At last the Caterpillar spoke to Alice.
"Who are you?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
This was not the best way to start a conversation. Alice replied rather shyly, "I hardly know, sir. At least I know who I was when I got up this morning. But I've changed several times since then."
"What do you mean by that? Explain yourself," the Caterpillar said.
Alice tried to be polite even though the Caterpillar seemed rather rude. "I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly, sir. Being so many different sizes in one day is confusing."
"No, it isn't."
"Perhaps you haven't had the chance to find that out yet," Alice said. "When you change into a butterfly, you'll probably feel quite strange."
"I will not," the Caterpillar said.
"You may feel differently than I do," Alice said, still trying to be polite. "But turning into a butterfly would feel very strange to me."
"You!" The Caterpillar's voice was full of scorn. "Who are you?"
And that brought them right back to the beginning of their conversation. Alice felt annoyed by the Caterpillar's remarks. She stood as tall as she could and looked straight at him. "I think you should tell me who you are first."
"Why?"
This was another puzzling question that Alice couldn't answer. The Caterpillar was in such a bad mood that she wanted to leave. She started to walk away.
"Come back!" the Caterpillar called after her. "I have something important to say!"
This sounded interesting, so Alice walked back to the mushroom and waited for him to speak.
"Don't lose your temper," the Caterpillar said.
"Is that all?" Alice couldn't believe how angry he made her feel.
"No."
For a few minutes, the Caterpillar sat silently, ignoring Alice. She was going to leave, but she really had nothing else to do. So she decided to wait. Perhaps the Caterpillar would have something interesting to say after all.
Finally he spoke to her again. "So you think you've changed?"
"Oh, yes," Alice said, happy that he was listening at last. "First I'm bigger, and then I'm smaller. I don't stay the same size for more than a few minutes."
The Caterpillar looked Alice up and down. "What size do you want to be?"
"I don't really care. I just don't like changing so often, you know?"
"No, I don't know," the Caterpillar replied.
Alice said nothing. She'd never met such a disagreeable creature, and she was losing her temper.
The Caterpillar interrupted her thoughts. "Are you happy now?"
"I'd like to be larger because three inches is such a horrible size."
"Three inches is the perfect height!" The Caterpillar stretched upright as he spoke, showing that he was exactly three inches high.
"But I'm not used to it!" Alice moaned.
"You'll get used to it in time," said the Caterpillar.
Alice waited, hoping the Caterpillar would say something more. Eventually he yawned twice, and shook himself. Then he got down from the mushroom.
"One side makes you grow taller," the Caterpillar said, crawling through the grass. "And the other side makes you smaller."
Alice wondered what in the world he was talking about. "One side of what? The other side of what?" she thought.
"Of the mushroom!" The Caterpillar replied as if Alice had asked her questions aloud. And in another moment, he was out of sight.