The Hunting of the Snark E-Book

Lewis Carroll

• Herausgeber: Lewis Carroll
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

If—and the thing is wildly possible—the charge of writing nonsense were ever brought against the author of this brief but instructive poem, it would be based, I feel convinced, on the line (in p. 18)
“Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.”
In view of this painful possibility, I will not (as I might) appeal indignantly to my other writings as a proof that I am incapable of such a deed: I will not (as I might) point to the strong moral purpose of this poem itself, to the arithmetical principles so cautiously inculcated in it, or to its noble teachings in Natural History—I will take the more prosaic course of simply explaining how it happened.

Leseprobe

Lewis Carroll

The Hunting of the Snark

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Table of contents

PREFACE.

FIT I.—THE LANDING.

FIT II.—THE BELLMAN’S SPEECH.

FIT III.—THE BAKER’S TALE.

FIT IV.—THE HUNTING.

FIT V.—THE BEAVER’S LESSON.

FIT VI.—THE BARRISTER’S DREAM.

FIT VII.—THE BANKER’S FATE.

FIT VIII.—THE VANISHING.

Inscribed to a dear Child:in memory of golden summer hoursand whispers of a summer sea.Girt with a boyish garb for boyish task,Eager she wields her spade: yet loves as wellRest on a friendly knee, intent to askThe tale he loves to tell.Rude spirits of the seething outer strife,Unmeet to read her pure and simple spright,Deem, if you list, such hours a waste of life,Empty of all delight!Chat on, sweet Maid, and rescue from annoyHearts that by wiser talk are unbeguiled.Ah, happy he who owns that tenderest joy,The heart-love of a child!Away, fond thoughts, and vex my soul no more!Work claims my wakeful nights, my busy days—Albeit bright memories of that sunlit shoreYet haunt my dreaming gaze!

PREFACE.

If—and the thing is wildly possible—the charge of writing nonsense were ever brought against the author of this brief but instructive poem, it would be based, I feel convinced, on the line (in p. 18) “Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.”In view of this painful possibility, I will not (as I might) appeal indignantly to my other writings as a proof that I am incapable of such a deed: I will not (as I might) point to the strong moral purpose of this poem itself, to the arithmetical principles so cautiously inculcated in it, or to its noble teachings in Natural History—I will take the more prosaic course of simply explaining how it happened.The Bellman, who was almost morbidly sensitive about appearances, used to have the bowsprit unshipped once or twice a week to be revarnished, and it more than once happened, when the time came for replacing it, that no one on board could remember which end of the ship it belonged to. They knew it was not of the slightest use to appeal to the Bellman about it—he would only refer to his Naval Code, and read out in pathetic tones Admiralty Instructions which none of them had ever been able to understand—so it generally ended in its being fastened on, anyhow, across the rudder. The helmsman*used to stand by with tears in his eyes:heknew it was all wrong, but alas! Rule 42 of the Code, “No one shall speak to the Man at the Helm,” had been completed by the Bellman himself with the words “and the Man at the Helm shall speak to no one.” So remonstrance was impossible, and no steering could be done till the next varnishing day. During these bewildering intervals the ship usually sailed backwards.As this poem is to some extent connected with the lay of the Jabberwock, let me take this opportunity of answering a question that has often been asked me, how to pronounce “slithy toves.” The “i” in “slithy” is long, as in “writhe”; and “toves” is pronounced so as to rhyme with “groves.” Again, the first “o” in “borogoves” is pronounced like the “o” in “borrow.” I have heard people try to give it the sound of the “o” in “worry.” Such is Human Perversity.This also seems a fitting occasion to notice the other hard words in that poem. Humpty-Dumpty’s theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all.For instance, take the two words “fuming” and “furious.” Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards “fuming,” you will say “fuming-furious;” if they turn, by even a hair’s breadth, towards “furious,” you will say “furious-fuming;” but if you have that rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say “frumious.”Supposing that, when Pistol uttered the well-known words— “Under whic [...]