that 'll be a queer thing , to be sure ! However , every thing is queer today . '' Very soon she saw something splashing about in the pool near her : at first she thought it must be a walrus or a hippopotamus , but then she remembered how small she was herself , and soon made out that it was only a mouse , that had slipped in like herself . `` Would it be any use , now , '' thought Alice , `` to speak to this mouse ? The rabbit is something quite out-of-the-way , no doubt , and so have I been , ever since I came down here , but that is no reason why the mouse should not be able to talk . I think I may as well try . '' So she began : `` oh Mouse , do you know how to get out of this pool ? I am very tired of swimming about here , oh Mouse ! '' The mouse looked at her rather inquisitively , and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes , but it said nothing . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- `` Perhaps it does n't understand English , '' thought Alice ; `` I daresay it 's a French mouse , come over with William the Conqueror ! '' -LRB- for , with all her knowledge of history , Alice had no very clear notion how long ago anything had happened , -RRB- so she began again : `` où est ma chatte ? '' which was the first sentence out of her French lesson-book . The mouse gave a sudden jump in the pool , and seemed to quiver with fright : `` oh , I beg your pardon ! '' cried Alice hastily , afraid that she had hurt the poor animal 's feelings , `` I quite forgot you did n't like cats ! '' `` Not like cats ! '' cried the mouse , in a shrill , passionate voice , `` would you like cats if you were me ? '' `` Well , perhaps not , '' said Alice in a soothing tone , `` do n't be angry about it . And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah : I think you 'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her . She is such a dear quiet thing , '' said Alice , half to herself , as she swam lazily about in the pool , `` she sits purring so nicely by the fire , licking her paws and washing her face : and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse , and she 's such a capital one for catching mice -- oh ! I beg your pardon ! ''
cried poor XXXXX again , for this time the mouse was bristling all over , and she felt certain that it was really offended , `` have I offended you ? ''
Alice Dinah English French William fire first hippopotamus lesson-book où