The raven and the writing desk

The raven and the writing desk, an illustration by JVL in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 

Artists' Choice Editions, 2009.

The text:

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he

SAID was, 'Why is a raven like a writing-desk?'

 'Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. 'I'm glad

they've begun asking riddles. -- I believe I can guess that,' she

added aloud.

 'Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?' said

the March Hare.

'Exactly so,' said Alice.

'Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.

 'I do,' Alice hastily replied; 'at least -- at least I mean what I say --

that's the same thing, you know.'

'Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. 'You might just as well

say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!'

 'You might just as well say,' added the March Hare, 'that "I like

what I get" is the same thing as "I get what I like"!'

 'You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be

talking in his sleep, 'that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing

 as "I sleep when I breathe"!'

'It IS the same thing with you,' said the Hatter, and here the

conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while

Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and

writing-desks, which wasn't much.

The Caterpillar's hookah and mushroom

The Caterpillar's hookah and mushroom, an illustration by JVL in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Artists' Choice Editions, 2009.

The text:

This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a

minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and

yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the

mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it

went, 'One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will

make you grow shorter.'

 'One side of WHAT? The other side of WHAT?' thought Alice to

 herself.

'Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it

 aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.

The dog in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The dog in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, an illustration by JVL in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Artists' Choice Editions, 2009.

The Text:

An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round

eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her. 'Poor

little thing!' said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard to

whistle to it; but she was terribly frightened all the time at the

thought that it might be hungry, in which case it would be very

likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.

Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of stick, and

held it out to the puppy; whereupon the puppy jumped into the air

off all its feet at once, with a yelp of delight, and rushed at the stick,

and made believe to worry it; then Alice dodged behind a great

thistle, to keep herself from being run over; and the moment she

appeared on the other side, the puppy made another rush at the

stick, and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it;

then Alice, thinking it was very like having a game of play with a

cart-horse, and expecting every moment to be trampled under its

feet, ran round the thistle again; then the puppy began a series of

short charges at the stick, running a very little way forwards each

time and a long way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at

last it sat down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out

of its mouth, and its great eyes half shut.

This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape; so

she set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out of

breath, and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the

distance.

Bill the Lizard is kicked up the chimney by Alice

Bill the Lizard is kicked up the chimney by Alice, an illustration by John Vernon Lord in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 

Artists' Choice Editions, 2008.

The text:

 Who's to go down the chimney? -- Nay, I

shan't! YOU do it! -- That I won't, then! -- Bill's to go down -- Here,

Bill! the master says you're to go down the chimney!'

 'Oh! So Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?' said Alice to

herself. 'Shy, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn't be

in Bill's place for a good deal: this fireplace is narrow, to be sure;

but I THINK I can kick a little!'

She[Alice] drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and waited

till she heard a little animal (she couldn't guess of what sort it was)

scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her:

then, saying to herself 'This is Bill,' she gave one sharp kick, and

waited to see what would happen next.

The first thing she heard was a general chorus of 'There goes Bill!'

then the Rabbit's voice along -- 'Catch him, you by the hedge!' then

silence, and then another confusion of voices -- 'Hold up his head --

Brandy now -- Don't choke him -- How was it, old fellow? What

happened to you? Tell us all about it!'

Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice, ('That's Bill,' thought

Alice,) 'Well, I hardly know -- No more, thank ye; I'm better now --

but I'm a deal too flustered to tell you -- all I know is, something

comes at me like a Jack-in-the-box, and up I goes like a sky-rocket!'

The White Rabbit's House

The White Rabbit's House, an illustration by JVL in 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Artists' Choice Editions, 2009.