Jabberwocky 869 "You earnest Sage!" aloud they cried, "your book you've read enough in! We wish to chop you into bits and mix you into Stuffin'!" But that old Sage looked calmly up, and with his awful book At those two Bachelors' bald heads a certain aim he took; And over crag and precipice they rolled promiscuous down,— At once they rolled, and never stopped in lane or field or town; And when they reached their house, they found (besides their want of Stuffin') The Mouse had fled-and previously had eaten up the Muffin. They left their home in silence by the once convivial door; And from that hour those Bachelors were never heard of more. JABBERWOCKY Edward Lear. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! He took his vorpal sword in hand: And as in uffish thought he stood, One, two!. One, two! And through, and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves And the mome raths outgrabe. Lewis Carroll. WAYS AND MEANS I'LL tell thee everything I can; There's little to relate. I saw an aged aged man, "Who are you, aged man?" I said, His answer trickled through my head He said, "I look for butterflies But I was thinking of a plan To dye one's whiskers green, And always use so large a fan That they could not be seen. Ways and Means So, having no reply to give To what the old man said, I cried, "Come, tell me how you live!" His accents mild took up the tale; And when I find a mountain-rill I set it in a blaze; And thence they make a stuff they call Yet twopence-halfpenny is all But I was thinking of a way I shook him well from side to side, "Come, tell me how you live," I cried, He said, "I hunt for haddock's eyes And work them into waistcoat-buttons And these I do not sell for gold But for a copper halfpenny "I sometimes dig for buttered rolls, And very gladly will I drink Your Honor's noble health." 871 I heard him then, for I had just To keep the Menai Bridge from rust I thanked him much for telling me And now if e'er by chance I put Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot Or if I drop upon my toe A very heavy weight, I weep, for it reminds me so Of that old man I used to know Whose look was mild, whose speech was slow, Whose hair was whiter than the snow, Whose face was very like a crow, With eyes, like cinders, all aglow, A-sitting on a gate. Lewis Carroll. HUMPTY DUMPTY'S RECITATION "IN winter, when the fields are white, I sing this song for your delight "In spring, when woods are getting green, I'll try and tell you what I mean:" "In summer, when the days are long, Perhaps you'll understand the song: Humpty Dumpty's Recitation In autumn, when the leaves are brown, "I sent a message to the fish: I told them 'This is what I wish.' The little fishes of the sea, They sent an answer back to me. The little fishes' answer was, "I sent to them again to say 'It will be better to obey.' The fishes answered, with a grin, I told them once, I told them twice: I took a kettle large and new, Fit for the deed I had to do. My heart went hop, my heart went thump: Then some one came to me and said, 'The little fishes are in bed.' I said to him, I said it plain, I said it very loud and clear: I went and shouted in his ear. But he was very stiff and proud: And he was very proud and stiff: 873 |