Alice

© John Tenniel

.. ”There’s more evidence to come yet, please your Majesty,” said the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry: ”this paper has just been picked up.” ”What’s in it?” said the Queen. ”I haven’t opened it yet,” said the White Rabbit; "but it seems to be a letter, written by the prisoner to—to somebody.” ”It must have been that,” said the King, ”unless it was written to nobody, which isn’t usual, you know.” ”Who is it directed to?” said one of the jurymen. ”It isn’t directed at all,” said the White Rabbit: ”in fact, there’s nothing written on the outside.” He unfolded the paper as he spoke, and added, ”It isn’t a letter after all: it’s a set of verses.” ”Are they in the prisoner’s handwriting?” asked another of the jurymen. ”No, they’re not,” said the White Rabbt, ”and that’s the queerest thing about it.” (The jury all looked puzzled.) ”He must have imitated somebody else’s hand,” said the King. (The jury all brightened up again.) ”Please, your Majesty,” said the Knave, ”I didn’t write it, and they can’t prove that I did: there’s no name signed at the end.” ”If you didn’t sign it,” said the King, ”that only makes the matter worse. You must have meant some mischief, or else you’d have signed your name like an honest man.” There was a general clapping of hands at this: it was the first really clever thing the King had said that day. ”That proves his guilt, of course,” said the Queen: ”so, off with—.” ”It doesn’t prove anything of the sort!” said Alice. „”Why, you don’t even know what they’re about!” ”Read them,” said the King. The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. ”Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?” he asked. ”Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, ”and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” There was dead silence in the court, whilst the White Rabbit read out these verses:—

They told me you had been to her,
And mentioned me to him:
She gave me a good character,
But said I could not swim.


He send them word I had not gone
(We know it to be true):
If she should push the matter on,
What would become of you?


I gave her one, they gave him two,
You gave us three or more;
They all returned from him to you,
Though they were mine before.


If I or she should chance to be
Involved in this affair,
He trusts to you to set them free
Exactly as we were.


My notion was that you had been
(Before she had this fit)
An obstacle that came between
Him, and ourselves, and it.


Don’t let him know she liked them best,
For this must ever be
A secret, kept from all the rest,
Between yourself and me.

”That’s the most important piece of evidence we’ve heard yet,” said the King, rubbing his hands; „”so now let the jury—” ”If any one of them can explain it,” said Alice, (she had grown so large in het last few minutes that she wasn’t a bit afraid of interrupting him), ”I’ll give him sixpence. I don’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it.” The jury all wrote down on their slates, ”She doesn’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it,” but none of them attempted to explain the paper. ”If there’s no meaning in it,” said the King, ”that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we needn’t try to find any” ..

(Lewis Carroll, uit: The Annotated Alice. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [& Through the Looking Glass], 1987 [1960], 156-159)




Jij was met haar, zo zei men mij,
Nog voor het hier begon.
Zij prees mijn mooie stem maar zei
Dat ik niet zwemmen kon.


Hij schreef hun dat ik niet zou gaan.
(Dat was maar al te waar.)
Zij wilde er per se vandaan.
Wat moest hij toen met haar?


Ik kreeg er een, jij kreeg er twee,
En zij wel drie of meer.
Geheel vergeefs, naar mijn idee:
Tot u keerden ze weer.


Als zij of ik toevallig zijn
Gemoeid in deze zaak,
Dan ligt hier voor zijn meesterbrein
Voorwaar een schone taak.


Vraag je het mij, dan speelde men
(Vóór zij het hoofd verloor)
Haar uit tussen jou, mij en hen;
Zij leende zich daarvoor.


Vertel hem nooit dat zij het meest
Aan hen heeft toebehoord.
Verzoek aan ieder die dit leest:
Vergeet het, woord voor woord.



(Lewis Carroll, uit: De Avonturen van Alice in Wonderland, 1989 [1865], 124-125, vert. Nicolaas Matsier)



Jij was, zei men, bij haar geweest,
en noemde hem mijn naam.
Ik was volgens haar heel scherp van geest,
Maar in het zwemmen niet bekwaam.


Hij vertelde hun waar ik verbleef
(Wij weten: dat is waar),
Als zij de zaak nog verder dreef,
Hoe moest dat dan met haar?


Ik gaf haar een, zij gaf hem twee,
Jij gaf ons drie of meer;
Hij gaf ze allemaal aan jou mee,
Mijn bezittingen van weleer.


Als ik of zij in deze zaak
Verwikkeld raken zal,
Dan rust op jou de schone taak
Ons te halen uit dit dal.


Jij was degeen, naar ik toen dacht,
(Voor zij die toeval had)
Die ruzie en afstand heeft gebracht
Tussen hem en ons en dat.


Zeg niet wie zij het meest verkoos,
Want dat blijft een geheim.
De anderen worden vast heel boos,
En dat past niet in dit rijm.



(Lewis Carroll, uit: Alice in Wonderland, 2005 [1865], 164-165, vert. Akkie de Jong)

© Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll, last picture of Alice Liddell (18)