退屈な午後と不思議なウサギ
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Part 1
Chapter 1. Down the Rabbit Hole
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sittingby her sister on the bank,
and of having nothing to do, once or twice she hadpeeped into the book her sister was reading,
but it had no pictures or conversations in it, andwhat is the use of a book,
thought Alice without pictures or conversations.So she was considering in her own mind,
as well as she could, for the hot day made herfeel very sleepy and stupid,
whether the pleasure of making a daisy chain wouldbe worth the trouble of getting up and
picking the daisies, when suddenly a white rabbitwith pink eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so very remarkable in that, nordid Alice think it so very much out of the way
to hear the rabbit say to itself, oh dear! ohdear! I shall be late. When she thought it over
afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought tohave wondered at this, but at the time it all
seemed quite natural, but when the rabbit actuallytook a watch out of its waistcoat pocket andlooked
at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to herfeet, for it flashed across her mind that she had
never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoatpocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning
with curiosity, she ran across the field after it,and fortunately was just in time to see it pop
down a large rabbit hole under the hedge. Inanother moment down went Alice after it,
底なしの穴の落下
never once considering how in the world she was toget out again. The rabbit hole went straight
on like a tunnel for some way, and then dippedsuddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a
moment to think about stopping herself before shefound herself falling down a very deep well.
Either the well was very deep, or she fell veryslowly, for she had plenty of time as she went
down to look about her, and to wonder what wasgoing to happen next. First, she tried to look
down and make out what she was coming to, but itwas too dark to see anything, then she looked at
the sides of the well, and noticed that they werefilled with cupboards and bookshelves, here and
there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs.She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she
passed, it was labeled orange marmalade, but toher great disappointment it was empty, she did
not like to drop the jar for fear of killingsomebody underneath, so managed to put it into
one of the cupboards as she fell past it. Well!thought Alice to herself, after such a fall as
this, I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs. How brave they'll all think me at home!
Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if Ifell off the top of the house. Which was very
likely true. Down, down, down! Would the fallnever come to an end? I wonder how many miles
I've fallen by this time? She said aloud. I mustbe getting somewhere near the center of the earth.
Let me see, that would be four thousand milesdown, I think, for, you see, Alice had learned
several things of this sort in her lessons in theschoolroom, and though this was not a very good
opportunity for showing off her knowledge, asthere was no one to listen to her, still it was
good practice to say it over, yes, that's aboutthe right distance, but then I wonder whatlatitude
or longitude I've got to? Alice had no idea whatlatitude was, or longitude either, but thought
they were nice grand words to say. Presently shebegan again. I wonder if I shall fall right
through the earth. How funny it'll seem to comeout among the people that walk with their heads
downward. The antipathies, I think, she was ratherglad there was no one listening, this time, as it
didn't sound at all the right word, but I shallhave to ask them what the name of the country is,
you know. Please, ma'am, is this New Zealand orAustralia? And she tried to curtsy as she spoke,
fancy curtsying as you're falling through the air.Do you think you could manage it? And what an
ignorant little girl shall thank me for asking?No, it'll never do to ask, perhaps I shall see
it written up somewhere. Down, down, down. Therewas nothing else to do, so Alice soon begantalking
again. Dinah'll miss me very much tonight, Ishould think. Dinah was the cat, I hope they'llremember
her saucer of milk at tea time. Dinah, my dear. Iwish you were down here with me. There are no mice
in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat,and that's very like a mouse, you know. But docats
eat bats, I wonder? And here Alice began to getrather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a
dreamy sort of way, Do cats eat bats? Do cats eatbats? And sometimes do bats eat cats? For, yousee,
as she couldn't answer either question, it didn'tmuch matter which way she put it. She felt that
she was dozing off, and had just begun to dreamthat she was walking hand in hand with Dinah,
and saying to her very earnestly, Now, Dinah, tellme the truth, did you ever eat a bat?
ウサギの穴からの脱出と小さな扉
When suddenly—thump! thump!—down she came upon aheap of sticks and dry leaves,
and the fall was over. Alice was not a bit hurt,and she jumped up onto her feet in a moment,
she looked up, but it was all dark overhead,before her was another long passage,
and the white rabbit was still in sight, hurryingdown it. There was not a moment to be lost,
away when Alice liked the wind, and was just intime to hear it say, as it turned a corner,
Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!She was close behind it when she turned thecorner,
but the rabbit was no longer to be seen, she foundherself in a long low hall,
which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging fromthe roof. There were doors all round the hall,
but they were all locked, and when Alice had beenall the way down one side and up the other,
trying every door, she walked sadly down themiddle, wondering how she was ever to get outagain.
Suddenly she came upon a little three-leggedtable, all made of solid glass, there was nothing
on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's firstthought was that it might belong to one of the
doors of the hall, but alas! Either the locks weretoo large, or the key was too small, but at any
rate it would not open any of them. However, onthe second time round, she came upon a low curtain
she had not noticed before, and behind it was alittle door about fifteen inches high, she tried
the little golden key in the lock, and to hergreat delight it fitted. Alice opened the door
and found that it led into a small passage, notmuch larger than a rat-hole, she knelt down and
looked along the passage into the loveliest gardenyou ever saw. How she longed to get out of that
dark hall and wander about among those beds ofbright flowers and those cool fountains,
but she could not even get her head through thedoorway, and even if my head would go through,
thought poor Alice, it would be of very little usewithout my shoulders.
Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! Ithink I could, if I only knew how to begin.
「Drink Me」のボトルと縮む体
For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things hadhappened lately, that Alice had begun to think
that very few things indeed were reallyimpossible. There seemed to be no use in waitingby the
little door, so she went back to the table, halfhoping she might find another key on it,
or at any rate a book of rules for shutting peopleup like telescopes, this time she found a little
bottle on it, which certainly was not here before,said Alice, and round the neck of the
bottle was a paper label, with the words Drink Me,beautifully printed on it in large letters.
It was all very well to say Drink Me, but the wiselittle Alice was not going to do that in a
hurry. No, I'll look first, she said, and seewhether it's marked poison or not, for she had
read several nice little histories about childrenwho had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts,
and other unpleasant things, all because theywould not remember the simple rules their friends
had taught them, such as, that a red-hot pokerwill burn you if you hold it too long, and that
if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife,it usually bleeds, and she had never forgotten
that, if you drink much from a bottle markedpoison, it is almost certain to disagree with
you sooner or later. However, this bottle was notmarked poison, so Alice ventured to taste it,
and finding it very nice—it had, in fact, a sortof mixed flavor of cherry tart, custard,
pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot butteredtoast—she very soon finished it off.
What a curious feeling, said Alice, I must beshutting up like a telescope.
And so it was indeed, she was now only ten incheshigh, and her face brightened up at the
thought that she was now the right size for goingthrough the little door into that lovely garden.
鍵を忘れたアリスと「Eat Me」のケーキ
First, however, she waited for a few minutes tosee if she was going to shrink any further,
she felt a little nervous about this, for it mightend, you know, said Alice to herself,
in my going out altogether, like a candle. Iwonder what I should be like then? And she tried
to fancy what the flame of a candle is like afterthe candle is blown out, for she could notremember
ever having seen such a thing. After a while,finding that nothing more happened, she decided
on going into the garden at once, but, alas forpoor Alice! When she got to the door,
she found she had forgotten the little golden key,and when she went back to the table for it,
she found she could not possibly reach it, shecould see it quite plainly through the glass,
and she tried her best to climb up one of the legsof the table, but it was too slippery,
and when she had tired herself out with trying,the poor little thing sat down and cried.
Come, there's no use in crying like that, saidAlice to herself, rather sharply, I advise you
to leave off this minute. She generally gaveherself very good advice, though she very
seldom followed it, and sometimes she scoldedherself so severely as to bring tears into her
eyes, and when she remembered trying to box herown ears for having cheated herself in a game of
croquet she was playing against herself, for thiscurious child was very fond of pretending to be
two people. But it's no use now, thought poorAlice, to pretend to be two people. Why, there's
hardly enough of me left to make one respectableperson. Soon her eye fell on the little glass box
that was lying under the table, she opened it andfound in it a very small cake, on which the words
eat me were beautifully marked in currants. Well,I'll eat it, said Alice, and if it makes me grow
larger, I can reach the key, and if it makes megrow smaller, I can creep under the door,
so either way I'll get into the garden, and Idon't care which happens.
She ate a little bit, and said anxiously toherself, which way? which way? holding her hand
on the top of her head to feel which way it wasgrowing, and she was quite surprised to find that
she remained the same size, to be sure, thisgenerally happens when one eats cake, but Alice
had got so much into the way of expecting nothingbut out of the way things to happen, that itseemed
quite dull and stupid for life to go on in thecommon way. So she set to work, and very soon
finished off the cake.
