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Through
the Looking-Glass
and what Alice
found there
Kapitel 6:
Humpty Dumpty, Lewis Carroll, Seite 3 ( von 7 )
"Is it really?" said Alice, quite pleased to find that she
had chosen a
good subject, after all.
"They gave it me," Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully, as he
crossed one knee over the other and clasped his hands round it, "they gave
it me - for an un-birthday present."
"I beg your pardon?" Alice said with a puzzled air.
"I'm not offended," said Humpty Dumpty.
"I mean, what is an un-birthday
present?"
"A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course."
Alice considered a little. "I like birthday presents best," she said
at last.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" cried Humpty Dumpty.
"How many days are there in a year?"
"Three hundred and sixty-five," said Alice.
"And how many birthdays have you?"
"One."
"And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five, what
remains?"
"Three hundred and sixty-four, of course."
Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful. "I'd rather see that done on paper,"
he said.
Alice couldn't help smiling as she took out her memorandum-book, and worked the
sum for him:
365
1
----
364
----
Humpty Dumpty took the book, and looked at it carefully. "That seems to be
done right -" he began.
"You're holding it upside down!" Alice interrupted.
"To be sure I was!" Humpty Dumpty said gaily, as she turned it round
for him. "I thought it looked a little queer. As I was saying, that
seems to be done
right - though I haven't time to look it over thoroughly just now - and that
shows that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get
un-birthday presents -"
"Certainly," said Alice.
"And only one for birthday
presents, you know. There's glory for you!"
"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't - till I tell
you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"
"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice
objected.
"When I use
a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just
what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you
can make words
mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -
that's all."
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty
began again. "They've a temper, some of them - particularly verbs, they're
the proudest - adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs - however,
I can manage the
whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what
I say!"
"Would you tell me, please," said Alice, "what that means?"
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