Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 16).djvu/615

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THE BOYHOOD OF LEWIS CARROLL.
619
III.

Ye monarche rade owr brake an brae,
 And drave ye yellynge packe,
Hiz meany[1] au', richte cadgily[2],
 Are wendynge[3] yn hiz tracke.

IV.

Wi' eager iye, wi' yalpe and crye,
 Ye hondes yode[4] down ye rocks:
Ahead of au' their companye
 Renneth ye pauky[5] foxe.

V.

Ye foxe has soughte that cave of awe,
 Forewearied[6] wi' hiz rin,
Quha nou ys he sae bauld an braw[7]
 To dare to enter yn?

VI.

Wi' eager bounde hes ilka honde
 Gane till that caverne dreir,
Fou[8] many a yowl[9] ys[10] hearde arounde,
 Fou many a screech of feir.

We cannot help regretting that the last illustration leaves us in so much doubt as to the ultimate fate of the "kynge"; as the picture stands, it seems about five to four on his becoming a prey to the savage monster; if the timid gentleman who is represented as drawing his sword would only get hold of the king's other foot, one feels that he would have a better chance of escape.

There were two papers on "Difficulties" in the "Umbrella," which, I think, may interest some Strand readers. The first was a favourite problem of Lewis Carroll's:―

"DIFFICULTIES.

"No. I.

"Half of the world, or nearly so, is always in the light of the sun. As the world turns round, this hemisphere of light shifts round too, and passes over each part of it in succession.

"Supposing on Tuesday it is morning at London, in another hour it would be Tuesday morning at the west of England. If the whole world were land, we might go on tracing[11] Tuesday morning, Tuesday morning, all the way round, till in twenty-four hours we get to London again. But we know that at London, twenty-four hours after Tuesday morning, it is Wednesday morning. Where, then, in its passage round the earth, does the day change its name? Where does it lose its identity?

"Practically, there is no difficulty in it, because a great part of its journey is over water, and what it does out at see no one can tell; and, besides, there are so many many different lan-

  1. ↑ Company.
  2. ↑ Merrily.
  3. ↑ Going, journeying.
  4. ↑ Went.
  5. ↑ Cunning.
  6. ↑ Much wearied.
  7. ↑ Brave.
  8. ↑ Full.
  9. ↑ Howl.
  10. ↑ Is.
  11. ↑ The best way is to imagine yourself walking round with the sun, and asking the inhabitants as you go, "What morning is this?" If you suppose them living all the way round, and all speaking one language, the difficulty is obvious.
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