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Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland
Kapitel 4:
The rabbit sends in a little bill, Lewis Carroll, Seite 3 ( von 4 )
She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at last came a rumbling
of little cart-wheels, and the sound of a good many voices all talking
together: she made out the words: "Where's the other ladder? - Why, I
hadn't to bring but one; Bill's got the other - Bill! fetch it here, lad! -
Here, put 'em up at this corner - No, tie 'em together first - they don't reach
half high enough yet - Oh! they'll do well enough; don't be particular - Here,
Bill! catch hold of this rope - Will the roof bear? - Mind that loose slate -
Oh, it's coming down! Heads below!" (a loud crash) - "Now, who did
that? - It was Bill, I fancy - Who's to go down the chimney? - Nay,
I shan't!
You do it! -
That I won't,
then! - Bill's got to go down - Here, Bill! the master says you've got to go
down the chimney!"
"Oh! so Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?" said Alice to
herself. "Why, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn't be in
Bill's place for a good deal: this fireplace is narrow, to be sure; but I
think I can kick
a little!"
She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and waited till she
heard a little animal (she couldn't guess of what sort it was) scratching and
scrambling about in the chimney close above her: then, saying to herself
"This is Bill," she gave one sharp kick, and waited to see what would
happen next.
The first thing she heard was a general chorus of "There goes Bill!"
then the Rabbit's voice alone - "Catch him, you by the hedge!" then
silence, and then another confusion of voices - "Hold up his head - Brandy
now - Don't choke him - How was it, old fellow? What happened to you? Tell us
all about it!"
Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice, ("That's Bill," thought
Alice,) "Well, I hardly know - No more, thank ye; I'm better now - but I'm
a deal too flustered to tell you - all I know is, something comes at me like a
Jack-in-the-box, and up I goes like a sky-rocket!"
"So you did, old fellow!" said the others.
"We must burn the house down!" said the Rabbit's voice; and Alice
called out as loud as she could, "If you do, I'll set Dinah at you!"
There was a dead silence instantly, and Alice thought to herself "I wonder
what they will
do next! If they had any sense, they'd take the roof off." After a minute
or two, they began moving about again, and Alice heard the Rabbit say, "A
barrowful will do, to begin with."
"A barrowful of what?" thought
Alice; but she had not long to doubt, for the next moment a shower of little
pebbles came rattling in at the window, and some of them hit her in the face.
"I'll put a stop to this," she said to herself, and shouted out,
"You'd better not do that again!" which produced another dead
silence.
Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little
cakes as they lay on the floor, and a bright idea came into her head. "If
I eat one of these cakes," she thought, "it's sure to make
some change in
my size; and as it can't possibly make me larger, it must make me smaller, I
suppose."
So she swallowed one of the cakes, and was delighted to find that she began
shrinking directly. As soon as she was small enough to get through the door,
she ran out of the house, and found quite a crowd of little animals and birds
waiting outside. The poor little Lizard, Bill, was in the middle, being held up
by two guinea-pigs, who were giving it something out of a bottle. They all made
a rush at Alice the moment she appeared; but she ran off as hard as she could,
and soon found herself safe in a thick wood.
"The first thing I've got to do," said Alice to herself, as she
wandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size again; and the
second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be
the best plan."
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