Alice stood looking at a small house, wondering what to do next. Suddenly, a footman dressed in fancy clothes ran up and knocked loudly on the door. He looked like a fish. Another footman, who looked like a frog, opened the door. The fish-footman handed over a large letter. “An invitation from the Queen to play croquet,” he said.
Their wigs got tangled as they bowed to each other, which made Alice laugh. She approached the house and knocked on the door.
“It’s no use knocking,” said the frog-footman. “First, because I’m on the same side of the door as you are; second, because they are making so much noise inside, no one will hear you.”
“Then how can I get in?” Alice asked.
“You might as well just go in,” he replied.
So Alice opened the door and went inside. She found herself in a large kitchen filled with smoke. The Duchess was sitting on a stool, holding a baby. The cook was stirring a big pot of soup that had too much pepper, making everyone sneeze except the cook and a grinning Cheshire Cat sitting by the fire.
“Why does your cat grin like that?” Alice asked.
“Because it’s a Cheshire Cat,” said the Duchess.
“I didn’t know cats could grin,” said Alice.
“You don’t know much,” replied the Duchess.
Alice felt this was rude and didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, the cook started throwing pots and pans at the Duchess and the baby. Alice was frightened and tried to avoid getting hit.
“Here, you can hold the baby if you like,” said the Duchess, handing the baby to Alice. “I must get ready to play croquet with the Queen.” She left, and the cook threw a frying pan after her but missed.
Alice took the baby outside. As she carried it, the baby began to grunt and started turning into a pig! Surprised, Alice let it go, and it ran away into the forest.
Just then, she saw the Cheshire Cat sitting in a tree.
“Which way should I go from here?” she asked.
“That depends on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” the Cat replied. “But if you go that way, you’ll meet the Hatter. If you go the other way, you’ll meet the March Hare. They’re both mad.”
“I don’t want to be around mad people,” said Alice.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat. “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” asked Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
The Cat vanished and reappeared a few times, which made Alice feel dizzy. Finally, it disappeared completely.
Alice decided to visit the March Hare. “Since it’s May, maybe he won’t be as mad as in March,” she thought. She walked towards his house and saw that it looked strange, with chimneys shaped like ears and a roof made of fur. Feeling a bit nervous, she said to herself, “I almost wish I’d gone to see the Hatter instead!”