Alice in Wonderland. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Lewis Carroll, 2020

«Алиса» для тех, кто учит английский язык или просто любит читать книги в оригинале. Суть наших книг – частичный перевод текста на русский язык и его комментарии от преподавателя английского языка Романа Зинзера. Оригинальный текст, рекомендуемый уровень знания английского языка – не ниже Pre-Intermediate.

Chapter I. Down the Rabbit-Hole

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank на берегу реки , and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into заглянула the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice “without pictures or conversations?”

So she was considering размышляла in her own mind (as well as настолько насколько she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth стоило ли удовольствие от плетения венка из маргариток the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way не то чтобы… так удивительно было to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her ей пришло в голову that she ought to have wondered ей следовало бы удивиться at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out вытащил часы of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started здесь — встала to her feet, for it flashed across her mind ее осенило that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity сгорая от любопытства , she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down как кролик прыгнул a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering даже не думая how in the world she was to get out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped нырнула suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well a well — колодец, отверстие в земле .

Either the well was very deep, or Или… или she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about вокруг her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out разобраться what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs которые висели на крючках . She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled “ORANGE MARMALADE”, but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop ронять the jar for fear of killing somebody underneath внизу , so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

“Well!” thought Alice to herself, “after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs скатиться со ступеней — сущая ерунда ! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house даже если я свалюсь с крыши дома !” (Which was very likely true.)

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? “I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud. “I must be getting somewhere должно быть я приближаюсь near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think — ” (for, you see, Alice had learnt уже выучила several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off чтобы блеснуть her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over повторить ) “ — yes, that’s about the right distance — but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude широта и долгота I’ve got to?” (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand внушительные words to say.)

Presently she began again. “I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out это будет among the people that walk with their heads downward вверх ногами ! The Antipathies антипатии. Алиса предполагает, как бы называись люди на той стороне Земли , I think — ” (she was rather весьма, скорее glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all the right word) “ — but I shall have to буду должна спросить ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma’am мэм , is this New Zealand or Australia?” (and she tried to curtsey сделать реверанс as she spoke — fancy curtseying представьте выполнение реверанса as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) “And what an ignorant невежественная little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do не будет пользы to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.”

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. “Dinah’ll miss me very much to-night, I should think!” (Dinah was the cat.) “I hope they’ll remember her saucer миску of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice мышей in the air, I’m afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that’s very like очень похожа a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?” And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, “Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?” and sometimes, “Do bats eat cats?” for, you see, as she couldn’t answer either любой из question, it didn’t much matter which way she put it как бы она это не произносила . She felt that she was dozing off засыпала , and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly серьезно , “Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?” when suddenly, thump! thump! треск down she came upon a heap of sticks упала на кучу веток and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

Alice was not a bit hurt совсем не поранилась , and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight в поле зрения , hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time вовремя to hear it say, as it turned a corner, “Oh my ears and whiskers усы , how late it’s getting!” She was close behind прямо позади it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up подсвечивался by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying пробуя открыть every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid прочного glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice’s first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! увы either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate в любом случае it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round сделав второй круг , she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches дюймов high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!

Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down встала на колени and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed Как же ей хотелось to get out of that dark hall, and wander побродить about among those beds of bright flowers клумб ярких цветов and those cool прохладных fountains, but she could not even get her head through the doorway; “and even if my head would go through,” thought poor Alice, “it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up здесь — складываться like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.” For, you see, so many out-of-the-way удивительных things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed очень мало вещей действительно were really impossible.

There seemed to be no use нет смысла in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping буквально — надеясь наполовину, лучше — смутно надеясь she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (“which certainly was not here before,” said Alice,) and round the neck вокруг горлышка of the bottle was a paper label, with the words “DRINK ME,” beautifully printed on it in large letters.

It was all very well to say “Drink me,” but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. “No, I’ll look first,” she said, “and see whether it’s marked ‘poison’ яд or not”; for she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up съеден by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker кочерга will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds пойдет кровь ; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you не пойдет на пользу , sooner or later.

However, this bottle was not marked “poison”, so Alice ventured осмелилась to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard крем , pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off выпила полностью .

“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 засияло 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 уменьшиться еще сильнее : she felt a little nervous about this; “for it might end так я могу вообще исчезнуть , you know,” said Alice to herself, “in my going out altogether исчезну полностью , 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 догорела , for she could not remember ever having seen что когда-либо видела such a thing.

After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once сразу же ; 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 добраться it: she could see it quite plainly запросто through the glass, and she tried her best старалась изо всех сил to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery скользко ; and when she had tired herself out утомила себя with trying, the poor little thing sat down здесь — маленькая бедная девочка and cried.

“Come, there’s no use in crying like that!” said Alice to herself, rather sharply; “I advise you to leave off прекратить this minute!” She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded ругала herself so severely сурово as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears оттаскать себя за уши for having cheated herself in a game of croquet за жульничество в игре в крикет she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending ей нравилось притворяться to be two people. “But it’s no use now,” thought poor Alice, “to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make one respectable приличного person!”

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words “EAT ME” were beautifully marked in currants здесь — изюминами . “Well, I’ll eat it,” said Alice, “and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way в любом случае I’ll get into the garden, and I don’t care which happens!”

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously беспокойно to herself, “Which way? Which way?”, holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen уже так привыкла что ничего, кроме как необычного тут не случается , that it seemed quite dull скучно and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

So she set to work вернулась к работе , and very soon finished off the cake.