Alice in Wonderland part 1: Down the rabbit-hole. Improve your English listening and vocabulary!

Hello. This is the story of an ordinary girl called Alice.

Our story begins on an ordinary summer's day.

Let's meet Alice: here she is, sitting next to the river with her sister

on a very hot summer's afternoon. Her sister is reading a book, and with no-one to talk to,

Alice is bored and a bit sleepy. Soon, she'll be in a Wonderland full of strange

and wonderful adventures - but Alice doesn't know that yet.

Ohh... there's nothing to do except lie on the grass and pick daisies. Shall I make a daisy

chain for my dear little Dinah? Oh... I don't know... It's sooo hot!

Oh dear! Oh dear! I'm late! I'm so very late! Oh dear! Oh dear!

A white rabbit! A talking white rabbit? Perhaps. But a rabbit with a pocket-watch?

A rabbit with pockets?! I must see where he's going!

Alice had never seen a rabbit with a pocket, or a waistcoat, or a pocket-watch before.

So, she ran after the rabbit as fast as she could,

and when the rabbit jumped down a large rabbit hole, Alice jumped straight after him.

Oohhhh... Either this hole is very deep - or I'm falling very slowly. And what a curious

rabbit-hole! Who would think a rabbit-hole would have bookshelves... and books...

and maps... and jars of marmalade?

Alice fell down, down, down. She fell for so long that she began to think about Dinah,

her cat.

Dinah will miss me tonight! I hope they'll remember her milk at tea-time. Dinah, my dear,

I wish you were down here with me!

Alice was beginning to feel quite sleepy when suddenly, her fall was over

and she found herself sitting on a pile of leaves and grass.

Ouch! Who's there?

Oh, my ears and whiskers! How late it's getting!!

Wait! Please sir, wait a moment!

The White Rabbit ran down a long tunnel. Alice ran after him. But when she reached the end

of the tunnel she found only a long hall with doors all the way round. Alice tried to open

the doors... but they were all locked. Then she saw a table with a tiny key on it.

These doors are all too big. There must be a smaller door somewhere. I wonder... hmmm,

let me take a look behind this little curtain... Oh! A tiny little door! Let me try the key...

What a beautiful garden! But how can I visit it? The door is so tiny... I can't even fit

my head through! Oh! It's no use. I wish I could fold up like a telescope! Wait a minute...

What's this? It certainly wasn't here before. A bottle... I wonder what it is. Let me see the label.

Hmmm: Drink me... Oh! Oh! Ohhhhhh!!!! What a curious feeling! I'm folding up like a telescope!

And so she was! Alice got smaller and smaller until she was small enough to fit through

the door. But she'd forgotten something ...

The key!

Alice was too small to reach the key on the table. She tried and tried to climb up the

table leg but it was too slippery. When she had tired herself out with trying, poor little

Alice sat down and cried.

It's no use. I can't reach the key, so I can't get into the garden and that's that.

There's no use crying like that! Alice! I advise you to stop this minute! Oohh... what's this?

A little glass box... with cake inside! Ooh: and there's a note. Eat me. Hmmm.

I wonder if it will make me grow... If I grow, I will be able to reach the key. But what if it makes

me even smaller? Well, if it makes me smaller, I will be able to creep under the door.

And Alice began to eat the cake. Did she grow big enough to reach the key?

Or perhaps the cake made her small enough

to creep under the door

and into her beautiful garden.

I'll tell you what happened next time.

Goodbye.