Page:Alice in Blunderland.pdf/21

8 "What's a copperation?" asked Alice.

"What? Never heard of a Copperation?" demanded the Hatter. "Mercy! Ever hear of the Mumps, or the Measles, or the Whooping Cough?"

"Yes—but I never knew they were called Copperations," said Alice.

"Well, they ain't, but they're no worse—so they ought to be," said the Hatter. "Listen here. I'll tell you what a copperation is."

And putting his hat in front of his mouth like a telephone the Hatter recited the following poem through it:

THE COPPERATION

A copperation is a beast

With forty leven paws

That doesn't ever pay the least

Attention to the laws.

It grabs whatever comes in sight

From hansom cabs to socks

And with a grin of mad delight

It turns 'em into stocks