From Through the Looking Glass (1871)
CHAPTER IV. Tweedledum
And Tweedledee
They were
standing under a tree, each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice
knew which was which in a moment, because one of them had 'DUM' embroidered
on his collar, and the other 'DEE.' 'I suppose they've each got "TWEEDLE"
round at the back of the collar,' she said to herself.
They stood
so still that she quite forgot they were alive, and she was just looking round
to see if the word "TWEEDLE" was written at the back of each collar, when
she was startled by a voice coming from the one marked 'DUM.'
'If you
think we're wax-works,' he said, 'you ought to pay, you know. Wax-works weren't
made to be looked at for nothing, nohow!'
'Contrariwise,'
added the one marked 'DEE,' 'if you think we're alive, you ought to speak.'
'I'm sure
I'm very sorry,' was all Alice could say; for the words of the old song kept
ringing through her head like the ticking of a clock, and she could hardly
help saying them out loud:—
'Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.'
'I know
what you're thinking about,' said Tweedledum: 'but it isn't so, nohow.'
'Contrariwise,'
continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would
be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
'I was
thinking,' Alice said very politely, 'which is the best way out of this wood:
it's getting so dark. Would you tell me, please?'
But the
little men only looked at each other and grinned.
They looked
so exactly like a couple of great schoolboys, that Alice couldn't help pointing
her finger at Tweedledum, and saying 'First Boy!'
'Nohow!'
Tweedledum cried out briskly, and shut his mouth up again with a snap.
'Next
Boy!' said Alice, passing on to Tweedledee, though she felt quite certain
he would only shout out 'Contrariwise!' and so he did.
'You've
been wrong!' cried Tweedledum. 'The first thing in a visit is to say "How
d'ye do?" and shake hands!' And here the two brothers gave each other a hug,
and then they held out the two hands that were free, to shake hands with her.
Alice
did not like shaking hands with either of them first, for fear of hurting
the other one's feelings; so, as the best way out of the difficulty, she
took hold of both hands at once: the next moment they were dancing round
in a ring. This seemed quite natural (she remembered afterwards), and she
was not even surprised to hear music playing: it seemed to come from the
tree under which they were dancing, and it was done (as well as she could
make it out) by the branches rubbing one across the other, like fiddles and
fiddle-sticks.
'But it
certainly WAS funny,' (Alice said afterwards, when she was telling her sister
the history of all this,) 'to find myself singing "HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY
BUSH." I don't know when I began it, but somehow I felt as if I'd been singing
it a long long time!'
The other
two dancers were fat, and very soon out of breath. 'Four times round is enough
for one dance,' Tweedledum panted out, and they left off dancing as suddenly
as they had begun: the music stopped at the same moment.
Then they
let go of Alice's hands, and stood looking at her for a minute: there was
a rather awkward pause, as Alice didn't know how to begin a conversation
with people she had just been dancing with. 'It would never do to say "How
d'ye do?" NOW,' she said to herself: 'we seem to have got beyond that, somehow!'
'I hope
you're not much tired?' she said at last.
'Nohow.
And thank you VERY much for asking,' said Tweedledum.
'So much
obliged!' added Tweedledee. 'You like poetry?'
'Ye-es,
pretty well—SOME poetry,' Alice said doubtfully. 'Would you tell me which
road leads out of the wood?'
'What
shall I repeat to her?' said Tweedledee, looking round at Tweedledum with
great solemn eyes, and not noticing Alice's question.
'"THE
WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER" is the longest,' Tweedledum replied, giving his
brother an affectionate hug.
Tweedledee
began instantly:
'The sun was shining—'
Here Alice
ventured to interrupt him. 'If it's VERY long,' she said, as politely as she
could, 'would you please tell me first which road—'
Tweedledee
smiled gently, and began again:
'The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright—
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done—
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying over head—
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it WOULD be grand!"
"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."
The eldest Oyster looked at him.
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head—
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.
But four young oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat—
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.
Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more—
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings."
"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed—
Now if you're ready Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."
"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue,
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said
"Do you admire the view?
"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf—
I've had to ask you twice!"
"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"
"I weep for you," the Walrus said.
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size.
Holding his pocket handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
"O Oysters," said the Carpenter.
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?"
But answer came there none—
And that was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.'
'I like
the Walrus best,' said Alice: 'because you see he was a LITTLE sorry for the
poor oysters.'
'He ate
more than the Carpenter, though,' said Tweedledee. 'You see he held his handkerchief
in front, so that the Carpenter couldn't count how many he took: contrariwise.'
'That
was mean!' Alice said indignantly. 'Then I like the Carpenter best—if he
didn't eat so many as the Walrus.'
'But he
ate as many as he could get,' said Tweedledum.
This was
a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, 'Well! They were BOTH very unpleasant
characters—' Here she checked herself in some alarm, at hearing something
that sounded to her like the puffing of a large steam-engine in the wood
near them, though she feared it was more likely to be a wild beast. 'Are there
any lions or tigers about here?' she asked timidly.
'It's
only the Red King snoring,' said Tweedledee.
'Come
and look at him!' the brothers cried, and they each took one of Alice's hands,
and led her up to where the King was sleeping.
'Isn't
he a LOVELY sight?' said Tweedledum.
Alice
couldn't say honestly that he was. He had a tall red night-cap on, with a
tassel, and he was lying crumpled up into a sort of untidy heap, and snoring
loud—'fit to snore his head off!' as Tweedledum remarked.
'I'm afraid
he'll catch cold with lying on the damp grass,' said Alice, who was a very
thoughtful little girl.
'He's
dreaming now,' said Tweedledee: 'and what do you think he's dreaming about?'
Alice
said 'Nobody can guess that.'
'Why,
about YOU!' Tweedledee exclaimed, clapping his hands triumphantly. 'And if
he left off dreaming about you, where do you suppose you'd be?'
'Where
I am now, of course,' said Alice.
'Not you!'
Tweedledee retorted contemptuously. 'You'd be nowhere. Why, you're only a
sort of thing in his dream!'
'If that
there King was to wake,' added Tweedledum, 'you'd go out—bang!—just like
a candle!'
'I shouldn't!'
Alice exclaimed indignantly. 'Besides, if I'M only a sort of thing in his
dream, what are YOU, I should like to know?'
'Ditto'
said Tweedledum.
'Ditto,
ditto' cried Tweedledee.
He shouted
this so loud that Alice couldn't help saying, 'Hush! You'll be waking him,
I'm afraid, if you make so much noise.'
'Well,
it no use YOUR talking about waking him,' said Tweedledum, 'when you're only
one of the things in his dream. You know very well you're not real.'
'I AM
real!' said Alice and began to cry.
'You won't
make yourself a bit realler by crying,' Tweedledee remarked: 'there's nothing
to cry about.'
'If I
wasn't real,' Alice said—half-laughing through her tears, it all seemed so
ridiculous—'I shouldn't be able to cry.'
'I hope
you don't suppose those are real tears?' Tweedledum interrupted in a tone
of great contempt.
'I know
they're talking nonsense,' Alice thought to herself: 'and it's foolish to
cry about it.' So she brushed away her tears, and went on as cheerfully as
she could. 'At any rate I'd better be getting out of the wood, for really
it's coming on very dark. Do you think it's going to rain?'
Tweedledum
spread a large umbrella over himself and his brother, and looked up into
it. 'No, I don't think it is,' he said: 'at least—not under HERE. Nohow.'
'But it
may rain OUTSIDE?'
'It may—if
it chooses,' said Tweedledee: 'we've no objection. Contrariwise.'
'Selfish
things!' thought Alice, and she was just going to say 'Good-night' and leave
them, when Tweedledum sprang out from under the umbrella and seized her by
the wrist.
'Do you
see THAT?' he said, in a voice choking with passion, and his eyes grew large
and yellow all in a moment, as he pointed with a trembling finger at a small
white thing lying under the tree.
'It's
only a rattle,' Alice said, after a careful examination of the little white
thing. 'Not a rattleSNAKE, you know,' she added hastily, thinking that he
was frightened: 'only an old rattle—quite old and broken.'
'I knew
it was!' cried Tweedledum, beginning to stamp about wildly and tear his hair.
'It's spoilt, of course!' Here he looked at Tweedledee, who immediately sat
down on the ground, and tried to hide himself under the umbrella.
Alice
laid her hand upon his arm, and said in a soothing tone, 'You needn't be
so angry about an old rattle.'
'But it
isn't old!' Tweedledum cried, in a greater fury than ever. 'It's new, I tell
you—I bought it yesterday—my nice new RATTLE!' and his voice rose to a perfect
scream.
All this
time Tweedledee was trying his best to fold up the umbrella, with himself
in it: which was such an extraordinary thing to do, that it quite took off
Alice's attention from the angry brother. But he couldn't quite succeed,
and it ended in his rolling over, bundled up in the umbrella, with only his
head out: and there he lay, opening and shutting his mouth and his large
eyes—'looking more like a fish than anything else,' Alice thought.
'Of course
you agree to have a battle?' Tweedledum said in a calmer tone.
'I suppose
so,' the other sulkily replied, as he crawled out of the umbrella: 'only
SHE must help us to dress up, you know.'
So the
two brothers went off hand-in-hand into the wood, and returned in a minute
with their arms full of things—such as bolsters, blankets, hearth-rugs, table-cloths,
dish-covers and coal-scuttles. 'I hope you're a good hand at pinning and
tying strings?' Tweedledum remarked. 'Every one of these things has got to
go on, somehow or other.'
Alice
said afterwards she had never seen such a fuss made about anything in all
her life—the way those two bustled about—and the quantity of things they
put on—and the trouble they gave her in tying strings and fastening buttons—'Really
they'll be more like bundles of old clothes than anything else, by the time
they're ready!' she said to herself, as she arranged a bolster round the
neck of Tweedledee, 'to keep his head from being cut off,' as he said.
'You know,'
he added very gravely, 'it's one of the most serious things that can possibly
happen to one in a battle—to get one's head cut off.'
Alice
laughed aloud: but she managed to turn it into a cough, for fear of hurting
his feelings.
'Do I
look very pale?' said Tweedledum, coming up to have his helmet tied on. (He
CALLED it a helmet, though it certainly looked much more like a saucepan.)
'Well—yes—a
LITTLE,' Alice replied gently.
'I'm very
brave generally,' he went on in a low voice: 'only to-day I happen to have
a headache.'
'And I'VE
got a toothache!' said Tweedledee, who had overheard the remark. 'I'm far
worse off than you!'
'Then
you'd better not fight to-day,' said Alice, thinking it a good opportunity
to make peace.
'We MUST
have a bit of a fight, but I don't care about going on long,' said Tweedledum.
'What's the time now?'
Tweedledee
looked at his watch, and said 'Half-past four.'
'Let's
fight till six, and then have dinner,' said Tweedledum.
'Very
well,' the other said, rather sadly: 'and SHE can watch us—only you'd better
not come VERY close,' he added: 'I generally hit everything I can see—when
I get really excited.'
'And
I hit everything within reach,' cried Tweedledum, 'whether I
can see it or not!'
Alice
laughed. 'You must hit the TREES pretty often, I should think,' she said.
Tweedledum
looked round him with a satisfied smile. 'I don't suppose,' he said, 'there'll
be a tree left standing, for ever so far round, by the time we've finished!'
'And all
about a rattle!' said Alice, still hoping to make them a LITTLE ashamed of
fighting for such a trifle.
'I shouldn't
have minded it so much,' said Tweedledum, 'if it hadn't been a new one.'
'I wish
the monstrous crow would come!' thought Alice.
'There's
only one sword, you know,' Tweedledum said to his brother: 'but you can have
the umbrella—it's quite as sharp. Only we must begin quick. It's getting
as dark as it can.'
'And darker,'
said Tweedledee.
It was
getting dark so suddenly that Alice thought there must be a thunderstorm
coming on. 'What a thick black cloud that is!' she said. 'And how fast it
comes! Why, I do believe it's got wings!'
'It's
the crow!' Tweedledum cried out in a shrill voice of alarm: and the two brothers
took to their heels and were out of sight in a moment.
Alice
ran a little way into the wood, and stopped under a large tree. 'It can never
get at me HERE,' she thought: 'it's far too large to squeeze itself in among
the trees. But I wish it wouldn't flap its wings so—it makes quite a hurricane
in the wood—here's somebody's shawl being blown away!'
...........................................................................................................................................
So she
went on, wondering more and more at every step, as everything turned into
a tree the moment she came up to it, and she quite expected the egg to do
the same.
CHAPTER IV.
Humpty Dumpty
However,
the egg only got larger and larger, and more and more human: when she had
come within a few yards of it, she saw that it had eyes and a nose and mouth;
and when she had come close to it, she saw clearly that it was HUMPTY DUMPTY
himself. 'It can't be anybody else!' she said to herself. 'I'm as certain
of it, as if his name were written all over his face.'
It might
have been written a hundred times, easily, on that enormous face. Humpty Dumpty
was sitting with his legs crossed, like a Turk, on the top of a high wall—such
a narrow one that Alice quite wondered how he could keep his balance—and,
as his eyes were steadily fixed in the opposite direction, and he didn't
take the least notice of her, she thought he must be a stuffed figure after
all.
'And how
exactly like an egg he is!' she said aloud, standing with her hands ready
to catch him, for she was every moment expecting him to fall.
'It's
VERY provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence, looking away from
Alice as he spoke, 'to be called an egg—VERY!'
'I said
you LOOKED like an egg, Sir,' Alice gently explained. 'And some eggs are very
pretty, you know' she added, hoping to turn her remark into a sort of a compliment.
'Some
people,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as usual, 'have no more
sense than a baby!'
Alice
didn't know what to say to this: it wasn't at all like conversation, she thought,
as he never said anything to HER; in fact, his last remark was evidently
addressed to a tree—so she stood and softly repeated to herself:—
'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.'
'That
last line is much too long for the poetry,' she added, almost out loud, forgetting
that Humpty Dumpty would hear her.
'Don't
stand there chattering to yourself like that,' Humpty Dumpty said, looking
at her for the first time, 'but tell me your name and your business.'
'My NAME
is Alice, but—'
'It's
a stupid enough name!' Humpty Dumpty interrupted impatiently. 'What does
it mean?'
'MUST
a name mean something?' Alice asked doubtfully.
'Of course
it must,' Humpty Dumpty said with a short laugh: 'MY name means the shape
I am—and a good handsome shape it is, too. With a name like yours, you might
be any shape, almost.'
'Why do
you sit out here all alone?' said Alice, not wishing to begin an argument.
'Why,
because there's nobody with me!' cried Humpty Dumpty. 'Did you think I didn't
know the answer to THAT? Ask another.'
'Don't
you think you'd be safer down on the ground?' Alice went on, not with any
idea of making another riddle, but simply in her good-natured anxiety for
the queer creature. 'That wall is so VERY narrow!'
'What
tremendously easy riddles you ask!' Humpty Dumpty growled out. 'Of course
I don't think so! Why, if ever I DID fall off—which there's no chance of—but
IF I did—' Here he pursed his lips and looked so solemn and grand that Alice
could hardly help laughing. 'IF I did fall,' he went on, 'THE KING HAS PROMISED
ME—WITH HIS VERY OWN MOUTH—to—to—'
'To send
all his horses and all his men,' Alice interrupted, rather unwisely.
'Now
I declare that's too bad!' Humpty Dumpty cried, breaking into a sudden passion.
'You've been listening at doors—and behind trees—and down chimneys—or you
couldn't have known it!'
'I haven't,
indeed!' Alice said very gently. 'It's in a book.'
'Ah, well!
They may write such things in a BOOK,' Humpty Dumpty said in a calmer tone.
'That's what you call a History of England, that is. Now, take a good look
at me! I'm one that has spoken to a King, I am: mayhap you'll never
see such another: and to show you I'm not proud, you may shake hands with
me!' And he grinned almost from ear to ear, as he leant forwards (and as
nearly as possible fell off the wall in doing so) and offered Alice his hand.
She watched him a little anxiously as she took it. 'If he smiled much more,
the ends of his mouth might meet behind,' she thought: 'and then I don't
know what would happen to his head! I'm afraid it would come off!'
'Yes,
all his horses and all his men,' Humpty Dumpty went on. 'They'd pick me up
again in a minute, THEY would! However, this conversation is going on a little
too fast: let's go back to the last remark but one.'
'I'm afraid
I can't quite remember it,' Alice said very politely.
'In that
case we start fresh,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'and it's my turn to choose a subject—'
('He talks about it just as if it was a game!' thought Alice.) 'So here's
a question for you. How old did you say you were?'
Alice
made a short calculation, and said 'Seven years and six months.'
'Wrong!'
Humpty Dumpty exclaimed triumphantly. 'You never said a word like it!'
'I though
you meant "How old ARE you?"' Alice explained.
'If I'd
meant that, I'd have said it,' said Humpty Dumpty.
Alice
didn't want to begin another argument, so she said nothing.
'Seven
years and six months!' Humpty Dumpty repeated thoughtfully. 'An uncomfortable
sort of age. Now if you'd asked MY advice, I'd have said "Leave off at seven"—but
it's too late now.'
'I never
ask advice about growing,' Alice said indignantly.
'Too proud?'
the other inquired.
Alice
felt even more indignant at this suggestion. 'I mean,' she said, 'that one
can't help growing older.'
'ONE can't,
perhaps,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'but TWO can. With proper assistance, you might
have left off at seven.'
'What
a beautiful belt you've got on!' Alice suddenly remarked.
(They
had had quite enough of the subject of age, she thought: and if they really
were to take turns in choosing subjects, it was her turn now.) 'At least,'
she corrected herself on second thoughts, 'a beautiful cravat, I should have
said—no, a belt, I mean—I beg your pardon!' she added in dismay, for Humpty
Dumpty looked thoroughly offended, and she began to wish she hadn't chosen
that subject. 'If I only knew,' she thought to herself, 'which was neck and
which was waist!'
Evidently
Humpty Dumpty was very angry, though he said nothing for a minute or two.
When he DID speak again, it was in a deep growl.
'It is
a—MOST—PROVOKING—thing,' he said at last, 'when a person doesn't know a cravat
from a belt!'
'I know
it's very ignorant of me,' Alice said, in so humble a tone that Humpty Dumpty
relented.
'It's
a cravat, child, and a beautiful one, as you say. It's a present from the
White King and Queen. There now!'
'Is it
really?' said Alice, quite pleased to find that she HAD chosen a good subject,
after all.
'They
gave it me,' Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully, as he crossed one knee
over the other and clasped his hands round it, 'they gave it me—for an un-birthday
present.'
'I beg
your pardon?' Alice said with a puzzled air.
'I'm not
offended,' said Humpty Dumpty.
'I mean,
what IS an un-birthday present?'
'A present
given when it isn't your birthday, of course.'
Alice
considered a little. 'I like birthday presents best,' she said at last.
'You don't
know what you're talking about!' cried Humpty Dumpty. 'How many days are there
in a year?'
'Three
hundred and sixty-five,' said Alice.
'And how
many birthdays have you?'
'One.'
'And if
you take one from three hundred and sixty-five, what remains?'
'Three
hundred and sixty-four, of course.'
Humpty
Dumpty looked doubtful. 'I'd rather see that done on paper,' he said.
Alice
couldn't help smiling as she took out her memorandum-book, and worked the
sum for him:
365
1
____
364
___
Humpty
Dumpty took the book, and looked at it carefully. 'That seems to be done right—'
he began.
'You're
holding it upside down!' Alice interrupted.
'To be
sure I was!' Humpty Dumpty said gaily, as she turned it round for him. 'I
thought it looked a little queer. As I was saying, that SEEMS to be done right—though
I haven't time to look it over thoroughly just now—and that shows that there
are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents—'
'Certainly,'
said Alice.
'And only
ONE for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you!'
'I don't
know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.
Humpty
Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't—till I tell you. I meant
"there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
'But "glory"
doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.
'When
I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,
'it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.'
'The question
is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.'
'The question
is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master—that's all.'
Alice
was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began
again. 'They've a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives
you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the
whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'
'Would
you tell me, please,' said Alice 'what that means?'
'Now you
talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased.
'I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and
it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I
suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.'
'That's
a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
'When
I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'I always
pay it extra.'
'Oh!'
said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.
'Ah, you
should see 'em come round me of a Saturday night,' Humpty Dumpty went on,
wagging his head gravely from side to side: 'for to get their wages, you
know.'
(Alice
didn't venture to ask what he paid them with; and so you see I can't tell
YOU.)
'You seem
very clever at explaining words, Sir,' said Alice. 'Would you kindly tell
me the meaning of the poem called "Jabberwocky"?'
'Let's
hear it,' said Humpty Dumpty. 'I can explain all the poems that were ever
invented—and a good many that haven't been invented just yet.'
This sounded
very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse:
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
'That's
enough to begin with,' Humpty Dumpty interrupted: 'there are plenty of hard
words there. "BRILLIG" means four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when
you begin BROILING things for dinner.'
'That'll
do very well,' said Alice: 'and "SLITHY"?'
'Well,
"SLITHY" means "lithe and slimy." "Lithe" is the same as "active." You see
it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.'
'I see
it now,' Alice remarked thoughtfully: 'and what are "TOVES"?'
'Well,
"TOVES" are something like badgers—they're something like lizards—and they're
something like corkscrews.'
'They
must be very curious looking creatures.'
'They
are that,' said Humpty Dumpty: 'also they make their nests under sun-dials—also
they live on cheese.'
'And what's
the "GYRE" and to "GIMBLE"?'
'To "GYRE"
is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To "GIMBLE" is to make holes like
a gimlet.'
'And "THE
WABE" is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?' said Alice, surprised
at her own ingenuity.
'Of course
it is. It's called "WABE," you know, because it goes a long way before it,
and a long way behind it—'
'And
a long way beyond it on each side,' Alice added.
'Exactly
so. Well, then, "MIMSY" is "flimsy and miserable" (there's another portmanteau
for you). And a "BOROGOVE" is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers
sticking out all round—something like a live mop.'
'And then
"MOME RATHS"?' said Alice. 'I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble.'
'Well,
a "RATH" is a sort of green pig: but "MOME" I'm not certain about. I think
it's short for "from home"—meaning that they'd lost their way, you know.'
'And what
does "OUTGRABE" mean?'
'Well,
"OUTGRABING" is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of
sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe—down in the wood
yonder—and when you've once heard it you'll be QUITE content. Who's been repeating
all that hard stuff to you?'
'I read
it in a book,' said Alice. 'But I had some poetry repeated to me, much easier
than that, by—Tweedledee, I think it was.'
'As to
poetry, you know,' said Humpty Dumpty, stretching out one of his great hands,
'I can repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it comes to that—'
'Oh, it
needn't come to that!' Alice hastily said, hoping to keep him from beginning.
'The piece
I'm going to repeat,' he went on without noticing her remark, 'was written
entirely for your amusement.'
Alice
felt that in that case she really OUGHT to listen to it, so she sat down,
and said 'Thank you' rather sadly.
'In winter, when the fields are white,
I sing this song for your delight—
only
I don't sing it,' he added, as an explanation.
'I see
you don't,' said Alice.
'If you
can SEE whether I'm singing or not, you've sharper eyes than most.' Humpty
Dumpty remarked severely. Alice was silent.
'In spring, when woods are getting green,
I'll try and tell you what I mean.'
'Thank
you very much,' said Alice.
'In summer, when the days are long,
Perhaps you'll understand the song:
In autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink, and write it down.'
'I will,
if I can remember it so long,' said Alice.
'You needn't
go on making remarks like that,' Humpty Dumpty said: 'they're not sensible,
and they put me out.'
'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
"We cannot do it, Sir, because—"'
'I'm afraid
I don't quite understand,' said Alice.
'It gets
easier further on,' Humpty Dumpty replied.
'I sent to them again to say
"It will be better to obey."
The fishes answered with a grin,
"Why, what a temper you are in!"
I told them once, I told them twice:
They would not listen to advice.
I took a kettle large and new,
Fit for the deed I had to do.
My heart went hop, my heart went thump;
I filled the kettle at the pump.
Then some one came to me and said,
"The little fishes are in bed."
I said to him, I said it plain,
"Then you must wake them up again."
I said it very loud and clear;
I went and shouted in his ear.'
Humpty
Dumpty raised his voice almost to a scream as he repeated this verse, and
Alice thought with a shudder, 'I wouldn't have been the messenger for ANYTHING!'
'But he was very stiff and proud;
He said "You needn't shout so loud!"
And he was very proud and stiff;
He said "I'd go and wake them, if—"
I took a corkscrew from the shelf:
I went to wake them up myself.
And when I found the door was locked,
I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked.
And when I found the door was shut,
I tried to turn the handle, but—'
There
was a long pause.
'Is that
all?' Alice timidly asked.
'That's
all,' said Humpty Dumpty. 'Good-bye.'
This was
rather sudden, Alice thought: but, after such a VERY strong hint that she
ought to be going, she felt that it would hardly be civil to stay. So she
got up, and held out her hand. 'Good-bye, till we meet again!' she said as
cheerfully as she could.
'I shouldn't
know you again if we DID meet,' Humpty Dumpty replied in a discontented tone,
giving her one of his fingers to shake; 'you're so exactly like other people.'
'The face
is what one goes by, generally,' Alice remarked in a thoughtful tone.
'That's
just what I complain of,' said Humpty Dumpty. 'Your face is the same as everybody
has—the two eyes, so—' (marking their places in the air with this thumb)
'nose in the middle, mouth under. It's always the same. Now if you had the
two eyes on the same side of the nose, for instance—or the mouth at the top—that
would be SOME help.'
'It wouldn't
look nice,' Alice objected. But Humpty Dumpty only shut his eyes and said
'Wait till you've tried.'
Alice
waited a minute to see if he would speak again, but as he never opened his
eyes or took any further notice of her, she said 'Good-bye!' once more, and,
getting no answer to this, she quietly walked away: but she couldn't help
saying to herself as she went, 'Of all the unsatisfactory—' (she repeated
this aloud, as it was a great comfort to have such a long word to say) 'of
all the unsatisfactory people I EVER met—' She never finished the sentence,
for at this moment a heavy crash shook the forest from end to end.
CHAPTER
VIII. 'It's my own Invention'
After
a while the noise seemed gradually to die away, till all was dead silence,
and Alice lifted up her head in some alarm. There was no one to be seen,
and her first thought was that she must have been dreaming about the Lion
and the Unicorn and those queer Anglo-Saxon Messengers. However, there was
the great dish still lying at her feet, on which she had tried to cut the
plum-cake, 'So I wasn't dreaming, after all,' she said to herself, 'unless—unless
we're all part of the same dream. Only I do hope it's MY dream, and not the
Red King's! I don't like belonging to another person's dream,' she went on
in a rather complaining tone: 'I've a great mind to go and wake him, and
see what happens!'
At this
moment her thoughts were interrupted by a loud shouting of 'Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!'
and a Knight dressed in crimson armour came galloping down upon her, brandishing
a great club. Just as he reached her, the horse stopped suddenly: 'You're
my prisoner!' the Knight cried, as he tumbled off his horse.
Startled
as she was, Alice was more frightened for him than for herself at the moment,
and watched him with some anxiety as he mounted again. As soon as he was comfortably
in the saddle, he began once more 'You're my—' but here another voice broke
in 'Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!' and Alice looked round in some surprise for the new
enemy.
This time
it was a White Knight. He drew up at Alice's side, and tumbled off his horse
just as the Red Knight had done: then he got on again, and the two Knights
sat and looked at each other for some time without speaking. Alice looked
from one to the other in some bewilderment.
'She's
MY prisoner, you know!' the Red Knight said at last.
'Yes,
but then I came and rescued her!' the White Knight replied.
'Well,
we must fight for her, then,' said the Red Knight, as he took up his helmet
(which hung from the saddle, and was something the shape of a horse's head),
and put it on.
'You will
observe the Rules of Battle, of course?' the White Knight remarked, putting
on his helmet too.
'I always
do,' said the Red Knight, and they began banging away at each other with such
fury that Alice got behind a tree to be out of the way of the blows.
'I wonder,
now, what the Rules of Battle are,' she said to herself, as she watched the
fight, timidly peeping out from her hiding-place: 'one Rule seems to be, that
if one Knight hits the other, he knocks him off his horse, and if he misses,
he tumbles off himself—and another Rule seems to be that they hold their
clubs with their arms, as if they were Punch and Judy—What a noise they make
when they tumble! Just like a whole set of fire-irons falling into the fender!
And how quiet the horses are! They let them get on and off them just as if
they were tables!'
Another
Rule of Battle, that Alice had not noticed, seemed to be that they always
fell on their heads, and the battle ended with their both falling off in
this way, side by side: when they got up again, they shook hands, and then
the Red Knight mounted and galloped off.
'It was
a glorious victory, wasn't it?' said the White Knight, as he came up panting.
'I don't
know,' Alice said doubtfully. 'I don't want to be anybody's prisoner. I want
to be a Queen.'
'So you
will, when you've crossed the next brook,' said the White Knight. 'I'll see
you safe to the end of the wood—and then I must go back, you know. That's
the end of my move.'
'Thank
you very much,' said Alice. 'May I help you off with your helmet?' It was
evidently more than he could manage by himself; however, she managed to shake
him out of it at last.
'Now one
can breathe more easily,' said the Knight, putting back his shaggy hair with
both hands, and turning his gentle face and large mild eyes to Alice. She
thought she had never seen such a strange-looking soldier in all her life.
He was
dressed in tin armour, which seemed to fit him very badly, and he had a queer-shaped
little deal box fastened across his shoulder, upside-down, and with the lid
hanging open. Alice looked at it with great curiosity.
'I see
you're admiring my little box.' the Knight said in a friendly tone. 'It's
my own invention—to keep clothes and sandwiches in. You see I carry it upside-down,
so that the rain can't get in.'
'But the
things can get OUT,' Alice gently remarked. 'Do you know the lid's open?'
'I didn't
know it,' the Knight said, a shade of vexation passing over his face. 'Then
all the things must have fallen out! And the box is no use without them.'
He unfastened it as he spoke, and was just going to throw it into the bushes,
when a sudden thought seemed to strike him, and he hung it carefully on a
tree. 'Can you guess why I did that?' he said to Alice.
Alice
shook her head.
'In hopes
some bees may make a nest in it—then I should get the honey.'
'But you've
got a bee-hive—or something like one—fastened to the saddle,' said Alice.
'Yes,
it's a very good bee-hive,' the Knight said in a discontented tone, 'one
of the best kind. But not a single bee has come near it yet. And the other
thing is a mouse-trap. I suppose the mice keep the bees out—or the bees keep
the mice out, I don't know which.'
'I was
wondering what the mouse-trap was for,' said Alice. 'It isn't very likely
there would be any mice on the horse's back.'
'Not very
likely, perhaps,' said the Knight: 'but if they DO come, I don't choose to
have them running all about.'
'You see,'
he went on after a pause, 'it's as well to be provided for EVERYTHING. That's
the reason the horse has all those anklets round his feet.'
'But what
are they for?' Alice asked in a tone of great curiosity.
'To guard
against the bites of sharks,' the Knight replied. 'It's an invention of my
own. And now help me on. I'll go with you to the end of the wood—What's the
dish for?'
'It's
meant for plum-cake,' said Alice.
'We'd
better take it with us,' the Knight said. 'It'll come in handy if we find
any plum-cake. Help me to get it into this bag.'
This took
a very long time to manage, though Alice held the bag open very carefully,
because the Knight was so VERY awkward in putting in the dish: the first
two or three times that he tried he fell in himself instead. 'It's rather
a tight fit, you see,' he said, as they got it in a last; 'There are so many
candlesticks in the bag.' And he hung it to the saddle, which was already
loaded with bunches of carrots, and fire-irons, and many other things.
'I hope
you've got your hair well fastened on?' he continued, as they set off.
'Only
in the usual way,' Alice said, smiling.
'That's
hardly enough,' he said, anxiously. 'You see the wind is so VERY strong here.
It's as strong as soup.'
'Have
you invented a plan for keeping the hair from being blown off?' Alice enquired.
'Not yet,'
said the Knight. 'But I've got a plan for keeping it from FALLING off.'
'I should
like to hear it, very much.'
'First
you take an upright stick,' said the Knight. 'Then you make your hair creep
up it, like a fruit-tree. Now the reason hair falls off is because it hangs
DOWN—things never fall UPWARDS, you know. It's a plan of my own invention.
You may try it if you like.'
It didn't
sound a comfortable plan, Alice thought, and for a few minutes she walked
on in silence, puzzling over the idea, and every now and then stopping to
help the poor Knight, who certainly was NOT a good rider.
Whenever
the horse stopped (which it did very often), he fell off in front; and whenever
it went on again (which it generally did rather suddenly), he fell off behind.
Otherwise he kept on pretty well, except that he had a habit of now and then
falling off sideways; and as he generally did this on the side on which Alice
was walking, she soon found that it was the best plan not to walk QUITE close
to the horse.
'I'm afraid
you've not had much practice in riding,' she ventured to say, as she was helping
him up from his fifth tumble.
The Knight
looked very much surprised, and a little offended at the remark. 'What makes
you say that?' he asked, as he scrambled back into the saddle, keeping hold
of Alice's hair with one hand, to save himself from falling over on the other
side.
'Because
people don't fall off quite so often, when they've had much practice.'
'I've
had plenty of practice,' the Knight said very gravely: 'plenty of practice!'
Alice
could think of nothing better to say than 'Indeed?' but she said it as heartily
as she could. They went on a little way in silence after this, the Knight
with his eyes shut, muttering to himself, and Alice watching anxiously for
the next tumble.
'The great
art of riding,' the Knight suddenly began in a loud voice, waving his right
arm as he spoke, 'is to keep—' Here the sentence ended as suddenly as it had
begun, as the Knight fell heavily on the top of his head exactly in the path
where Alice was walking. She was quite frightened this time, and said in an
anxious tone, as she picked him up, 'I hope no bones are broken?'
'None
to speak of,' the Knight said, as if he didn't mind breaking two or three
of them. 'The great art of riding, as I was saying, is—to keep your balance
properly. Like this, you know—'
He let
go the bridle, and stretched out both his arms to show Alice what he meant,
and this time he fell flat on his back, right under the horse's feet.
'Plenty
of practice!' he went on repeating, all the time that Alice was getting him
on his feet again. 'Plenty of practice!'
'It's
too ridiculous!' cried Alice, losing all her patience this time. 'You ought
to have a wooden horse on wheels, that you ought!'
'Does
that kind go smoothly?' the Knight asked in a tone of great interest, clasping
his arms round the horse's neck as he spoke, just in time to save himself
from tumbling off again.
'Much
more smoothly than a live horse,' Alice said, with a little scream of laughter,
in spite of all she could do to prevent it.
'I'll
get one,' the Knight said thoughtfully to himself. 'One or two—several.'
There
was a short silence after this, and then the Knight went on again. 'I'm a
great hand at inventing things. Now, I daresay you noticed, that last time
you picked me up, that I was looking rather thoughtful?'
'You WERE
a little grave,' said Alice.
'Well,
just then I was inventing a new way of getting over a gate—would you like
to hear it?'
'Very
much indeed,' Alice said politely.
'I'll
tell you how I came to think of it,' said the Knight. 'You see, I said to
myself, "The only difficulty is with the feet: the HEAD is high enough already."
Now, first I put my head on the top of the gate—then I stand on my head—then
the feet are high enough, you see—then I'm over, you see.'
'Yes,
I suppose you'd be over when that was done,' Alice said thoughtfully: 'but
don't you think it would be rather hard?'
'I haven't
tried it yet,' the Knight said, gravely: 'so I can't tell for certain—but
I'm afraid it WOULD be a little hard.'
He looked
so vexed at the idea, that Alice changed the subject hastily. 'What a curious
helmet you've got!' she said cheerfully. 'Is that your invention too?'
The Knight
looked down proudly at his helmet, which hung from the saddle. 'Yes,' he said,
'but I've invented a better one than that—like a sugar loaf. When I used to
wear it, if I fell off the horse, it always touched the ground directly.
So I had a VERY little way to fall, you see—But there WAS the danger of falling
INTO it, to be sure. That happened to me once—and the worst of it was, before
I could get out again, the other White Knight came and put it on. He thought
it was his own helmet.'
The knight
looked so solemn about it that Alice did not dare to laugh. 'I'm afraid you
must have hurt him,' she said in a trembling voice, 'being on the top of his
head.'
'I had
to kick him, of course,' the Knight said, very seriously. 'And then he took
the helmet off again—but it took hours and hours to get me out. I was as
fast as—as lightning, you know.'
'But that's
a different kind of fastness,' Alice objected.
The Knight
shook his head. 'It was all kinds of fastness with me, I can assure you!'
he said. He raised his hands in some excitement as he said this, and instantly
rolled out of the saddle, and fell headlong into a deep ditch.
Alice
ran to the side of the ditch to look for him. She was rather startled by
the fall, as for some time he had kept on very well, and she was afraid that
he really WAS hurt this time. However, though she could see nothing but the
soles of his feet, she was much relieved to hear that he was talking on in
his usual tone. 'All kinds of fastness,' he repeated: 'but it was careless
of him to put another man's helmet on—with the man in it, too.'
'How CAN
you go on talking so quietly, head downwards?' Alice asked, as she dragged
him out by the feet, and laid him in a heap on the bank.
The Knight
looked surprised at the question. 'What does it matter where my body happens
to be?' he said. 'My mind goes on working all the same. In fact, the more
head downwards I am, the more I keep inventing new things.'
'Now the
cleverest thing of the sort that I ever did,' he went on after a pause, 'was
inventing a new pudding during the meat-course.'
'In time
to have it cooked for the next course?' said Alice. 'Well, not the NEXT course,'
the Knight said in a slow thoughtful tone: 'no, certainly not the next COURSE.'
'Then
it would have to be the next day. I suppose you wouldn't have two pudding-courses
in one dinner?'
'Well,
not the NEXT day,' the Knight repeated as before: 'not the next DAY. In fact,'
he went on, holding his head down, and his voice getting lower and lower,
'I don't believe that pudding ever WAS cooked! In fact, I don't believe that
pudding ever WILL be cooked! And yet it was a very clever pudding to invent.'
'What
did you mean it to be made of?' Alice asked, hoping to cheer him up, for
the poor Knight seemed quite low-spirited about it.
'It began
with blotting paper,' the Knight answered with a groan.
'That
wouldn't be very nice, I'm afraid—'
'Not very
nice ALONE,' he interrupted, quite eagerly: 'but you've no idea what a difference
it makes mixing it with other things—such as gunpowder and sealing-wax. And
here I must leave you.' They had just come to the end of the wood.
Alice
could only look puzzled: she was thinking of the pudding.
'You are
sad,' the Knight said in an anxious tone: 'let me sing you a song to comfort
you.'
'Is it
very long?' Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.
'It's
long,' said the Knight, 'but very, VERY beautiful. Everybody that hears me
sing it—either it brings the TEARS into their eyes, or else—'
'Or else
what?' said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.
'Or else
it doesn't, you know. The name of the song is called "HADDOCKS' EYES."'
'Oh, that's
the name of the song, is it?' Alice said, trying to feel interested.
'No, you
don't understand,' the Knight said, looking a little vexed. 'That's what the
name is CALLED. The name really IS "THE AGED AGED MAN."'
'Then
I ought to have said "That's what the SONG is called"?' Alice corrected herself.
'No, you
oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The SONG is called "WAYS AND MEANS":
but that's only what it's CALLED, you know!'
'Well,
what IS the song, then?' said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
'I was
coming to that,' the Knight said. 'The song really IS "A-SITTING ON A GATE":
and the tune's my own invention.'
So saying,
he stopped his horse and let the reins fall on its neck: then, slowly beating
time with one hand, and with a faint smile lighting up his gentle foolish
face, as if he enjoyed the music of his song, he began.
Of all
the strange things that Alice saw in her journey Through The Looking-Glass,
this was the one that she always remembered most clearly. Years afterwards
she could bring the whole scene back again, as if it had been only yesterday—the
mild blue eyes and kindly smile of the Knight—the setting sun gleaming through
his hair, and shining on his armour in a blaze of light that quite dazzled
her—the horse quietly moving about, with the reins hanging loose on his neck,
cropping the grass at her feet—and the black shadows of the forest behind—all
this she took in like a picture, as, with one hand shading her eyes, she
leant against a tree, watching the strange pair, and listening, in a half
dream, to the melancholy music of the song.
'But the
tune ISN'T his own invention,' she said to herself: 'it's "I GIVE THEE ALL,
I CAN NO MORE."' She stood and listened very attentively, but no tears came
into her eyes.
'I'll tell thee everything I can;
There's little to relate.
I saw an aged aged man,
A-sitting on a gate.
"Who are you, aged man?" I said,
"and how is it you live?"
And his answer trickled through my head
Like water through a sieve.
He said "I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat:
I make them into mutton-pies,
And sell them in the street.
I sell them unto men," he said,
"Who sail on stormy seas;
And that's the way I get my bread—
A trifle, if you please."
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.
So, having no reply to give
To what the old man said,
I cried, "Come, tell me how you live!"
And thumped him on the head.
His accents mild took up the tale:
He said "I go my ways,
And when I find a mountain-rill,
I set it in a blaze;
And thence they make a stuff they call
Rolands' Macassar Oil—
Yet twopence-halfpenny is all
They give me for my toil."
But I was thinking of a way
To feed oneself on batter,
And so go on from day to day
Getting a little fatter.
I shook him well from side to side,
Until his face was blue:
"Come, tell me how you live," I cried,
"And what it is you do!"
He said "I hunt for haddocks' eyes
Among the heather bright,
And work them into waistcoat-buttons
In the silent night.
And these I do not sell for gold
Or coin of silvery shine
But for a copper halfpenny,
And that will purchase nine.
"I sometimes dig for buttered rolls,
Or set limed twigs for crabs;
I sometimes search the grassy knolls
For wheels of Hansom-cabs.
And that's the way" (he gave a wink)
"By which I get my wealth—
And very gladly will I drink
Your Honour's noble health."
I heard him then, for I had just
Completed my design
To keep the Menai bridge from rust
By boiling it in wine.
I thanked him much for telling me
The way he got his wealth,
But chiefly for his wish that he
Might drink my noble health.
And now, if e'er by chance I put
My fingers into glue
Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot
Into a left-hand shoe,
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,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough,
Who snorted like a buffalo—
That summer evening, long ago,
A-sitting on a gate.'
As the
Knight sang the last words of the ballad, he gathered up the reins, and turned
his horse's head along the road by which they had come. 'You've only a few
yards to go,' he said, 'down the hill and over that little brook, and then
you'll be a Queen—But you'll stay and see me off first?' he added as Alice
turned with an eager look in the direction to which he pointed. 'I shan't
be long. You'll wait and wave your handkerchief when I get to that turn in
the road? I think it'll encourage me, you see.'
'Of course
I'll wait,' said Alice: 'and thank you very much for coming so far—and for
the song—I liked it very much.'
'I hope
so,' the Knight said doubtfully: 'but you didn't cry so much as I thought
you would.'
So they
shook hands, and then the Knight rode slowly away into the forest. 'It won't
take long to see him OFF, I expect,' Alice said to herself, as she stood watching
him. 'There he goes! Right on his head as usual! However, he gets on again
pretty easily—that comes of having so many things hung round the horse—' So
she went on talking to herself, as she watched the horse walking leisurely
along the road, and the Knight tumbling off, first on one side and then on
the other. After the fourth or fifth tumble he reached the turn, and then
she waved her handkerchief to him, and waited till he was out of sight.
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