When Alice and the Mouse had got out of the Pool of Tears, of course they were very wet: and so were a lot of other curious creatures, that had tumbled in as well. There was a Dodo ; and a Duck; and a Lory; and an Eaglet; and several others. Well, and so they didn't know how in the world they were to get dry again. But the Dodo~-who was a very wise bird-told them the right way was to have a Caucus-Race. And what do you think that was? You don't know? Well, you are an ignorant child! Now, be very attentive, and I'll soon cure you of your ignorance! First, you must have a racecourse. It ought to be a sort of circle, but it doesn't much matter what shape it is, so long as it goes a good way round, and joins on to itself again. Then, you must put all the racers on the course, here and there: it doesn't matter where, so long as you don't crowd them too much together. Then, you needn't say "One, two, three, and away!" but let them all set off running just when they like, and leave off just when they like. So all these creatures, Alice and all, went on running round and round, till they were all quite dry again. And then the Dodo said everybody had won, and everybody must have prizes! Of course Alice had to give them their prizes. And she had nothing to give them but a few comfits she happened to have in her pocket. And there was just one a-piece, all round. And there was no prize for Alice! So what do you think they did? Alice had nothing left but her thimble. Now look at the picture, and you'll see what happened "Hand it over here!" said the Dodo. Then the Dodo took the thimble and handed it back to Alice, and said "We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble!" And then all the other creatures cheered Wasn't that a curious sort of present to give her? Suppose they wanted to give you a birthday-present, would you rather they should go to your toy-cupboard, and pick out your nicest doll, and say "Here, my love, here's a lovely birthday-present for you!" or would you like them to give you something new, something that didn't belong to you before?

爱丽丝和老鼠终于从泪水潭里游了出来，当然，他们浑身都湿透了。还有一群像她们一样掉进水潭里的乌兽，个个也都是湿淋淋的。在它们中间，有一只渡渡鸟、一只鸭子、一只鹦鹉、一只小鹰，以及几只别的鸟兽。嗬，他们争论着怎样才能把衣服和皮毛弄干。渡渡乌-

一那是一只非常聪明的鸟儿- 告诉大家，唯一正确的方法是进行一场会议式赛跑。你们知道那是什么意思吗？不知道？你们真是一帮无知的孩子啊！好吧，竖起小耳朵听着，我很快就能够医治好你们的无知！首先，你们必领确定比赛路线，也就是画一个圆圈。这个圆圈的形状并不重要，关键是要首尾相连接着，所有的参赛者必须进人圆圈，只要別挤成一堆，他们

站在什么地方都行。然后，没有必要喊：“ 跑！〞大家完全随心所欲，想跑就跑，想停就停。爱丽丝和这些乌兽们一囵圈地跑着，直到衣服和皮毛都干透了才停下來。渡渡鸟说，所有的运动员都赢了，每个人都可以得到一份奖品！当然，要由爱丽丝给大家领发奖品。但问题又来了，她没有随身携带任何物品，拿什么东西作为兴品呢？幸好她的衣袋里装了一些糖果，于是，她给每位运动员发了一块糖。糟糕的是发到最后，只有她一个人没有领到奖品！

你们猜，他们是如何解决这个难题的？哦，爱丽丝的衣袋里还有一个顶针。请看下面的图片，你们就明白了。“把顶针拿过来！〞渡渡鸟说。渡渡鸟从爱丽丝手中接过项针，然后又郑重其事地交给她，说：“我们请求你收下这枚精致的顶针！’听见这话，鸟兽们全都欢呼起来

那是不是一件很奇葩的兴品？想想看，倘若有人说要送你件生日礼物，然后他径直走到你的玩具柜前，取出最漂亮的娃娃，说：“喂，亲爱的，这就是我送给你的生日礼物！’收到这样的礼物。你会感到开心吗？难道你不希望他送给你一件新玩具，一件你从末有过的生日礼物吗？