Alice was having trouble holding the wiggling baby. She was still only nine inches high. As quickly as she could, Alice carried the baby outside the Duchess' house.
The baby grunted, and Alice examined it closely. With each passing moment, it looked more and more like a pig. "I don't know what I'll do with this creature when I get home," Alice said.
The baby grunted loudly. This time there could be no mistake.
"This is definitely a pig!" Alice said. She put the animal on the ground, and it ran into the woods.
Relieved, Alice started walking. She was soon startled to see the Cheshire Cat, sitting in a tree and grinning. Alice thought he looked friendly despite his long claws and sharp teeth. She decided to ask a question.
"Cheshire Cat," Alice began, and the cat's grin grew wider. "Would you please tell me which way to go from here?"
"That depends on where you want to go," the Cheshire Cat replied.
Alice thought for a moment. "I don't really care as long as I get somewhere."
"Then it doesn't matter where you go," the Cheshire Cat said. "You're sure to get somewhere if you walk far enough."
While that answer was true, Alice didn't think it was helpful. She tried another question. "What sort of people live around here?"
The Cheshire Cat waved his right front paw and said, "The Hatter lives in that direction." Pointing his left front paw, he said, "The March Hare lives over there. Visit whichever you like—they're both mad."
"Mad?"
"Yes, they're both quite insane. Then again, everyone here is mad, even you."
Alice was curious. "How do you know that I'm mad?"
"You must be, or you wouldn't be here. By the way, are you playing croquet with the Queen today?"
Alice clapped her hands with delight. "I'd like that very much, but I haven't been invited yet."
"Well, if you go, you'll see me there," the Cheshire Cat said. And then he vanished without another word.
Alice wasn't surprised by this because she was getting used to odd things. While she was staring at the spot where the cat had been, he suddenly reappeared.
"I forgot to ask what happened to the baby," he said.
"The baby turned into a pig," Alice said calmly, as if that happened every day.
"I thought it would," the Cheshire Cat said, and vanished again.
"I'd better wait to be sure he isn't coming back," Alice said to herself. But the Cheshire Cat didn't reappear.
After a few minutes, Alice walked toward the March Hare's house. "I've seen hatters before, but I've never met a March Hare."
As Alice said this, she looked up. There was the Cheshire Cat, sitting in a tree.
"Did you say, 'pig' or 'fig'?" the Cheshire Cat asked.
"I said, 'pig.' I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and disappearing so suddenly. You're making me dizzy!"
"All right." This time the Cheshire Cat vanished slowly, beginning with his tail and ending with his mouth. His grin remained long after the rest of him had disappeared.
"I've seen a cat without a grin, but never a grin without a cat." Alice shook her head in disbelief. "That's the strangest thing I've ever seen!"
Alice soon came to a house with chimneys shaped like ears. The roof was made of fur. "That must be the March Hare's house," she said.
And because the house was bigger than she was, Alice wanted to grow. She nibbled at her mushroom until she was two feet high.