long way before it, and a long way behind it
And a long way beyond it on each side, Alice added.
Exactly so. Well, then, _mimsy_ is flimsy and miserable (there s
another portmanteau for you). And a _borogove_ is a thin
shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round something
like a live mop.
And then _mome raths_ ? said Alice. I m afraid I m giving you a
great deal of trouble.
Well, a _rath_ is a sort of green pig: but _mome_ I m not certain
about. I think it s short for from home meaning that they d lost
their way, you know.
And what does _outgrabe_ mean?
Well, _outgrabing_ is something between bellowing and whistling,
with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you ll hear it done,
maybe down in the wood yonder and when you ve once heard it you ll be
_quite_ content. Who s been repeating all that hard stuff to you?
I read it in a book, said Alice. But I had some poetry repeated to
me, much easier than that, by Tweedledee, I think it was.
As to poetry, you know, said Humpty Dumpty, stretching out one of his
great hands, _I_ can repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it comes
to that
Oh, it needn t come to that! Alice hastily said, hoping to keep him
from beginning.
The piece I m going to repeat, he went on without noticing her
remark, was written entirely for your amusement.
Alice felt that in that case she really _ought_ to listen to it, so she
sat down, and said Thank you rather sadly.
In winter, when the fields are white,
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