Once upon a time,on a warm afternoon,a young girl named Alice sat in a tree with her cat,Dinah,as her sister read aloud from a very boring book.

"Alice,will you kindly pay attention to your history lesson?"scolded her sister.

But Alice found it hard to pay attention to a book without pictures. Alice told her sister that in her world books would be nothing but pictures.

"What nonsense,"Alice's sister replied.

"Nonsense! That's it,Dinah. If I had a world of my own,everything would be nonsense,"Alice said as she wandered toward a field of flowers. "You'd be just like people,Dinah. And all the other animals,too."

As Alice spoke,a white rabbit hurried by. It was no ordinary rabbit. This rabbit wore a red jacket and carried an enormous gold watch.

"Oh,my fur and whiskers!"declared the White Rabbit. "I'm late!"

Alice wondered if he was late for a party. She called for him to wait,but the White Rabbit did not stop. He hurried toward a tree and disappeared into a hole among the roots.

Alice looked into the hole. She thought it was a strange place to have a party. "You know,Dinah,we really shouldn't be doing this,"said Alice as she squeezed into the hole.

"After all,we haven't been invited. And curiosity often leads to trouble!"

At that moment,Alice fell into a very deep pit.

"Goodbye,Dinah,"she called. Dinah waved goodbye. As Alice tumbled deeper and deeper,her skirt opened up like a parachute.

The pit was dark. As Alice floated downward,she turned on a lamp and saw that the sides of the pit were decorated with wallpaper and pieces of furniture.

"What if I should fall right through the center of the earth,"said Alice,"and come out the other side,where people walk upside down?"

Alice did land upside down,with her feet hooked over a curtain rod. Ahead,she saw the White Rabbit run down a topsy-turvy corridor. Alice tried to follow.

"Oh,Mr. Rabbit! Wait,please!"called Alice.

Unsure of which way he had gone,Alice turned to see a door closing. She opened the door only to discover that behind it lay a smaller door. Behind that door was an even smaller door,followed by another and another. Once Alice had opened all the doors,she squeezed through.

"Curiouser and curiouser,"she wondered aloud.

Alice had crawled into a room with yet another door at the end. When she took hold of the Doorknob,it let out a mighty cry.

"Oh! I beg your pardon,"said Alice. She told the Doorknob that she wanted to go through to find the White Rabbit. But the Doorknob said that she was too big. He suggested she try the bottle on the table. Alice didn't remember seeing a table,but suddenly,one appeared. On top of it was a bottle labeled DRINK ME.