Page:Carroll - Rhyme and Reason.djvu/154

138 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!"

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."

"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."

He would joke with hyænas, 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. He came as a Baker: but owned, when too late—
 * And it drove the poor Bellman half-mad—

He could only bake Bride-cake—for which, I may state,
 * No materials were to be had.