III. THE POOL OF TEARS.

Perhaps you think Alice must have been very much pleased, when she had eaten the little cake, to find herself growing so tremendously¹ tall? Because of course it would be easy enough, now, to reach the little key off the glass table, and to open the little tiny door.

Well, of course she could do that: but what good was it to get the door open, when she couldn’t get through? She was worse off than ever, poor thing! She could just manage, by putting her head down, close to the ground, to look through with one eye! But that was all she could do. No wonder the poor tall child sat down and cried as if her heart would break.

So she cried, and she cried. And her tears² ran down the middle of the hall, like a deep[10] river. And very soon there was quite a large Pool of Tears, reaching half-way down the hall.

And there she might have staid, till this very day, if the White Rabbit hadn’t happened to come through the hall, on his way to visit the Duchess. He was dressed up as grand³ as grand could be, and he had a pair of white kid gloves in one hand, and a little fan⁴ in the other hand: and he kept on muttering⁵ to himself “Oh, the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh, won’t she be savage⁶ if I’ve kept her waiting!”

But he didn’t see Alice, you know. So, when she began to say “If you please, Sir——” her voice seemed to come from the top of the hall, because her head was so high up. And the Rabbit was dreadfully frightened: and he dropped the gloves and the fan, and ran away as hard as he could go.

Then a very curious⁷ thing indeed⁸ happened. Alice took up the fan, and began to fan herself with it: and, lo and behold⁹, she got quite small again, and, all in a minute, she was just about the size of a mouse!

Alice and a mouse in water

Now look at the picture, and you’ll soon guess what happened next. It looks just like the sea, doesn’t it? But it really is the Pool of Tears——all made of Alice’s tears, you know!

And Alice has tumbled¹⁰ into the Pool: and the Mouse has tumbled in: and there they are, swimming about together.

Doesn’t Alice look pretty, as she swims across the picture? You can just see her blue stockings¹¹, far away under the water.

But why is the Mouse swimming away from Alice in such a hurry? Well, the reason is, that Alice began talking about cats and dogs: and a Mouse always hates talking about cats and dogs!

Suppose you were swimming about, in a Pool of your own Tears: and suppose somebody began talking to you about lesson-books and bottles of medicine, wouldn’t you swim away as hard as you could go?

1 tremendously   

adv.极大地；极端地；极其；非常

参考例句：

• The experience has been tremendously educational. 这一经历极富教育意义。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The spectacle of Xerxes's defeat tremendously reinforced the traditional conviction that pride goes before a fall. 泽克西斯战败的景象极其使人信服“骄兵必败”这句源远流长的老话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tears   

n.眼泪( tear的名词复数 )；破洞；裂口；裂缝v.撕( tear的第三人称单数 )；（使）分裂；撕碎；扯破

参考例句：

• She made a gallant attempt to hide her tears. 她强掩泪水。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。

3 grand   

adj.豪华的，宏伟的，壮丽的，主要的，重大的；n.(美俚)一千美元

参考例句：

• The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
• Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来，我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。

4 fan   

n.风扇，迷，狂热者；v.煽，煽动，刺激

参考例句：

• Are you a football fan?你是足球迷吗？
• Jack is a baseball fan.杰克是个棒球迷。

5 muttering   

轻声低语，咕哝地抱怨( mutter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was muttering away to himself. 他不停地喃喃自语。
• She was muttering to herself. 她不停地喃喃自语。

6 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

7 curious   

adj.好奇的，求知的，古怪的

参考例句：

• I heard a curious sound in the room.我在房间里听到奇怪的声音。
• He puts forward so many curious questions.他提出这么多稀奇古怪的问题。

8 indeed   

adv.真正地，实际上；确实，实在；当然，固然；甚至；真的

参考例句：

• I thank you very much indeed for this interview.我十分感谢您这次接见。
• I didn't mind.Indeed,I was pleased.我不在意，甚至还很高兴。

9 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

10 tumbled   

v.倒塌( tumble的过去式和过去分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟

参考例句：

• He slipped and tumbled down the stairs. 他脚一滑滚下了楼梯。
• A hundred and fifty empty bottles tumbled onto the floor. 150个空瓶子滚落到地板上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 stockings   

n.长袜( stocking的名词复数 )；靺；袜子

参考例句：

• a pair of silk stockings 一双长筒丝袜
• She wears a pair of sheer stockings. 她穿着一双透明的丝袜。 来自《简明英汉词典》