" . . . It seems to fill my head with ideas ― only I don't know exactly what they are."
― Alice about the Jabberwocky poem in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898)
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe. ― 'Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!' ― He took his vorpal sword in hand: long time the manxome foe he sought - So rested he by the Tumtum tree, and stood awhile in thought. ― And as in uffish thought he stood, the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbled as it came! ― 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 has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. ― '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, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
the poem Jabberwocky
in Through the Looking Glass
"Il brilgue: les tôves lubricilleux Se gyrent en vrillant dans le guave, Enmîmés sont les gougebosqueux, Et le mômerade horsgrave. ― Garde-toi du Jaseroque, mon fils! La gueule qui mord; la griffe qui prend! Garde-toi de l'oiseau Jube, évite Le frumieux Band-à-prend. ― Son glaive vorpal en mail il va- T-à la recherche du fauve manscant; Puis arriveé à l'arbre Té-Té, Il y reste, réfléchissant. ― Pendant qu'il pense, tout uffusé Le Jaseroque, à l'oeil flambant, Vient siblant par le bois tullegeais, Et burbule en venant. ― Un deux, un deux, par le milieu, Le glaive vorpal fait pat-à-pan! La bête défaite, avec sa tête, Il rentre gallomphant. ― As-tu tué le Jaseroque? Viens à mon coeur, fils rayonnais! O jour frabbejeais! Calleau! Callai! Il cortule dans sa joie. ― Il brilgue: les tôves lubricilleux Se gyrent en vrillant dans le guave, Enmîmés sont les gougebosqueux, Et le mômerade horsgrave."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Le Jaseroque the French Translation of Jabberwocky
from Through the Looking Glass
"'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. ― 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' ― 'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice. ― 'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here'."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
"But, it goes on "They all returned from him to you,' said Alice. ― 'Why, there they are!' said the King triumphantly, pointing to the tarts on the table. 'Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again ― 'Before she had this fit ― you never had fits, my dear, I think?' he said to the Queen. ― 'Never!' said the Queen furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke. (The unfortunate little Bill had left off writing on his slate with one finger, as he found it made no mark; but he now hastily began again, using the ink, that was trickling down his face, as long as it lasted.) ― 'Then the words don't fit you,' said the King, looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence.
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"'Cheshire Puss', she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 'Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. 'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' ― 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to', said the Cat. 'I don't much care where--' said Alice. ― 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. ― '-- so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation. ― 'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough'."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"'No, no!' said the Queen. 'Sentence first . . . verdict afterwards.' ― 'Stuff and nonsense!' said Alice loudly. 'The idea of having the sentence first!' ― 'Hold your tongue!' said the Queen, turning purple. ― 'I won't!' said Alice. ― 'Off with her head!' the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved. ― 'Who cares for you?' said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) 'You're nothing but a pack of cards!' "
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"'Who is it directed to?' said one of the jurymen. ― 'It isn't directed at all', said the White Rabbit; 'in fact, there's nothing written on the outside.' He unfolded the paper as he spoke, and added 'It isn't a letter, after all: it's a set of verses.' ― 'Are they in the prisoner's handwriting?' asked another of they jurymen. ― 'No, they're not,' said the White Rabbit, 'and that's the queerest thing about it.' (The jury all looked puzzled.) ― "He must have imitated somebody else's hand," said the King. (The jury all brightened up again.)"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"Alice looked at the jury-box, and saw that, in her haste, she had put the Lizard in head downwards, and the poor little thing was waving its tail about in a melancholy way, being quite unable to move. She soon got it out again, and put it right; 'not that it signifies much,' she said to herself; 'I should think it would be quite as much use in the trial one way up as the other.'
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"At this moment the King, who had been for some time busily writing in his note-book, cackled out 'Silence!' and read out from his book, 'Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.' ― Everybody looked at Alice. ― 'I'm not a mile high,' said Alice. ― 'You are,' said the King. ― 'Nearly two miles high,' added the Queen. ― 'Well, I shan't go, at any rate,' said Alice: 'besides, that's not a regular rule: you invented it just now.' ― 'It's the oldest rule in the book,' said the King. ― 'Then it ought to be Number One,' said Alice.
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This of course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that the poor little juror (it was Bill, the Lizard) could not make out at all what had become of it; so, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day; and this was of very little use, as it left no mark on the slate."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the other. 'I beg pardon, your Majesty,' he began, 'for bringing these in: but I hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for.' ― 'You ought to have finished,' said the King. 'When did you begin?' ― The Hatter looked at the March Hare, who had followed him into the court, arm-in-arm with the Dormouse. 'Fourteenth of March, I think it was,' he said. ― 'Fifteenth,' said the March Hare. ― 'Sixteenth,' added the Dormouse. ― 'Write that down,' the King said to the jury, and the jury eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then added them up, and reduced the answer to shillings and pence.
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"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!"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), from The Walrus and The Carpenter
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"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."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
from The Walrus and The Carpenter
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 'Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked. ― 'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop'."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"There is no use trying," said Alice. "One can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"When you are describing, A shape, or sound, or tint; Don't state the matter plainly, But put it in a hint; And learn to look at all things, With a sort of mental squint."
― Lewis Carroll's, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898)
"You are old, Father William,' the young man said, 'and your hair has become very white; and yet you incessantly stand on your head - do you think, at your age, it is right?' ― 'In my youth,' Father William replied to his son, 'I feared it might injure the brain; but, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, why, I do it again and again.' ― 'You are old,' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before, and have grown most uncommonly fat; yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door - pray, what is the reason for that?' ― 'In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, I kept all my limbs very supple, by the use of this ointment - one shilling the box - allow me to sell you a couple?' ― 'You are old,' said the youth, 'and your jaws are too weak for anything tougher than suet; yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak - pray, how did you manage to do it?' ― 'In my youth,' said his father, 'I took to the law, and argued each case with my wife; and the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw, has lasted the rest of my life.' ― 'You are old,' said the youth, 'one would hardly suppose that your eye was as steady as ever; yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose - what made you so awfully clever?' ― 'I have answered three questions, and that is enough,' said his father. 'Don't give yourself airs! Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? Be off, or I'll Kick you downstairs!'
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
the poem You Are Old, Father William
in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked. "Begin at the beginning," the King said, gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
― Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
"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 enquired. 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."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"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."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898),
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
"How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale!" "How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in, With gently smiling jaws!"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Alice in Wonderland
"Speak roughly to your little boy, and beat him when he sneezes: he only does it to annoy because he knows it teases. ― Wow! wow! wow! é I speak severely to my boy, And beat him when he sneezes: For he can thoroughly enjoy The pepper when he pleases! ― Wow! wow! wow!"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Alice in Wonderland
"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is" ― 'Be what you would seem to be'" ― or, if you'd like it put more simply" ― 'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Alice in Wonderland
"Es brilig war. Die schlichte Toven Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben; Und aller-m" umsige Burggoven Dir mohmen R" ath ausgraben."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Through the Looking Glass
"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 a rather 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."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Through the Looking Glass
"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!"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Through the Looking Glass
"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 very odd, because it was The middle of the night."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Through the Looking Glass
"'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'."
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Through the Looking Glass
" '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'.)"
― Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 to 1898), Through the Looking Glass
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