La chasse au Snark - Jabberwocky

Prenez par exemple les deux mots "fulminant" et "furieux. Vous vous décidez à dire les deux mots, mais sans savoir par lequel commencer. Maintenant ouvrez la bouche et parlez. Si votre pensée incline, ne serait-ce qu'à peine, vers *fulminant", vous direz: "fulminant -furieux": si votre pensée se tourne, ne serait-ce qu'insensiblement, vers " furieux" , vous direz: "furieux-fulminant". Mais si vous êtes doté de la qualité la plus rare, à savoir d'un esprit parfaitement balancé, vous direz "flurieux".

Et les dson raths sichoufflaient
« Sichouffler » c’est quelque chose qui tient de souffler et de siffler avec une espèce d’éternuement au milieu.

M.M.FAYET, 1930.

Et les Ghoré Uk’hâtis dans la GRABUGEUMENT
Uk’hâtis, je pense que c’est une contraction verbale, elliptique pour ukhase, hâte et abruti - cahot nocturne sous Hécate - qui veut dire les pourceaux de la lune rejetés hors du droit chemin.

ANTONIN ARTAUD, 1948.

« Tu peux menacer sa vie
Avec une action de chemin de fer »

They hunted till darkness came on, but they found
Not a button, or feather, or mark,
By which they could tell that they stood on the ground
Where the Baker had met with the Snark.
In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away—
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.

“The method employed I would gladly explain,
While I have it so clear in my head,
If I had but the time and you had but the brain—
But much yet remains to be said.
“In one moment I’ve seen what has hitherto been
Enveloped in absolute mystery,
And without extra charge I will give you at large
A Lesson in Natural History.”
In his genial way he proceeded to say
(Forgetting all laws of propriety,
And that giving instruction, without introduction,
Would have caused quite a thrill in Society),

When at length he sat up and was able to speak,
His sad story he offered to tell;
And the Bellman cried “Silence! Not even a shriek!”
And excitedly tingled his bell.
There was silence supreme! Not a shriek, not a scream,
Scarcely even a howl or a groan,
As the man they called “Ho!” told his story of woe
In an antediluvian tone.
“My father and mother were honest, though poor—”
“Skip all that!” cried the Bellman in haste.
“If it once becomes dark, there’s no chance of a Snark—
We have hardly a minute to waste!”

Fit the Second - THE BELLMAN’S SPEECH
The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies—
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!
He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.
“What’s the good of Mercator’s North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?”
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
“They are merely conventional signs!
“Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we’ve got our brave Captain to thank”
(So the crew would protest) “that he’s bought us the best—
A perfect and absolute blank!”

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.”

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 “i” in “slithy” is long, as in “writhe”; and “toves” is pronounced so as to rhyme with “groves.”
Again, the first “o” in “borogoves” is pronounced like the “o” in “borrow.” I have heard people try
to give it the sound of the “o” in “worry.” Such is Human Perversity.