Alice backed away from the Oraculum, shaking her head.

"That's not me," she said. She refused to believe it. It was more impossible than any of the impossible things her father had ever believed before breakfast.

"I know!" the Dormouse agreed. She flapped her furry¹ hands at the White Rabbit, as if to hurry him along.

The White Rabbit sighed. "Resolve this for us, Absolem," he pleaded, twitching² his ears at the blue Caterpillar³. "Is she the right Alice?"

The Caterpillar peered over the top of his mushroom. He looked Alice in the eye and thought for a long, tense moment.

"Not hardly," he said at last. Smoke billowed out of his hookah, obliterating⁴ him from view.

Pandemonium⁵ broke out among the creatures on the ground.

"I told you!" the Dormouse cried.

"Oh, dear!" squealed⁶ the White Rabbit, throwing up his paws. He looked horribly dismayed, and for a moment Alice felt quite bad for being so very much the "wrong" Alice.

"I said so!" said Tweedledum.

"I said so," said Tweedledee.

"Contrariwise, you said she might be," snapped his brother.

"No, you said she would be if she was," shouted Tweedledee.

"Little imposter!" cried the Dodo. "Pretending to be Alice! She should be ashamed!"

All of them glared at Alice as if everything was somehow her fault.

"I'm sorry!" Alice protested. "I don't mean to be the wrong Alice!" She really thought this was all rather unfair. "Wait, this is my dream," she remembered. "I'm going to wake up now, and you'll all disappear." Wrong Alice, indeed!

She closed her eyes and firmly pinched herself, the way her father had shown her. After a moment, she opened her eyes again.

The creatures were all still there staring at her, with the pale mist-wreathed trunks of the mushroom forest behind them.

She pinched herself again, harder this time.

The animals just looked at her. Nobody had the good manners to disappear.

"That's odd," Alice muttered. "Pinching usually does the trick." She frowned at the creatures in puzzlement.

The Dormouse pulled a long, sharp hatpin from the scabbard hanging on her breeches. "I could stick you if that would help," she offered.

Alice considered the idea for a moment. "It might, actually," she said. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," said the Dormouse, a little too gleefully. She scampered⁷ over and stabbed Alice in the ankle with relish⁸.

"Argh!" Alice shrieked⁹, grabbing for her foot. That hurt more than a pinch—and it still didn't work. This was a horrible dream!

And it promptly¹⁰ got much worse. A thunderous roar echoed through the mushroom forest, shaking the soggy ground beneath them. Alice screamed as something came crashing through a high wall nearby. For a terrifying moment, she thought it was the Jabberwocky.

But then she realized that this new beast was furry, not scaly¹¹. It had the head of a rabid bulldog and was oozing¹² drool from its squashed muzzle¹³. Its fur was caked with blood and filth¹⁴. Its teeth looked like shark's teeth, broken and stained with blood. A foul¹⁵ stench wafted¹⁶ from its huge furry body.

It might not be the Jabberwocky, but it was equally bloodcurdling!

"Bandersnatch!" yowled Tweedledee.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" shrieked Tweedledum. "It's so frumious!"

Everyone scattered¹⁷, fleeing for their lives. Alice covered her head and ran back toward the garden. Her heart pounded madly in her chest. She did not want to be eaten, even in a dream.

All throughout the garden and the mushroom forest, animals were fleeing in terror. But many of them found themselves running into the arms of an equally dangerous foe¹⁸. Tall Red Knights¹⁹ intercepted²¹ them, waving swords and shouting orders. The White Rabbit spotted²² the crest²³ on their armor—a heart in flames—the Red Queen's crest. The White Rabbit bolted through a hedge, hoping to escape.

Ahead of him, a pig and a flamingo²⁴ were seized by rough, armor-clad arms and flung into a caged wagon²⁵. As the rabbit darted²⁶ under a low branch, he saw the Dodo slip through the circle and escape.

Unfortunately, the White Rabbit was not so lucky.

A knight²⁰ grabbed his leg and lifted him into the air. The White Rabbit flailed²⁷ angrily, waving his paws. "Unhand me!" he shouted. "I do not enjoy being—"

The rest of his sentence was muffled²⁸ as he was tossed into the caged wagon with the other animals.

Alice saw none of this; she was still racing²⁹ down a garden path, feeling the hot, smelly breath of the Bandersnatch close on her heels. The ground shook as his meaty paws thundered behind her.

Suddenly, Alice skidded³⁰ to a stop. "Wait," she said. "It's only a dream!" For a moment the fear had made her forget. She nearly laughed. "Nothing can hurt me," she reminded herself. Crossing her arms, she turned to face the Bandersnatch.

Not far away, the Dormouse watched from behind a tree. She pressed her paws to her face in disbelief. "What is she doing?" she whispered.

The Bandersnatch loomed³¹ over Alice. Drool dripped from its muzzle onto her shoes as it opened its mouth wide to devour³² her.

"Can't hurt me," Alice said defiantly³³. This was an awfully³⁴ realistic dream. But it had to be a dream. None of this could possibly be real. "Can't hurt me," she said again, a little less confidently this time.

"Run, you great lug³⁵!" the Dormouse screamed. With a groan³⁶ of despair, the tiny mouse darted out from behind the tree and leaped onto the Bandersnatch. She pulled herself up, paw over paw, to its shoulder and drove her hatpin straight into its wild, rolling eye.

"RRROOOOOOOWWWWRRRRRR!" the Bandersnatch bellowed³⁷ in pain. It thrashed and kicked furiously. The Dormouse struggled to pull out the hatpin … but the whole eye popped out!

The Bandersnatch's howls increased in fury. It whipped around, lashed³⁸ out, and raked Alice's arm with its long claws.

"Ow!" Alice shrieked. She'd had enough of testing this dream. She turned and ran for her life.

Back in the mushroom forest, the Oraculum lay forgotten and unattended on the ground, where it had been dropped in the mad stampede to escape the Bandersnatch. A long, quiet moment passed, and then a grim-looking man stepped out of the mist and stared down at it. A flaming red birthmark covered half his face and hands, and he also wore the crest of the Red Queen. He picked up the Oraculum and studied the page it was open to.

An alarmed look flitted across his face. He glanced around surreptitiously, tucked the scroll³⁹ into his saddlebag, and rode away.

The Tweedles suddenly appeared, running one on either side of Alice. They pointed⁴⁰ at the path up ahead, where it diverged⁴¹ in two directions. A road sign indicated that one direction led to "QUEAST" and the other led to "SNUD," which really told Alice nothing.

"This way!" Tweedledum shouted. "East to Queast!"

"No!" Tweedledee bellowed. "South to Snud!"

Each grabbed an arm and tried to pull her down his chosen path. Alice felt as if she were being ripped in two. She didn't care which way she went— she just wanted to get away!

An ear-splitting screech⁴² rang out from above. The Tweedles froze in terror as an enormous bird landed in front of them. It had the terrifying deathdealing beak⁴³ of an eagle and the long towering legs of an ostrich⁴⁴. Blood dripped from its mouth as it clattered⁴⁵ its beak at them. Its glittering, beady eyes darted from Alice to one Tweedle and then to the other.

"JUB-JUB!" the bird screeched⁴⁶. It lunged forward and seized the Tweedles in its claws. Before Alice could react, the bird was in the air, flapping away.

The Tweedles were gone. The White Rabbit was gone. Everyone was gone.

Alice was quite alone.

 

爱丽丝边从神谕面前往后退边摇头。

“那不是我。”爱丽丝说。她不愿相信这一切，这比她父亲在早餐前相信的任何一件不可能的事都更让人难以相信。

“我就知道！”睡鼠随声附和道。她用毛茸茸的手拍了拍白兔子，好像在催他快走。

白兔子叹了口气。“阿布索伦，请明示。”白兔子抽动着自己的耳朵对蓝毛虫恳求道，“她是真的爱丽丝吗？”

蓝毛虫从蘑菇顶端探出他的脑袋。他看着爱丽丝思索了好一会儿，气氛也变得紧张起来。

“不太像。”他最后说道。滚滚烟雾从水烟袋里冒了出来，让他慢慢消失在人们的视线中。

地上的生物中爆发出一阵骚乱。

“我早就说过！”睡鼠大叫道。

“噢，天哪！”白兔子猛地举起爪子尖声叫道，他看上去非常沮丧。有那么一瞬间，爱丽丝觉得自己似乎就是那个“假”爱丽丝，这让她感到糟透了。

“我说过她不是！”咚咚说。

“我说过她不是！”叮叮说。

“不对，你说她可能是。”咚咚厉声反驳弟弟。

“不，你说如果她是，她就是。”叮叮吼道。

“小骗子！”渡渡鸟高声喝道，“冒充爱丽丝，她应该感到羞耻！”

所有人都盯着爱丽丝，仿佛所有的错都是她造成的。

“实在抱歉！”爱丽丝辩解道。“我不是有意要做假爱丽丝的！”她实在觉得这一切太不公平了。“等等，这是我的梦，”她想起来了，“等我从梦中醒来，你们全都会消失。”假爱丽丝，不见得吧？

她闭上双眼狠狠地掐了自己一下，这是父亲教她的方法。过了一会儿，爱丽丝又睁开眼睛。

所有的生物依然待在原地盯着她，它们身后是迷雾环绕的苍白的蘑菇林。

她又掐了掐自己，这次比上次的力道更大。

动物们还是直勾勾地盯着她，所有人都规规矩矩地待在原地。

“太奇怪了，”爱丽丝自言自语道，“掐胳膊通常很管用的呀。”她皱着眉头困惑地看着眼前的生物。

睡鼠从挂在腿部的剑鞘中拔出一根又长又锋利的帽针。“如果这个管用的话，我可以刺你一下。”她提议。

爱丽丝思索了一会儿睡鼠的建议，然后说：“但愿如此，谢谢。”

“不客气。”睡鼠有点儿得意地说道。她蹦蹦跳跳地来到爱丽丝身边，饶有趣味地刺了一下爱丽丝的脚踝。

“啊！”爱丽丝捂住自己的脚大叫一声。这可比掐要疼得多——但还是不管用。这真是个可怕的梦！

情况很快就变得越来越糟。一阵雷鸣般的咆哮声响彻蘑菇林，震动着脚底下潮湿的地面。有什么东西越过附近的高墙闯了进来，爱丽丝吓得高声尖叫。在那个胆战心惊的时刻，爱丽丝以为是炸脖龙来了。

但后来爱丽丝察觉到这个新闯进来的野兽浑身是毛，却没有鳞片。它长着斗牛犬般的脑袋，压扁的嘴巴正往下滴着涎水，毛发上满是鲜血和污物结成的块。它有着鲨鱼般的牙齿，破碎不堪，还沾着血迹。它巨大的毛茸茸的身体散发出阵阵恶臭。

这也许不是炸脖龙，但却同样令人毛骨悚然！

“大毛兽！”叮叮号叫道。

“啊——”咚咚尖叫起来，“太恐怖了！”

所有人都开始四处逃窜，纷纷逃命。爱丽丝护住自己的头反向跑回花园。她的心怦怦直跳。即使在梦里，她也不想被 吃掉。

整个花园和蘑菇林里的动物都胆战心惊地四处逃窜。但许多人发现自己跑进了另一个同样危险的敌人的领地。高大的红骑士拦住它们，挥舞着手中的剑，喝令它们停下。白兔子发现他们盔甲上的徽章——一颗熊熊燃烧的红心——这是红皇后的徽章。白兔子冲过一排树篱，希望能够逃脱。

在他前面，一头猪和一只火烈鸟被一个身披盔甲的粗暴的红骑士一把抓住，扔进了装有囚笼的马车里。当白兔子从低矮的树枝下窜过去时，他看见渡渡鸟悄悄穿过人群逃跑了。

不幸的是，白兔子就没那么幸运了。

一位红骑士抓住他的腿把它拎到半空中，白兔子挥舞着他的爪子气愤地挣扎着。“放开我！”他咆哮道，“我可不喜欢被——”

剩下的话渐渐变得含糊不清，因为他和其他动物一起被扔进了装有囚笼的马车里。

爱丽丝对这一切都毫不知情，她继续沿着花园的小径一路狂奔，感觉大毛兽灼热恶臭的气息紧跟在她身后。它肉乎乎的爪子扑打着地面发出隆隆的响声，爱丽丝身后的地面都随着它一起震动。

爱丽丝突然来了个急刹车。“等等，”她说，“这只是个梦！”恐惧让她片刻间忘掉了这个事实。她差点笑了出来。“什么也伤害不了我。”爱丽丝提醒自己。她双手交叉抱在胸前，转过身淡定地看着大毛兽。

不远处，睡鼠在一棵树后面注视着一切。她用爪子捂住自己的脸，感到难以置信。“她到底在干吗？”她小声说道。

大毛兽慢慢逼近爱丽丝。当它张开血盆大口想要一口吞下爱丽丝时，涎水顺着它的嘴巴滴到了爱丽丝的鞋上。

“你伤害不了我。”爱丽丝轻蔑地说，心想这只是个太过真实的梦，但它一定只是个梦而已。梦里的一切都不可能是真的。“你伤害不了我。”爱丽丝重复道，只不过这次底气没那么足了。

“快跑，你这个笨蛋！”睡鼠高声叫道。伴随着一声绝望的叹息声，小睡鼠从树后窜出来跳到大毛兽身上。她一步一步慢慢往上爬，爬到了大毛兽的肩膀上，然后将帽针狠狠地刺向大毛兽盛怒的圆眼睛。

“嗷——”大毛兽痛得大叫起来，它猛烈地甩动着身体，四肢狂暴地拍打着地面。睡鼠挣扎着想拔出帽针……但大毛兽的整个眼珠砰的一下就弹了出来！

大毛兽愤怒的哀号声越来越尖锐。它突然转过身猛冲出去，用它的长爪子在爱丽丝的胳膊上猛抓了一把。

“哎哟！”爱丽丝尖叫起来。她简直受够了，不想再验证这个梦是不是真的。她立马转身逃命。

而在蘑菇林里，被人遗忘的神谕孤零零地躺在地上。大伙儿为了躲避大毛兽在慌乱逃散的途中把神谕遗失在了这个地方。这样安静地过了许久之后，一名神情冷酷的男子从迷雾中走了出来，盯着地上的神谕。火红的胎记遮住了他的半张脸和两只手，他也佩戴着红皇后的徽章。男人拾起神谕，仔细研究之前翻到的那一页。

男人的脸上掠过一丝惊恐的神情。他偷偷地朝四周望了望，然后卷起卷轴塞进自己的鞍囊里，骑马离开了。

双胞胎兄弟突然出现，各自跑向爱丽丝的一边，他们伸手指着前方通往两个方向的岔道。路标上写着一边通往“奎斯特”，另一边通往“桑德”，这让爱丽丝不知如何抉择。

“往这边！”咚咚嚷嚷道，“往东去奎斯特！”

“不！”叮叮大声喝道，“往南去桑德！”

他们每人抓着爱丽丝的一只胳膊把她往自己选的那条道上拉。爱丽丝觉得自己就快被扯成两半了。她根本不在乎到底走哪条路——她只是想离开而已！

空中传来一声震耳欲聋的啼叫。随后，一只巨型大鸟降落在他们面前，双胞胎兄弟都吓呆了。它长着老鹰般令人胆战心惊的夺命喙，鸵鸟般高高耸立的长腿。大鸟在腿上摩擦着自己的夺命喙时，鲜血顺着它的嘴角往下滴。它亮晶晶的小眼睛瞥了爱丽丝一眼，然后挪到叮叮和咚咚身上。

“啾—啾！”大鸟发出一声尖叫。它冲上前用爪子一把擒住双胞胎兄弟，还没等爱丽丝反应过来，它已经冲到空中，拍拍翅膀飞走了。

双胞胎兄弟被抓走了，白兔子被抓走了，所有人都不在了。

爱丽丝孤零零的。

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