The Hunting of the Snark: Fit the First: The Landing
- The Hunting of the Snark
- The Bellman’s Speech
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- “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.
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- “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.”
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- 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.
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- A Billiard-marker, whose skill was immense,
- Might perhaps have won more than his share—
- But a Banker, engaged at enourmous expense,
- Had the whole of their cash in his care.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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!”
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- 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”.
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- “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.”
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- He would joke with hyaenas, 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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:
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- 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.
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- 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!
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- 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:
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- 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.
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- 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:
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- 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.
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- Yet still, ever after that sorrowful day,
- Whenever the Butcher was by,
- The Beaver kept looking the opposite way,
- And appeared unaccountably shy.
- The Hunting of the Snark
- The Bellman’s Speech
