Clearly stated in the preface of The Hunting of the Snark:
The helmsman used to stand by with tears in his eyes; he knew it was all wrong, but alas! Rule 42 of the Code, “No one shall speak to the Man at the Helm,” had been completed by the Bellman himself with the words “and the Man at the Helm shall speak to no one.” So remonstrance was impossible, and no steering could be done till the next varnishing day. During these bewildering intervals the ship usually sailed backwards.You can read the entire poem by Lewis Carroll online here.
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...no one is speaking to the idiot at the helm these days either!!!
ReplyDeleteThey keep tryin', but his fingers are in his ears
DeleteExcellent 42
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteWe read this book during my theological studies. It's really nonsense. There's a Lewis and Hathaway episode which handles it, too. Valerie
ReplyDeleteI remember that episode :)
DeleteI also saw the Lewis episode Valerie spoke about. I had to laugh at the beginning of this tale.
ReplyDeleteCarroll should be more widely read, especially since we could do with some comedy these days. And this one's free :)
DeleteAnd he wrote this even before the Hitchhiker Guide's was written. The number must have been a powerful force even then.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many numbers would show up like this if I focused on them like I focus on 42.
DeleteGreat passage, and I like the artwork.
ReplyDeleteHenry Holiday did the cover illustration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Holiday
DeleteAmazing find - fabulous 😀. Take care! Hugs, Jo x
ReplyDeleteI got a kick out of finding this one lol
DeleteThanks for the link! I'm not familiar with this one so off I go to check it out! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThe Hunting of the Snark is a trip :) An adventure to read.
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