Охота на Снарка. Пища для ума - страница 11

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         And the fall of a pin might be heard.

“Transportation for life” was the sentence it gave,

         “And then to be fined forty pound.”

The Jury all cheered, though the Judge said he feared

         That the phrase was not legally sound.

But their wild exultation was suddenly checked

         When the jailer informed them, with tears,

Such a sentence would have not the slightest effect,

         As the pig had been dead for some years.

The Judge left the Court, looking deeply disgusted:

         But the Snark, though a little aghast,

As the lawyer to whom the defence was intrusted,

         Went bellowing on to the last.

Thus the Barrister dreamed, while the bellowing seemed

         To grow every moment more clear:

Till he woke to the knell of a furious bell,

         Which the Bellman rang close at his ear.

Fit the Seventh

The Banker’s Fate

They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;

         They pursued it with forks and hope;

They threatened its life with a railway-share;

         They charmed it with smiles and soap.

And the Banker, inspired with a courage so new

         It was matter for general remark,

Rushed madly ahead and was lost to their view

         In his zeal to discover the Snark

But while he was seeking with thimbles and care,

         A Bandersnatch swiftly drew nigh

And grabbed at the Banker, who shrieked in despair,

         For he knew it was useless to fly.

He offered large discount – he offered a cheque

         (Drawn “to bearer”) for seven-pounds-ten:

But the Bandersnatch merely extended its neck

         And grabbed at the Banker again.

Without rest or pause – while those frumious jaws

         Went savagely snapping around —

He skipped and he hopped, and he floundered

                                                        and flopped,

         Till fainting he fell to the ground.

The Bandersnatch fled as the others appeared

         Led on by that fear-stricken yell:

And the Bellman remarked “It is just as I feared!”

         And solemnly tolled on his bell.

He was black in the face, and they scarcely could trace

         The least likeness to what he had been:

While so great was his fright that his waistcoat turned

                                                                   white —

         A wonderful thing to be seen!

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