Fit the First
THE LANDING
"Just the
place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed
his crew with care;
Supporting each
man on the top of the tide
By a finger
entwined in his hair.
"Just the
place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone
should encourage the crew.
Just the place
for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell
you three times is true."
The crew was
complete: it included a Boots—
A maker of
Bonnets and Hoods—
A Barrister,
brought to arrange their disputes—
And a
Broker, to value their goods.
A Billiard-marker,
whose skill was immense,
Might
perhaps have won more than his share—
But a Banker,
engaged at enormous expense,
Had the
whole of their cash in his care.
There was also a
Beaver, that paced on the deck,
Or would sit
making lace in the bow:
And had often
(the Bellman said) saved them from wreck,
Though none
of the sailors knew how.
There was one who
was famed for the number of things
He forgot
when he entered the ship:
His umbrella, his
watch, all his jewels and rings,
And the
clothes he had bought for the trip.
He had forty-two
boxes, all carefully packed,
With his
name painted clearly on each:
But, since he
omitted to mention the fact,
They were
all left behind on the beach.
The loss of his
clothes hardly mattered, because
He had seven
coats on when he came,
With three pairs
of boots—but the worst of it was,
He had
wholly forgotten his name.
He would answer
to "Hi!" or to any loud cry,
Such as
"Fry me!" or "Fritter my wig!"
To
"What-you-may-call-um!" or "What-was-his-name!"
But
especially "Thing-um-a-jig!"
While, for those
who preferred a more forcible word,
He had
different names from these:
His intimate
friends called him "Candle-ends,"
And his
enemies "Toasted-cheese."
"His form is
ungainly—his intellect small—"
(So the
Bellman would often remark)
"But his
courage is perfect! And that, after all,
Is the thing
that one needs with a Snark."
He would joke
with hyenas, returning their stare
With an
impudent wag of the head:
And he once went
a walk, paw-in-paw, with a bear,
"Just
to keep up its spirits," he said.
He came as a
Baker: but owned, when too late—
And it drove
the poor Bellman half-mad—
He could only
bake Bridecake—for which, I may state,
No materials
were to be had.
The last of the
crew needs especial remark,
Though he
looked an incredible dunce:
He had just one
idea—but, that one being "Snark,"
The good
Bellman engaged him at once.
He came as a
Butcher: but gravely declared,
When the ship had been sailing a week,
He could only
kill Beavers. The Bellman looked scared,
And was
almost too frightened to speak:
But at length he
explained, in a tremulous tone,
There was
only one Beaver on board;
And that was a tame one he had of his own,
Whose death
would be deeply deplored.
The Beaver, who
happened to hear the remark,
Protested,
with tears in its eyes,
That not even the
rapture of hunting the Snark
Could atone
for that dismal surprise!
It strongly
advised that the Butcher should be
Conveyed in
a separate ship:
But the Bellman
declared that would never agree
With the
plans he had made for the trip:
Navigation was
always a difficult art,
Though with
only one ship and one bell:
And he feared he
must really decline, for his part,
Undertaking
another as well.
The Beaver's best
course was, no doubt, to procure
A
second-hand dagger-proof coat—
So the Baker
advised it—and next, to insure
Its life in
some Office of note:
This the Banker
suggested, and offered for hire
(On moderate
terms), or for sale,
Two excellent
Policies, one Against Fire,
And one
Against Damage From Hail.
Yet still, ever
after that sorrowful day,
Whenever the
Butcher was by,
The Beaver kept
looking the opposite way,
And appeared
unaccountably shy.
No comments:
Post a Comment