Thursday, June 25, 2020

Rule 42 of the Code


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.

16 comments:

  1. ...no one is speaking to the idiot at the helm these days either!!!

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    1. They keep tryin', but his fingers are in his ears

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  2. We read this book during my theological studies. It's really nonsense. There's a Lewis and Hathaway episode which handles it, too. Valerie

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  3. I also saw the Lewis episode Valerie spoke about. I had to laugh at the beginning of this tale.

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    1. Carroll should be more widely read, especially since we could do with some comedy these days. And this one's free :)

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  4. And he wrote this even before the Hitchhiker Guide's was written. The number must have been a powerful force even then.

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    1. I wonder how many numbers would show up like this if I focused on them like I focus on 42.

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  5. Great passage, and I like the artwork.

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    1. Henry Holiday did the cover illustration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Holiday

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  6. Amazing find - fabulous 😀. Take care! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. I got a kick out of finding this one lol

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  7. Thanks for the link! I'm not familiar with this one so off I go to check it out! Have a great weekend!

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    1. The Hunting of the Snark is a trip :) An adventure to read.

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