Chasing a White Rabbit leads Alice into a fantastical world where logic dissolves. She fluctuates wildly in size, encounters rude and eccentric inhabitants, and survives a terrifying royal trial, ultimately realizing the absurdity of the fantasy is nothing more than a pack of cards.
Inside, the Duchess nurses a howling baby while the Cook throws pots and crockery at them. The air is so thick with pepper that everyone sneezes violently except the Cook and a grinning Cheshire Cat. Alice tries to converse with the Duchess about grinning cats, but the woman interrupts Alice’s lecture on the earth’s rotation with violent threats and a lullaby about beating children. Suddenly, the Duchess flings the baby at Alice so she can prepare for croquet, and the Cook hurls a frying-pan after her as she departs.
Alice carries the strange, howling baby into the fresh air, fearing for its safety in such a violent environment. As she watches, the child’s features contort; its nose turns into a snout, its eyes shrink, and it begins to grunt. Realizing it has turned into a pig, Alice sets it down, relieved to see it trot away into the woods. She reflects that it makes a rather handsome pig compared to the ugly child it was.
A short distance away, Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat sitting in a tree. The Cat explains that everyone in Wonderland is mad, including Alice herself, using a logical loop involving dogs and his own reversed behavior. When Alice asks for directions, the Cat suggests she visit either the Hatter or the March Hare, noting that they are both mad. The Cat vanishes and reappears, confirming the baby’s fate as a pig, before slowly disappearing again until only its grin remains floating in the air.
Alice proceeds toward the March Hare’s house, which she identifies by its ear-shaped chimneys and thatched fur roof. She nibbles the mushroom to grow to about two feet high, then approaches the house timidly, hoping the Hare will not be raving mad.
She arrived to find the March Hare, the Hatter, and a Dormouse seated at a table beneath a nearby tree, engaged in their perpetual tea party.
Alice approaches a table set out under a tree where the March Hare, the Hatter, and a sleeping Dormouse are having tea. Upon seeing her, the trio shouts that there is no room, despite the large table, forcing Alice to sit in an armchair at the end. The March Hare offers wine that does not exist, then criticizes Alice for sitting without an invitation. When the Hatter rudely comments on her hair, Alice scolds him, only to be met with the unanswerable riddle of why a raven is like a writing-desk. The conversation devolves into a nonsensical debate about the difference between saying what one means and meaning what one says.
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