Jabberwocky For President

Rosie Gamgee · 02-12-2004, 03:39 PM

Here's a bit short story that I wrote after reading a poem by Lewis Carrol (and I am embarrassed to say that I don't remember the name of it..

grr..). It may be a little confusing for thsoe who haven't read the poem (and maybe to those who have, too), but here it is- open for comments and critisim, of course.

JABBERWOCKY FOR PRESIDENT
By: Undisclosed

Last night- or was it the night before? Nevermind, it doesn't matter, does it?- I was walking downtown. Oh dear! I've forgotten to discribe the town. Well, it's nestled right by the wabe, and one can walk the edge of it to get the best view anytime between nine in the morning and two in the afternoon.
The town has no name, because the weather changes too often for the mome raths and the slithies to agree on one.
Mome raths are generally brillig, though I've known a few to be quite manxome at times. They live in their little borogroves on the hill (by the wabe, you know) and are quite happy there- although every now and again the borogroves grow mimsy.
The slithies are something of a mystery to me, however, as I forget what they are like soon after I've met them. It is the slithies that close the wabe at two o'clock so that they can gimble and gyre far into the night- in fact they only get finished cleaning it up in time for re-opening at nine. Sometimes on my frequent walks I gyre into a stray slithy on its way to the wabe (there are always a few late ones).
On this particular night (yesterday or the day before, that is) I was walking downtown, and passed under a Tumtum tree, when- quite accidentally, I assure you- I gyred straight into a slithy. Anyway, I thought it was a slithy, but when I lifted my hat in greeting and looked down at the manxome little creature, I saw that it was not a slithy, but one of the mome raths- out far after bedtime, I was shocked to note (mome raths are very strict in observing bedtime, you see).
"See here, little mome rath!" I said. It looked up at me, seemingly perturbed.
"See what?" it whiffled. "I'm in a hurry, trying to outgrabe the toves of slithies- slithy toves, that is- to the election!"
I was quite surprise to hear that there was any election, for this was the first I'd heard of it. "See here, young mome rath," said I, "what election?"
"The Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky are running for President," stated the mome rath reather frabjously. Then it frowned again. "See what?"
"Have they run yet?" I asked, neverminding his last question.
"I don't know! If you weren't delaying me, I'd be there watching at this very moment." The mome rath was growing mimsy now, and I knew I shouldn't detain it any longer.
"See here," I demanded. "Take me to the election."
The mome rath agreed, but was very much flummoxed my the whole thing. It took off faster than I'd expected- mostly because the slithy toves it was trying to outgrabe were coming into view. I huffed and puffed after the mome rath, gimbling as fast as my legs would carry me.
When I finally caught up with it, the mome rath was just stepping inside a huge borogrove, which was already filling with slithies and mome raths in large toves. A sign was hung above the door, and it said, "Jabberwock for President." I was quite taken aback at this, because such signs are normally not so loud.
"See here," I remarked to the sign.
"See what," it said. "Jabberwock for President," it added.
At that moment there was a great commotion in the borogrove, and I hurried in just in time to see the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwock come whiffling in through a side door. They climbed up to the podium at the front of the room and were greeted by the Master of Ceremonies, the Jubjub bird. The slithy toves began to applaud and the mome raths gimbled about in little circles.
"The frumious Bandersnatch and the manxome Jabberwock have run for President!" the Jubjub bird squawked, while the burbling Jabberwock and Bandersnatch were given cups of water.
"Jabberwock for President!" I heard the sign outside call over the din from the gimbling mome raths.
"The Jabberwock has won the election by five-point-three seconds," the Jubjub bird continued. "We shall now crown the vict-"
"See here!" I interrupted, quite uffishly. The room quickly grew quiet, and the Jubjub bird eyed me mimsily. The Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch got up from their chairs and began burbling most frumiously. I suddenly remembered a bit of a rhyme I had learned when I was young:

Beware the Jabberwock my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!

I swallowed hard, and in the ensuing silence, "Jabberwock for President!" the sign outside piped up.
The Jubjub bird seemed rather put out by this, and swooped down from the podium to slam the door shut. It was quite close to me now, and I grew very nervous.
"See what?" it hissed.
I cleared my throat. "See here," I repeated, though my voice was rather unsteady. "This is no way to run an election."
The Jubjub bird laughed. "We've already run the election- the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwock have!" The rest of the corwd laughed with it, though I could still hear a faint "Jabberwock for President!" through the closed door.
I was about to explain that an election and all the campaigning and such that goes with it is not an actual race, but a system of voting in wich every person gets a voice, when the Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch gimbled down the from the podium. They were shoving mome raths and tove of slithies- slithy toves, that is- out of their way as they came. I cowered before them, noticing suddenly that their jaws and claws were terribly sharp and manxome.
"Let's make him run!" the Bandersnatch said to the Jabberwock, and the Jubjub bird agreed. The three of them reached out their frumious arms to grab me, and run I did.
I grabbed the door-handle, neverminding the mome rath door-man who hastily stepped out of the way (not hastily enough, though, for I fear I pinned it behind the door). I opened the door and slipped out into the night and gimbled for all I was worth, dodging the vorpal swords that were being flung at me from the windows and doors of the borogrove. I heard the door to the borogrove shut behind me with a snicker-snack, and I heard them shout, "Gimble, gimble away, beamish little fellow! Begone with you, callooh, callay!"
And as I galumphed back home in the dark, I heard the sign chortle frabjously after me, "Jabberwock for President!!"
THE END

Beruthiel's cat · 02-12-2004, 04:02 PM

To the best of my recollection, the poem is "The Jabberwocky" and it comes from the Walrus and the Carpenter section of "Through the Looking Glass" (I think, don't quote me. Memory not too good right now.)

Carroll's use of nonsense language is a lot of fun and you are clearly enjoying yourself while incorporating it into your story. It can be very hard to follow, however, if the reader isn't aware that many of the words are just nonsense (brilliantly clever nonsense, but nonsense, none the less). You may want to indicate or highlight the nonsense words in some way so they don't look like typos.

Keep up the good work!

Rosie Gamgee · 02-12-2004, 04:18 PM

There we go! Finished! I typed the whole thing out once before and this darn machine logged me off. ARGH...
Well, thank you for the comments. I suppose if it was ever published a copy of the poem would have to be included (but I truly doubt I'd get it published anywhere). The words are hard to define, and the way I use them is different from the way the Cheshire (spl?, and I think it was him) explained them to Alice. I tried to use them in such a way as to automatically hint as to what they mean, or at least give a small idea as to what I'm talking about.
I loved writing the bumbling, over-talkative fellow doing the narrating. Fun.

brownjenkins · 02-12-2004, 04:18 PM

loved it... one of my favorite authors... the inspiration for my "country" in fact Snicker-Snack

Quote:

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. ~ Lewis Carroll

Rosie Gamgee · 02-12-2004, 04:21 PM

Neat! I love using all of those funny words. In fact, I have developed a habit of exclaiming "Oh, brillig!" whenever something goes wrong.

02-12-2004, 03:39 PM	#1
Rosie Gamgee The Lovely Hobbit-Lass Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bounded in a nut-shell Posts: 1,593	Jabberwocky For President Here's a bit short story that I wrote after reading a poem by Lewis Carrol (and I am embarrassed to say that I don't remember the name of it.. grr..). It may be a little confusing for thsoe who haven't read the poem (and maybe to those who have, too), but here it is- open for comments and critisim, of course. JABBERWOCKY FOR PRESIDENT By: Undisclosed Last night- or was it the night before? Nevermind, it doesn't matter, does it?- I was walking downtown. Oh dear! I've forgotten to discribe the town. Well, it's nestled right by the wabe, and one can walk the edge of it to get the best view anytime between nine in the morning and two in the afternoon. The town has no name, because the weather changes too often for the mome raths and the slithies to agree on one. Mome raths are generally brillig, though I've known a few to be quite manxome at times. They live in their little borogroves on the hill (by the wabe, you know) and are quite happy there- although every now and again the borogroves grow mimsy. The slithies are something of a mystery to me, however, as I forget what they are like soon after I've met them. It is the slithies that close the wabe at two o'clock so that they can gimble and gyre far into the night- in fact they only get finished cleaning it up in time for re-opening at nine. Sometimes on my frequent walks I gyre into a stray slithy on its way to the wabe (there are always a few late ones). On this particular night (yesterday or the day before, that is) I was walking downtown, and passed under a Tumtum tree, when- quite accidentally, I assure you- I gyred straight into a slithy. Anyway, I thought it was a slithy, but when I lifted my hat in greeting and looked down at the manxome little creature, I saw that it was not a slithy, but one of the mome raths- out far after bedtime, I was shocked to note (mome raths are very strict in observing bedtime, you see). "See here, little mome rath!" I said. It looked up at me, seemingly perturbed. "See what?" it whiffled. "I'm in a hurry, trying to outgrabe the toves of slithies- slithy toves, that is- to the election!" I was quite surprise to hear that there was any election, for this was the first I'd heard of it. "See here, young mome rath," said I, "what election?" "The Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky are running for President," stated the mome rath reather frabjously. Then it frowned again. "See what?" "Have they run yet?" I asked, neverminding his last question. "I don't know! If you weren't delaying me, I'd be there watching at this very moment." The mome rath was growing mimsy now, and I knew I shouldn't detain it any longer. "See here," I demanded. "Take me to the election." The mome rath agreed, but was very much flummoxed my the whole thing. It took off faster than I'd expected- mostly because the slithy toves it was trying to outgrabe were coming into view. I huffed and puffed after the mome rath, gimbling as fast as my legs would carry me. When I finally caught up with it, the mome rath was just stepping inside a huge borogrove, which was already filling with slithies and mome raths in large toves. A sign was hung above the door, and it said, "Jabberwock for President." I was quite taken aback at this, because such signs are normally not so loud. "See here," I remarked to the sign. "See what," it said. "Jabberwock for President," it added. At that moment there was a great commotion in the borogrove, and I hurried in just in time to see the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwock come whiffling in through a side door. They climbed up to the podium at the front of the room and were greeted by the Master of Ceremonies, the Jubjub bird. The slithy toves began to applaud and the mome raths gimbled about in little circles. "The frumious Bandersnatch and the manxome Jabberwock have run for President!" the Jubjub bird squawked, while the burbling Jabberwock and Bandersnatch were given cups of water. "Jabberwock for President!" I heard the sign outside call over the din from the gimbling mome raths. "The Jabberwock has won the election by five-point-three seconds," the Jubjub bird continued. "We shall now crown the vict-" "See here!" I interrupted, quite uffishly. The room quickly grew quiet, and the Jubjub bird eyed me mimsily. The Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch got up from their chairs and began burbling most frumiously. I suddenly remembered a bit of a rhyme I had learned when I was young: Beware the Jabberwock my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird and shun The frumious Bandersnatch! I swallowed hard, and in the ensuing silence, "Jabberwock for President!" the sign outside piped up. The Jubjub bird seemed rather put out by this, and swooped down from the podium to slam the door shut. It was quite close to me now, and I grew very nervous. "See what?" it hissed. I cleared my throat. "See here," I repeated, though my voice was rather unsteady. "This is no way to run an election." The Jubjub bird laughed. "We've already run the election- the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwock have!" The rest of the corwd laughed with it, though I could still hear a faint "Jabberwock for President!" through the closed door. I was about to explain that an election and all the campaigning and such that goes with it is not an actual race, but a system of voting in wich every person gets a voice, when the Jabberwock and the Bandersnatch gimbled down the from the podium. They were shoving mome raths and tove of slithies- slithy toves, that is- out of their way as they came. I cowered before them, noticing suddenly that their jaws and claws were terribly sharp and manxome. "Let's make him run!" the Bandersnatch said to the Jabberwock, and the Jubjub bird agreed. The three of them reached out their frumious arms to grab me, and run I did. I grabbed the door-handle, neverminding the mome rath door-man who hastily stepped out of the way (not hastily enough, though, for I fear I pinned it behind the door). I opened the door and slipped out into the night and gimbled for all I was worth, dodging the vorpal swords that were being flung at me from the windows and doors of the borogrove. I heard the door to the borogrove shut behind me with a snicker-snack, and I heard them shout, "Gimble, gimble away, beamish little fellow! Begone with you, callooh, callay!" And as I galumphed back home in the dark, I heard the sign chortle frabjously after me, "Jabberwock for President!!" THE END __________________ It's New Years Day, just like the day before; Same old skies of grey, same empty bottles on the floor. Another year's gone by, and I was thinking once again, How can I take this losing hand and somehow win? Just give me One Good Year To get my feet back on the ground. I've been chasing grace; Grace ain't so easily found One bad hand can devil a man, chase him and carry him down. I've got to get out of here, just give me One Good Year! Last edited by Rosie Gamgee : 02-12-2004 at 04:14 PM.

02-12-2004, 04:02 PM	#2
Beruthiel's cat mystical divinity of Unashamed Felinity Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: New York's beautiful North Coast -- we're all mad here!!! Posts: 635	To the best of my recollection, the poem is "The Jabberwocky" and it comes from the Walrus and the Carpenter section of "Through the Looking Glass" (I think, don't quote me. Memory not too good right now.) Carroll's use of nonsense language is a lot of fun and you are clearly enjoying yourself while incorporating it into your story. It can be very hard to follow, however, if the reader isn't aware that many of the words are just nonsense (brilliantly clever nonsense, but nonsense, none the less). You may want to indicate or highlight the nonsense words in some way so they don't look like typos. Keep up the good work! __________________ "Never try to out-stubborn a cat!" -- R. Heinlein ~~~~~~~~~ "But I don't want to be among mad people, " Alice remarked. "Oh, but you can't help that," said the Cat; "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." ~~ Lewis Carroll ~~~~~~~~~~~ Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana...

02-12-2004, 04:18 PM	#3
Rosie Gamgee The Lovely Hobbit-Lass Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bounded in a nut-shell Posts: 1,593	There we go! Finished! I typed the whole thing out once before and this darn machine logged me off. ARGH... Well, thank you for the comments. I suppose if it was ever published a copy of the poem would have to be included (but I truly doubt I'd get it published anywhere). The words are hard to define, and the way I use them is different from the way the Cheshire (spl?, and I think it was him) explained them to Alice. I tried to use them in such a way as to automatically hint as to what they mean, or at least give a small idea as to what I'm talking about. I loved writing the bumbling, over-talkative fellow doing the narrating. Fun. __________________ It's New Years Day, just like the day before; Same old skies of grey, same empty bottles on the floor. Another year's gone by, and I was thinking once again, How can I take this losing hand and somehow win? Just give me One Good Year To get my feet back on the ground. I've been chasing grace; Grace ain't so easily found One bad hand can devil a man, chase him and carry him down. I've got to get out of here, just give me One Good Year!

02-12-2004, 04:21 PM	#5
Rosie Gamgee The Lovely Hobbit-Lass Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bounded in a nut-shell Posts: 1,593	Neat! I love using all of those funny words. In fact, I have developed a habit of exclaiming "Oh, brillig!" whenever something goes wrong. __________________ It's New Years Day, just like the day before; Same old skies of grey, same empty bottles on the floor. Another year's gone by, and I was thinking once again, How can I take this losing hand and somehow win? Just give me One Good Year To get my feet back on the ground. I've been chasing grace; Grace ain't so easily found One bad hand can devil a man, chase him and carry him down. I've got to get out of here, just give me One Good Year!