Early in his "Preface to the Hunting of the Snark," Lewis
Carroll offers what he terms proof that the poem isn't at all
nonsense while noting that the evidence he offers has nothing
to do with "the arithmetical principles so cautiously inculcated"
in the poem. Below is a list of several of those principles,
arrayed, appropriately, in arithmetical order.
0. Zero.
The Bellman's map appears in Fit the Second as "a perfect and
absolute blank."
1. One.
The Bellman's bell, though frequently rung many times during the poem, remains a singularity. (The Bellman mentions specifically in
The Bellman's bell, though frequently rung many times during the poem, remains a singularity. (The Bellman mentions specifically in
Fit the First that, in addition to only one bell, there is only one ship
and only one Beaver on board.)
2. Two.
In Fit the First, the Baker recommends to the Beaver two "excellent
In Fit the First, the Baker recommends to the Beaver two "excellent
Policies" to insure his life against any predatory actions by the Butcher.
3. Three.
In Fit the First, the Bellman reminds the crew that "What I tell you
three times is true." Such triple repetitions occur several times in
various guises throughout the poem.
4. Four.
In Fit the Fourth, the Baker points out to the crew that he has told
them his tale -- which he relates in Fit the Third -- in four languages:
Hebrew, Dutch, German and Greek.
5. Five.
In Fit the Second, the Bellman draws the crew's attention to five marks by which genuine snarks are recognized: how they taste, their habit of rising late, their slowness in taking a jest, their fondness for bathing-machines and their ambition.
In Fit the Second, the Bellman draws the crew's attention to five marks by which genuine snarks are recognized: how they taste, their habit of rising late, their slowness in taking a jest, their fondness for bathing-machines and their ambition.
6. Six.
In Fit the Third, the crew rouses the Baker from a fainting spell he
experiences at the end of Fit the Second using six means: muffins,
ice, mustard, cress, jam and advice. (Additionally, they set him
conundrums to guess.)
7. Seven.
Though the Baker leaves all his boxes on the beach and even forgets
his name, he does, as Fit the First points out, wear seven coats upon
his arrival on board.
8. Eight.
The poem consists of eight groups of stanzas Carroll calls fits. It also
features eight so-called portmanteau words.
9. Nine.
The eighth and final fit consists of nine stanzas.
10. Ten.
The crew numbers ten: a Bellman, a Boots, a maker of Bonnets and
Hoods, a Barrister, a Broker, a Billiard-marker, a Banker, a Beaver, a
Bucher and a Baker. Their names, as is seen here, all begin with a B.
11. Eleven.
The Baker's tale forms the central section of Fit the Third and consists
of eleven stanzas.
12. Twelve.
12, 13 and 15 are arithmetically linked. 12 multiplied by 13 gives 156. 15 subtracted from 156 gives 141. 141 is the total number of stanzas in the entire poem.
13. Thirteen.
See text for number 12 above.
14. Fourteen.
The number of stanzas in Fit the Third is 14.
15. Fifteen.
See text for number 12 above.
16. Sixteen.
The letters in the name of Carroll's dedicatee, Gertrude Chataway,
are used to fashion a poetic inscription in the form of an acrostic.
As there are 16 letters in Gertrude's name, there are, of course,
16 lines in the inscription.
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen.
19. Nineteen.
20. Twenty.
There are 20 letters in the name of the poem.
(a work in progress)
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