their friends had taught them: such as,
that a red-hot poker will 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 marked
'poison,' it is almost certain to disagree
with you, sooner or later.
little nervous about this; 'for it might end,
you know,' said Alice to herself, 'in my
going out altogether, like a candle. I
wonder what I should be like then?' And
she tried to fancy what the flame of a
candle is like after the candle is blown out,
for she could not remember ever having
seen such a thing.
However, this bottle was NOT marked
'poison,' so Alice ventured to taste it, and
finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort
of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard,
pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot
buttered toast,) she very soon finished it
off.
After a while, finding that nothing more
happened, she decided on going into the
garden at once; but, alas for poor 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: she
could see it quite plainly through the glass,
and she tried her best to climb up one of
the legs of the table, but it was too
slippery; and when she had tired herself
out with trying, the poor little thing sat
down and cried.
'What a curious feeling!' said Alice; 'I
must be shutting up like a telescope.'
And so it was indeed: she was now only
ten inches high, and her face brightened
up at the thought that she was now the
right size for going through the little door
into that lovely garden. First, however,
she waited for a few minutes to see if she
was going to shrink any further: she felt a
‘Come, there's no use in crying like that!'
said Alice to herself, rather sharply; 'I
advise you to leave off this minute!