1836: I Became a Literary Giant in Great Britain

One summer afternoon, Alice was dozing by the riverbank when she suddenly saw Mr. Rabbit, carrying a pocket watch and muttering "I'm going to be late," hurrying by. Out of kindness, she chased after him, only to fall headfirst down a rabbit hole and thus into a bizarre and wonderful underground wonderland...

Here, Alice discovers that drinking a potion shrinks her, while eating a piece of cake makes her grow bigger... Alice's wonderful adventure begins...

It's fair to say that, guided by this wonderful plot, the expressions of everyone on the ship brightened up.

When Emily read the part about growing bigger and smaller, her face was filled with vivid expressions.

Michael's immersion was clearly a bit weaker.

Michelle smiled; in fact, this was the essence of Alice in Wonderland.

What children see and what adults see are actually two different stories.

This passage subtly implies a child's perspective. After all, the world of children is vastly different from the adult world. To them, tables are too high, chairs too big, doors too small, and they can't quite understand what adults are saying. Therefore, at the very beginning of the story, Carol makes these differences in size that children encounter daily the core mechanism of this fantasy world...

In the following episodes, Alice, after her initial surprise, begins to want to go home.

Indeed, unlike the original story, Michelle's version has a much clearer storyline. The entire story has a main plot: Alice wants to return home... however, she must experience a series of adventures to get closer to home...

Yes, the version of Alice in Wonderland that Michel recounts is, of course, a heavily modified version by him.

While *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland* is undoubtedly a classic, its flaws are also quite apparent. If you break down the plot, you'll find that it's essentially a series of interconnected dream adventures...

The events of the previous chapter have absolutely no impact on the plot of the next. While this bears some resemblance to a real dream, it also results in the characters lacking any growth arc, and in fact, the plot feels rather loose... Many readers from later generations might even find it somewhat boring...

Furthermore, many jokes in the original work are heavily reliant on the Victorian era. Even Michelle in his previous life, when reading it, would have wondered, "Where's the humor in this part?" It wasn't his own problem; the jokes were simply over 100 years outdated...

Not only are expired bargains like poison, but expired jokes are too. That's why many good translations include explanations at the end...

However, this work shares its strengths and weaknesses. If you can connect with the jokes and understand their nuances, you'll have a very enjoyable reading experience. It's actually a work heavily reliant on the structure of the English language, which makes translation extremely challenging...

In short, Michel's main changes to the work were adding a main storyline and removing jokes that were out of touch with the times...

After Alice fell down the rabbit hole, beyond her initial surprise, one of her biggest motivations was wanting to go home.

With this main storyline connecting the dots, the overall flow of the story is significantly improved. At the same time, the most essential elements of the original work—its naive yet absurd plot—remain unchanged...

Next, we arrive at a famous scene from the book.

Alice encountered a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom. This time, the caterpillar looked at her and asked, "Who are you?"

Alice said, "I don't know either."

Because she had just changed size several times in a row, she began to doubt herself: if I keep changing, am I still the same person?

Yes, if I get bigger or smaller, am I still the same person?

Upon hearing this, Emily's face also showed a puzzled expression.

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This also made her think about many things about herself. During that year, her body also developed very rapidly.

Sometimes she would think to herself, "Am I still the same person I was when I grew up?"

But unlike Emily, Michael heard more of the unspoken meaning.

Michel is still Michel; even when he writes fairy tales, they are still fairy tales for everyone.

This is a thought-provoking question and answer.

Here, Michelle suddenly transforms Alice's previous physical changes into an identity issue.

The caterpillar that posed this question is quite significant, as it is itself a life form in constant flux; the caterpillar is merely its current form. In the future, it may transform into a pupa, and then into a butterfly.

In a sense, the caterpillar is Alice's future reflection...

Most importantly, Michelle didn't provide an answer.

This is quite different from children's literature today, since most children's literature today is still primarily didactic.

In other words, literature and stories teach children lessons.

If it were a children's literature author today, they would probably start preaching grand principles of growing up...

But Michelle did not do that.

Later in this scene, Alice asks the caterpillar, "Don't you feel strange after you turn into a butterfly?" The caterpillar replies, "Not at all."

This was quite cold, since Alice expected that the caterpillar would understand her confusion, but the caterpillar simply wouldn't cooperate. Michelle left the real answer to the reader...

Perhaps because of his long-term contact with Michelle and Dickens, Mike was able to think even more deeply.

Doesn't this caterpillar sound too much like an adult?

Whether it's asking "Who are you?" or explaining yourself, it all sounds like an adult interrogating a child...

Is there something wrong with our education system? How could a child possibly know their own identity?

Later in the story, Michael comes to appreciate Michelle's capabilities even more.

Alice then tried to recite the poems she knew, but she got them all wrong, and very wrongly at that.

Emily burst into laughter.

But in Michael's view, this was not just a joke, but a blatant satire.

Modern children's education places great emphasis on rote memorization of rules and correct expression. Michelle is satirizing this approach. The correct language taught to Alice in the real world becomes ineffective once she enters Wonderland.

Mike seemed to understand the core of Michelle's story.

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This is a world without right answers, or rather, the right answers in the real world don't apply here...

Then, Alice ate a mushroom, and her neck became so long that even the pigeons thought she was a snake.

Alice quickly explained, "I am not a snake, I am a little girl."

However, the pigeon said, "You have the characteristics of a snake, and you also eat eggs, so you must be a snake."

My God, this is actually a very serious logical problem.

So what determines a person's identity?

The pigeon's logic is that if you look like a snake and behave like a snake, then you are a snake. Alice, on the other hand, insists that she knows who she is, but she herself cannot prove it.

It can be said that Michelle faced a triple identity crisis in the story of the caterpillar.

First, there's the issue of my body changing size – am I still myself? Second, there's the linguistic aspect – why can't I even pronounce the poems I know correctly? The third and final layer concerns my social identity – how do others determine who I am?

The caterpillar's question, "Who are you?" runs throughout the entire storyline.

The only official website address for this novel is: ".". The website owner has only this one website, and other websites may be discontinued at any time.

It could be said that the rabbit hole led children into this world of fantasy, while the caterpillar transformed fantasy into literature...

That's so insightful, no wonder it's Michelle.

However, Michael also believes that this must be a story Michelle had planned in advance, otherwise it's too inexplicable...

It's terrifying that so many profound interpretations were just made up.

If the previous story of the caterpillar made Michael realize that Michel's work was not just a simple story, but had considerable literary merit.

The following plot then fully showcases the absurd yet captivating charm of Michelle's story...

Alice arrived at a tea party that would never end... Here sat the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Sleeping Hare. They drank tea endlessly...

At this point, Alice felt something was strange. Why were you all drinking tea?

The Mad Hatter said he had argued with me about time. Alice continued, "So?" "So now it's always afternoon tea time," the Mad Hatter replied.

Then Alice asked, "Why do you keep changing seats?" The Mad Hatter replied, "Because all the cups are dirty." Alice glanced at them, but said, "You haven't washed the cups at all." The Mad Hatter replied, "That's why we need to change seats..."

Upon hearing this, Emily burst into laughter.

This was utterly absurd and ridiculous. But on the other hand, she felt a pang of envy. So time really could stop, and afternoon tea could last forever… How wonderful it would be if this time with Mr. Michel, Mr. Michael, and Ms. Miranda could last forever…

Ms. Miranda and Michael had completely different ideas.

What the hell is this thing? It's so absurd and ridiculous!

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Ms. Miranda, of course, remained noncommittal; she simply gave a motherly smile.

Her idea was simple: as long as the children wanted to listen and enjoyed the story, that was enough. Lord Michel's story sounded really good; she could tell it to the children at school...

However, Michael had more to think about.

Because Michel is not the kind of person who makes up stories casually. Every word he says, even every phrase, has a specific meaning.

As Michelle's closest friend, Michael understood this deeply.

He quickly recalled something he had understood when he was a caterpillar.

The underground wonderland depicted by Michel is actually an utterly absurd world. The rules of real life have become obsolete.

Looking at this scene from this perspective, Michael noticed something different.

Because time has stopped, it's always afternoon tea. This sounds perfectly logical, but the whole thing is illogical and absurd.

Upon closer examination, this absurd yet logical phenomenon appears multiple times in Michel's story. One could argue that Michel didn't create an absurd new world, but rather distorted the world most familiar to the British...

Michael discovered something astonishing when he carefully analyzed the core of this storyline.

What is Michelle trying to do? Is she trying to overthrow the current system of children's education?

Because today's children's education emphasizes discipline, correct behavior and language, and correct answers.

And what is Michelle talking about in this crazy afternoon tea party in this storyline?

Not only are there no answers to the questions, but the answers don't even need to be correct. Even the timing doesn't follow any fixed rules, and the seating arrangements are constantly changing... and the afternoon tea party will never end...

It can be said that the concept of this afternoon tea party runs counter to current children's education concepts.

In fact, this is precisely what Carroll, the original author, excels at. His greatest strength isn't his imagination, but rather a kind of absurd logic. He first accepts an absurd premise, then earnestly uses logic to deduce it to the extreme of absurdity…

Before I could think any further, the story moved on to the next plot point.

A football match featuring the Queen of Hearts took place here.

Yes, the original story features croquet. However, the game didn't truly become popular until after the 50s when it was introduced from Ireland. Michel simply adapted the still-developing concept of football.

Alice is now watching a football match.

Who knows, it might even be the driving force behind the birth of modern football?

The Queen of Hearts organized a football match, but the so-called ball wasn't a ball, but a hedgehog; the shoes weren't shoes, but flamingos; and the playing card soldiers bent over to serve as goals. Even the field itself was constantly shifting, with the hedgehog running around wildly and the flamingos refusing to obey. It was utter chaos; the field was uneven, everyone was kicking and scrambling for the ball simultaneously, and there were no stable rules whatsoever.

The Queen of Hearts, in a fit of impotent rage, shouted, "Cut off his head!"

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This is so much fun! How come you can play with anything in this world?

Especially when she hears the scene where Alice tries to kick the hedgehog with a flamingo.

Not only did the flamingo turn its head away, but the hedgehog ran away on its own, and even the goalpost moved by itself...

Emily couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.

Mr. Michel's story is really interesting!

She understood the plot all too well.

Before, the adults always told me to do things according to the rules, but now, the rules can't control these things at all!

Of course, the queen, who constantly threatened to behead someone, also seemed quite ferocious to her. If anything went slightly wrong, she'd yell for beheading...

She's really fierce and wicked.

However, the two adults present, Michael and Ms. Miranda, could no longer laugh.

At first, they found Michelle's wild imagination amusing. What? A hedgehog as a ball, a flamingo as a sneaker?

However, as the story unfolds, they realize that the competition has no rules whatsoever; everyone is competing simultaneously, all vying for the hedgehog's goal, which is formed by the playing card soldiers. The queen, in particular, can kill at any time.

This made them realize something.

This is not a competition at all; it is a world without rules or fair procedures, where everyone must obey the queen or the referee.

If the previous afternoon tea parties were just a warm-up, then this is a full-scale, high-octane operation!

It reminded Michael of Michelle's brilliance in The Lion King.

The Michelle of the past is back.

What a bitter irony! The rules are not for fairness, but rather to prove that authority has the right to make the rules.

It even reminded them of modern-day Britain... They are so alike, so very alike.

Michelle is still the same Michelle, still as outspoken as ever!

Then came the final scene of the story, a trial that left everyone speechless!

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