📖 Chapter 2: The Hall of Doors

Alice stood in the long hall, staring at the little golden key in her hand. She longed to enter the beautiful garden, but she was far too big to fit through the tiny door.

Then she noticed a small bottle standing on the glass table. Around its neck was a paper label with the words “DRINK ME” beautifully printed.

Alice looked at it carefully. “It doesn’t say poison,” she said, “so it must be safe.” She tasted it and found it delicious—like a mixture of cherry tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, and hot buttered toast. In a few moments she began to shrink!

She grew smaller and smaller until she was only ten inches high. “Now I can get into the garden!” she cried with delight.

She ran to the door, but—oh no! She had left the key on the glass table, which was now far above her head. She tried to climb one of the table legs, but it was too slippery. Poor Alice sat down and began to cry.

After a while, she noticed a small glass box lying under the table. Inside it was a tiny cake with the words “EAT ME” marked in currants.

“Well, I’ll try it,” said Alice. “If it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key. If it makes me smaller, I can creep under the door. Either way, I’ll get into the garden.”

She ate a little piece and waited. At once she began to grow. She grew and grew until her head touched the ceiling of the hall! She picked up the little key, but now she was far too tall to go through the tiny door.

Alice sat down and began to cry again. Her tears poured out until they formed a great pool all around her. Soon the water was several inches deep, and Alice found herself swimming.

As she splashed about, she heard something nearby. It was the White Rabbit again, still dressed in his waistcoat, muttering, “Oh my ears and whiskers! How late it’s getting!” He hurried off without noticing Alice.

She tried to call after him, but her voice echoed strangely in the hall. “Oh, what shall I do?” she sobbed, treading water in her own pool of tears.

The adventure was becoming stranger and stranger, and Alice wondered what would happen next.

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📘 Glossary

• Label – a piece of paper attached to something that gives information

• Custard – a sweet, creamy dessert made with eggs and milk

• Shrink – to become smaller

• Slippery – smooth and difficult to hold onto

• Currants – small dried fruits used in cakes

• Creep – to move slowly and carefully through a small space

• Ceiling – the top inside surface of a room

• Pool – a small area filled with water

• Treading water – moving arms and legs to stay afloat while swimming

• Whiskers – the long hairs on the face of a rabbit or cat

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❓ Comprehension Questions

1. What words were written on the bottle Alice found?

2. Why did Alice think it was safe to drink?

3. What happened after Alice drank from the bottle?

4. Why couldn’t Alice enter the garden even after shrinking?

5. What food did Alice find under the table?

6. What was written on the cake?

7. What happened after Alice ate some of the cake?

8. Why did Alice begin to cry the second time?

9. What strange thing happened with her tears?

10. Who did Alice see again at the end of the chapter?

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✅ Answers

1. “DRINK ME”.

2. Because the label didn’t say poison.

3. She shrank until she was only ten inches tall.

4. Because she had left the key on the high glass table.

5. A little cake in a glass box.

6. “EAT ME”.

7. She grew very tall until her head touched the ceiling.

8. Because she was too big to fit through the tiny door.

9. Her tears formed a large pool, and she had to swim in it.

10. The White Rabbit.