Narrator: Hello. Alice fell down
a Rabbit Hole one day and found
herself in a Wonderland, where animals
talk, curious things happen and
everything she eats and drinks makes her
grow bigger or smaller. Now she is sitting
alone. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. The
White Rabbit was running towards her.
He seemed to be very worried.
White Rabbit: Oh dear! Where can I have
dropped them? I must find them,
or I'm sure The Duchess
will chop off my head!
Narrator: Alice guessed he was
looking for the gloves and fan
that he had dropped - but
she didn't know where they were either.
After all her growing and shrinking,
Alice was exactly the same size
as the rabbit.
When the White Rabbit
saw Alice, he spoke to her quite angrily.
White Rabbit: Mary Ann! What are you
doing out here? Run home
this minute and get me
a pair of gloves and a fan! Quickly!
Alice: How surprised he'll be when
he finds out I'm not Mary Ann!
Narrator: Alice began to run,
as the White Rabbit had told her,
although she didn't quite know where
she should run to. But soon, a little house
appeared with the words 'W. Rabbit'
written on the door.
Alice: I won't knock on the door.
The real Mary Ann might hear me.
Narrator: Alice crept into the house and
went quietly upstairs to a little bedroom...
and there she found two fans,
three pairs of gloves and...
Alice: Another bottle! I hope it makes me
grow bigger again. I'm tired of being such
a tiny little thing!
Narrator: ...and sure enough, Alice began
to grow. Taller and taller she grew, until...
Alice: Ouch! My head! That's quite tall
enough. That's tall enough! O-o-o-oh...
Narrator: Alice tried her hardest
to stop growing - but it seemed to her
like the harder she tried, the taller
she grew. Soon Alice was so big that
she filled the whole room.
Her head pressed up against the ceiling,
her arm went out of the window,
and one of her feet went up the chimney.
Alice: What will become of me now?
Narrator: Outside the house, a crowd
started to gather. Alice heard voices.
Voices: Oh my, whatever could it be?
What's that?
Narrator: Soon, the White Rabbit arrived.
White Rabbit: What's that in the window?
Voice: It's an arm, sir!
White Rabbit: An arm? Well, it's got
no business being there! Bill!
Bill! Fetch the ladder and take it away!
Narrator: Bill was the gardener.
He brought a ladder and
climbed up on to the roof.
White Rabbit: I won't have an arm
in my bedroom!
Down you go Bill, down the chimney!
Narrator: Poor Bill went up the ladder and
tried to go down the chimney. But Alice's
foot was waiting for him... with a big kick.
Bill: Ohhhhhhhh!!!!
Voices: Quick, quick, help him,
help him up. Give him some air...
Alice: There! That's got rid of him!
Now what will they try?
Voices: Cakes! Cakes! Try the cakes!
White Rabbit: Yes! The cakes: bring
the cakes! We'll need a lot of them.
That's right. Now, everybody, throw them
through the other window!
Alice: What's this...? Oh! Lots and lots of
little cakes. I wonder... If I ate them, would
I shrink again? They must do something...
and I must get out of this house. I'll try
just one of them to start with.
Narrator: Alice ate one of the little cakes,
and soon found herself
to be a little smaller.
She ate another and another, until at last
she was just the right size to run out of
the bedroom... and out of the house.
Voices: Look! There she is! Get her!
Catch her, quickly! Catch her!
Narrator: But Alice was too fast for them.
She ran far away from
the White Rabbit's house, deeper and
deeper into the forest until she became
quite lost. She was wondering what
she could eat or drink to make her grow
to the right size again, when suddenly,
she saw in front of her
a large mushroom - about the same size
as herself, with a large blue caterpillar
sitting on top of it, smoking a pipe
and taking no notice of Alice at all.
Will the caterpillar
help Alice to grow again?
I'll tell you next time.