Chapter V
Training
In which Alice takes a strange train journey
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Before long, Alice came upon the railway station.
It was a very pretty building, with a long platform outside, and a track running for some distance, both before and after it.
‘This is certainly the place that I am looking for,’ thought Alice, as she walked onto the platform and looked around.
The station was very busy with porters in smart uniforms hurrying to and fro, and important-looking people waving their hands and telling other people what to do.
Alice looked at the brass plates on each of the doors of the building.
The first sign read “TICKET OFFICE”, the second one said “LOST PROPERTY”, and the third one said “EVERYTHING ELSE”.
‘Well,’ said Alice to herself, as she was jostled by the passing bystanders, ‘I must have a ticket to go on a train journey, so I will go to the ticket office, and ask for one there.’
She opened the first door and looked around the room.
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Inside the ticket office confusion reigned supreme.
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The room was packed with travellers of all shapes and sizes, all squeezed up against one another, and talking at the top of their voices, in order to be heard above the din.
Alice had never seen such chaos in all her life.
She pushed her way purposefully to the front of the office, and rapped loudly at the counter window.
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The man behind the ticket counter looked sternly at Alice, and he slid open the window.
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‘Where might you be going, young miss?’ he asked her, peering over the top of his spectacles.
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‘Please, sir,’ began Alice, ‘I have been told to ask for a ticket to take me to see the Queen.’
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‘The Queen, eh?’ said the man, grinning broadly at Alice’s request.
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‘First-class ticket or second-class?’ he asked.
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‘How much are the tickets?’ asked Alice.
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‘Five pounds for a second-class ticket, and two pence for a first-class ticket,’ replied the man.
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‘Well,’ said Alice, thinking carefully about what the man had just said to her, ‘I certainly can’t afford a second-class ticket, and I must say that I can’t understand why a first-class ticket would cost so much less than a second-class ticket.’
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The man looked back at Alice and sighed.
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‘Young lady,’ he said, with a note of resignation in his voice, ‘surely you must realise that you get what you pay for in this world, and that a second-class ticket is substantially larger than a first-class ticket,’ and with that he produced a large cardboard-backed poster with the words “SECOND-CLASS TICKET” stamped all over it.
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In his other hand, he held up a small square of paper, no larger than a penny stamp, with the words “FIRST-CLASS TICKET” printed in tiny letters.
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‘Thank you,’ said Alice, feeling around unsuccessfully in her pinafore pocket for her money. ‘I do believe that is what I need, but I can’t afford either ticket right now, I am afraid, as I don’t know where my purse has gone.’
The man put the tickets ...
