Mouse (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mouse |
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John Tenniel's illustration of the Mouse in "The Pool of Tears". An illustration from Alice in Wonderland.
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| First appearance | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll |
| Information | |
| Species | Mouse |
| Gender | Male |
The Mouse is a fun character from Lewis Carroll's famous book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written in 1865. He first shows up in Chapter 2, called "The Pool of Tears," and then again in Chapter 3, "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale."
Alice, the main character of the book, meets the Mouse when she is floating in a huge pool of her own tears. She has shrunk very small and is swimming in the pool. Alice tries to talk to the Mouse, asking for help to get out of the water.
Alice thinks hard about how to speak to a mouse. She remembers her brother's Latin Grammar book. It taught different ways to say "mouse." The Mouse looks at her curiously and seems to wink. But he does not say anything back.
Since the Mouse does not answer, Alice worries he might not understand English. She tries speaking French instead. When she says the French word for cat, chatte, the Mouse gets very scared! This leads to a funny talk about cats and dogs. After this, the Mouse decides to tell Alice his own story.
The Mouse's Special Story
When Alice hears the Mouse's "long and sad tale," she is also looking at his tail. So, she imagines the story printed in the shape of his tail! The "Fury" mentioned in the story is actually the name of a dog that belonged to Lewis Carroll's childhood friend.
The poem is written in a special way to look like a mouse's tail:
Fury said to a
mouse, That he
met in the
house,
"Let us
both go to
law: I will
prosecute
YOU. --Come,
I'll take no
denial; We
must have a
trial: For
really this
morning I've
nothing
to do."
Said the
mouse to the
cur, "Such
a trial,
dear Sir,
With
no jury
or judge,
would be
wasting
our
breath."
"I'll be
judge, I'll
be jury,"
Said
cunning
old Fury:
"I'll
try the
whole
cause,
and
condemn
you
to
death."'
This poem is about a dog named Fury who wants to take a mouse to court. The Mouse says it is silly to have a trial without a jury or judge. But Fury says he will be both the judge and the jury! He then says he will find the Mouse guilty and sentence him to death. It's a dark but playful poem that shows the Mouse's fear of cats and dogs.
The Mouse in Movies and Shows
Even though the Mouse is a main character in the book, he does not appear in the 1951 Disney movie. However, some of his personality traits were given to another character, the Dormouse, in that film.
The Mouse does show up in the 1985 TV movie Alice in Wonderland. Here, an actor named Sherman Hemsley plays him. In this version, the Mouse sings a song called "I Hate Dogs and Cats." Then he joins the other animals in the Caucus-Race.
In the 1983 Japanese cartoon series Fushigi no Kuni no Alice, the Mouse wears overalls. He still dislikes cats, but he is not really scared of them.
The Mouse also appears as Mr. Mouse in the 1999 TV movie Hallmark adaptation. Here, he is played by the actor Ken Dodd.
In the anime and manga series Pandora Hearts, the Mouse character is reimagined as Gilbert Nightray. He has a fear of cats, just like the Mouse in Alice's story. His younger brother, Vincent, is based on the Dormouse.
