Part 16 (1/2)

”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!”

And true enough, the _Bellman's_ idea of the ocean was a big square basin, with the lat.i.tude and longitude carefully written out on the margin. They found, however, that their ”brave Captain” knew very little about navigation, he--

”Had only one notion for crossing the ocean, And that was to tingle his bell.”

He thought nothing of telling his crew to steer starboard and larboard at the same time, and then we know how--

The bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.

”A thing,” as the Bellman remarked, ”That frequently happens in tropical climes, When a vessel is, so to speak, 'snarked.'”

The _Bellman_ had hoped, when the wind blew toward the east, that the s.h.i.+p would not travel toward the west, but it seems that with all his nautical knowledge he could not prevent it; s.h.i.+ps are perverse animals!

”But the danger was past--they had landed at last, With their boxes, portmanteaus, and bags: Yet at first sight the crew were not pleased with the view, Which consisted of chasms and crags.”

Now that they had reached the land of the Snark, the _Bellman_ proceeded to air his knowledge on that subject.

”A snark,” he said, ”had five unmistakable traits--its taste, 'meager and mellow and crisp,' its habit of getting up late, its slowness in taking a jest, its fondness for bathing machines, and, fifth and lastly, its ambition.” He further informed the crew that ”the snarks that had feathers could bite, and those that had whiskers could scratch,” adding as an afterthought:

”'For although common Snarks do no manner of harm, Yet I feel it my duty to say, Some are Boojums--' The Bellman broke off in alarm, For the Baker had fainted away.”

_Fit the Third_ was the _Baker's_ tale.

”They roused him with m.u.f.fins, they roused him with ice, They roused him with mustard and cress, They roused him with jam and judicious advice, They set him conundrums to guess.”

Then he explained why it was that the name ”Boojum” made him faint. It seems that a dear uncle, after whom he was named, gave him some wholesome advice about the way to hunt a snark, and this uncle seemed to be a man of much influence:

”'You may seek it with thimbles, and seek it with care; You may hunt it with forks and hope; You may threaten its life with a railway-share; You may charm it with smiles and soap----'”

”'That's exactly the method,' the Bellman bold In a hasty parenthesis cried, 'That's exactly the way I have always been told That the capture of Snarks should be tried!'”

”'But, oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away, And never be met with again!'”

This of course was a very sad thing to think of, for the man with no name, who was named after his uncle, and called in courtesy the _Baker_, had grown to be a great favorite with the crew; but they had no time to waste in sentiment--they were in the Snark's own land, they had the _Bellman's_ orders in _Fit the Fourth_--the Hunting:

”To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care; To pursue it with forks and hope; To threaten its life with a railway share; To charm it with smiles and soap!

”For the Snark's a peculiar creature, that won't Be caught in a commonplace way.

Do all that you know, and try all that you don't: Not a chance must be wasted to-day!”

Then they all went to work according to their own special way, just as we would do now in our hunt for happiness through the chasms and crags of every day.

_Fit the Fifth_ is the _Beaver's_ Lesson, when the _Butcher_ discourses wisely on arithmetic and natural history, two subjects a butcher should know pretty thoroughly, and this is proved:

”While the Beaver confessed, with affectionate looks More eloquent even than tears, It had learned in ten minutes far more than all books Would have taught it in seventy years.”

The _Barrister's_ Dream occupied _Fit the Sixth_, and here our poet's keen wit gave many a slap at the law and the lawyers.

The _Banker's_ Fate in _Fit the Seventh_ was sad enough; he was grabbed by the Banders.n.a.t.c.h (that ”frumious” ”portmanteau” creature that we met before in the _Lay of the Jabberwocky_) and worried and tossed about until he completely lost his senses. Some bankers are that way in the pursuit of fortune, which means happiness to them; but fortune may turn, like the Banders.n.a.t.c.h, and shake their minds out of their bodies, and so they left this _Banker_ to his fate. That is the way of people when bankers are in trouble, because they were reckless and not always careful to

”Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Banders.n.a.t.c.h.”