Chapter Five

Both not saying anything for a very long time, the caterpillar begins to speak by asking Alice who she is. Being herself unsure of exactly who she happens to be, Alice cannot give a good answer. From there both go into a long and very ridiculous conversation involving identities, Old Father William, and other such nonsense. Nothing comes of it though and they move on to the next topic. Alice explains that she is not her right size and would rather be taller than her present height. To this the caterpillar tells her that once side of his mushroom will make her grow taller and the other will make her smaller. While Alice begins to test this (first by making herself a giant) he wanders away. At her humongous size Alice startles a nearby bird who is convinced she is a serpent. After giving up hope of convincing the bird otherwise Alice once again begins to experiment until she has gone back to her original size. Back to normal, she wanders through the woods until she finds a house four feet high and reluctantly makes herself smaller in order to visit.