文档介绍：THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
THE HUNTING OF THE
SNARK
Lewis Carroll
1
THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
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 )
"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;
he knew it was all wrong, but alas! Rule 42 of the Code, "No one shall
speak to the Man at the Helm," had pleted 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