Alice caught the baby with some difficulty , as it was a queer-shaped little creature , and held out its arms and legs in all directions , ` just like a star-fish , ' thought Alice . The poor little thing was snorting like a steam-engine when she caught it , and kept doubling itself up and straightening itself out again , so that altogether , for the first minute or two , it was as much as she could do to hold it . As soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it , -LRB- which was to twist it up into a sort of knot , and then keep tight hold of its right ear and left foot , so as to prevent its undoing itself , -RRB- she carried it out into the open air . ` IF I do n't take this child away with me , ' thought Alice , ` they 're sure to kill it in a day or two : would n't it be murder to leave it behind ? ' She said the last words out loud , and the little thing grunted in reply -LRB- it had left off sneezing by this time -RRB- . ` Do n't grunt , ' said Alice ; ` that 's not at all a proper way of expressing yourself . ' The baby grunted again , and Alice looked very anxiously into its face to see what was the matter with it . There could be no doubt that it had a VERY turn-up nose , much more like a snout than a real nose ; also its eyes were getting extremely small for a baby : altogether Alice did not like the look of the thing at all . ` But perhaps it was only sobbing , ' she thought , and looked into its eyes again , to see if there were any tears . No , there were no tears . ` If you 're going to turn into a pig , my dear , ' said Alice , seriously , ` I 'll have nothing more to do with you . Mind now ! ' The poor little thing sobbed again -LRB- or grunted , it was impossible to say which -RRB- , and they went on for some while in silence . Alice was just beginning to think to herself , ` Now , what am I to do with this creature when I get it home ? ' when it grunted again , so violently , that she looked down into its face in some alarm . This time there could be NO mistake about it : it was neither more nor less than a pig , and she felt that it would be quite absurd for her to carry it further . So she set the little creature down , and felt quite relieved to see it trot away quietly into the wood . ` If it had grown up , ' she said to herself , ` it would have made a dreadfully ugly child : but it makes rather a handsome pig , I think . ' And she began thinking over other children she knew , who might do very well as pigs , and was just saying to herself , ` if one only knew the right way to change them -- ' when she was a little startled by seeing the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off . The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice .
It looked good-natured , she thought : still it had VERY long claws and a great many teeth , so she felt XXXXX it ought to be treated with respect .
So as at by for if like over than that