[00:00.81]■ 4 The Cheshire Cat
[00:05.34]There was a boy outside the door，with a large letter in his hand．
[00:12.23](He was dressed like a boy，but his face was very like a fish，Alice thought．)
[00:20.35]The Fish-Boy knocked at the door，
[00:23.12]and a second later a large plate came flying out of an open window．
[00:29.98]'A letter for the Duchess，'the Fish-Boy shouted．
[00:36.41]He pushed the letter under the door and went away．
[00:40.93]Alice went up to the door and knocked，
[00:45.87]but there was a lot of noise inside and nobody answered．
[00:50.80]So she opened the door and walked in．
[00:55.22]She found herself in a kitchen，which was full of smoke．
[01:01.84]There was a very angry cook by the fire，
[01:06.60]and in the middle of the room sat the Duchess，holding a screaming baby．
[01:11.93]Every few minutes a plate crashed to the floor．
[01:16.72]There was also a large cat，which was sitting on a chair and grinning from ear to ear．
[01:24.78]'Please，'Alice said politely to the Duchess，'why does your cat grin like that？'
[01:34.88]'It's a Cheshire Cat，'said the Duchess．'That's why．'
[01:42.63]'I didn't know that cats could grin，'said Alice．'Well，you don't know much，'
[01:51.27]said the Duchess．Another plate crashed to the floor and Alice jumped．
[01:57.34]'Here！'the Duchess went on ．'You can hold the baby for a bit，if you like．
[02:05.82]The Queen has invited me to play croquet，and I must go and get ready．'
[02:12.72]She pushed the baby into Alice's arms and hurried out of the room．
[02:20.12]'Oh，the poor little thing！'
[02:23.67]said Alice，looking at the baby，which had a very strange face．
[02:29.78]She took it outside into the wood and walked around under the trees．
[02:36.68]Then the baby began to make strange noises，and Alice looked into its face again．
[02:45.30]Its eyes were really very small for a baby，
[02:51.19]and its nose now looked very like the nose of a pig．
[02:55.98]'Don't make noises like that，my dear，'said Alice．'It's not polite．
[03:03.83]You're beginning to sound like a pig．'
[03:07.55]But a few minutes later，there was no mistake．It was a pig．
[03:14.48]Alice put it carefully on the ground，
[03:18.31]and it ran quietly away on its four legs into the wood．
[03:23.91]'I'm pleased about that，'Alice said to herself．'It will be a good-looking pig，
[03:32.67]but it would be terrible to be a child with a face like that．
[03:38.07]She was thinking about pigs and children when she suddenly saw the Cheshire Cat in a tree．
[03:49.73]The Cat grinned at her，and she went nearer to it．
[03:55.04]'Please，'she said，'can you tell me which way to go from here？'
[04:02.56]'But where do you want to get to？'said the Cat．
[04:11.77]'It doesn't really matter—'began Alice．
[04:15.85]'Then it doesn't matter which way you go，'said the Cat．
[04:23.05]'But I would like to get somewhere，'Alice explained．
[04:30.68]'If you just go on walking，'said the Cat，'in the end you'll arrive somewhere．'
[04:42.03]That was true，thought Alice，but not very helpful，so she tried another question．
[04:51.19]'What kind of people live near here？'
[04:56.98]'To the left，'the Cat said，'lives a Hatter．And to the right，lives a March Hare．
[05:09.12]You can visit either of them．They're both mad．'
[05:15.28]'But I don't want to visit mad people，'said Alice．
[05:20.93]'We're all mad here，you know，'said the Cat．'I'm mad．You're mad．'
[05:31.93]'How do you know that I'm mad？'said Alice．
[05:37.15]'Of course you're mad，'said the Cat．'Only mad people come here．'
[05:47.19]Alice was thinking about this，but the Cat went on，
[05:55.12]'Are you playing croquet with the Queen today？'
[06:01.35]'I would like to very much，'said Alice，'but nobody has invited me yet．'
[06:10.91]'You'll see me there，'said the Cat，and vanished．
[06:17.37]Alice was not really surprised at this，
[06:22.33]because so many strange things were happening today．
[06:28.28]She was still looking at the tree when，suddenly，the Cat appeared again．
[06:35.92]'I forgot to ask，'said the Cat．'What happened to the baby？'
[06:45.12]'It turned into a pig，'Alice said．'
[06:49.11]I'm not surprised，'said the Cat，and vanished again．
[06:59.98]Alice began to walk on，and decided to visit the March Hare．
[07:07.61]'It's the month of May now，'she said to herself，
[07:12.16]'so perhaps the Hare won't be as mad as he was in March．'
[07:18.18]Suddenly，there was the Cheshire Cat again，sitting in another tree．
[07:24.34]Alice jumped in surprise．'Do you think，'she said politely，
[07:31.93]'that you could come and go more slowly？'
[07:35.69]'All right，'said the Cat．And this time it vanished very slowly．
[07:45.30]First its tail went，then its body，then its head，and last，the grin．
[07:55.36]'Well！I've often seen a cat without a grin，'thought Alice，
[08:00.68]'but never a grin without a cat！'
[08:04.24]Soon she saw the house of the March Hare in front of her．It was a large house，
[08:11.75]so she ate a little piece of mushroom to get bigger，and walked on．