table next to her noisy little daughter.
That frightened the White Queen and for a minute or two she could do nothing but hug the little Lily in silence. But then she cried, “Mind the volcano!”[4]
“What volcano?” said the White King.
“It blew me up,” said the White Queen, who was still frightened.
Alice watched the White King. She said, “I will help you!” She picked him up very gently, and lifted him. But, before she put him on the table, she began cleaning him—he was very dirty because of ashes. Of course, he was frightened too—he was hanging in the air and something was cleaning him!
Alice set him on the table near the Queen. When the White King recovered, he started talking to the Queen in a frightened whisper. Alice could barely hear what they were saying.
The King said: “I turned cold to the very ends of my whiskers!”
“You haven’t got any whiskers,” the Queen said.
“This horrible moment,” the King went on, “I will never, never forget!”
There was a book near Alice on the table, and she opened it and read.
sevot yhtils eht dna ,gillirb sawT‘
ebaw eht ni elbmig dna eryg diD
,sevogorob eht erew ysmim llA
.ebargtuo shtar emom eht dnA
At first she was puzzled very much, but then she understood everything. “It’s a Looking-glass book, of course! And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go the right way again.” This was the poem that Alice read.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.[5] “It is very pretty,” Alice said, “but it’s very hard to understand!”
Suddenly, she thought she wanted see the rest of the house. She decided to start with the garden.
1. Choose the right variant:
1. Alice was sleeping in the great arm-chair.
2. Alice was talking to herself and to the kitten.
3. Alice was doing her homework.
4. Alice was reading a book.
2. Why was Alice angry with the kitten?
1. The kitten was very noisy.
2. The kitten played with the ball of yarn.
3. The room was in a mess while the kitten was playing with the ball of yarn.
4. The kitten was very dirty.
3. What was Alice’s favourite phrase?
1. Let’s play…
2. Let’s build a snowman!
3. Let’s go for a walk!
4. Let’s pretend…
4. What time of the year was it?
1. Winter
2. Summer
3. Spring
4. Autumn
5. Choose the right variant:
1. Alice was frightened and wanted to come back home.
2. Alice was invisible and chessmen couldn’t see and hear her.
3. Alice made friends with the chessmen.
4. Alice helped the White King and he thanked her.
6. Did Alice understand anything in the poem?
1. Yes, she understood everything.
