4.26.2009

It was the black kitten's fault entirely...

On April 25, 1856, Lewis Carroll first encountered the three year-old named Alice Liddell who would serve as his inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and, later, Through the Looking Glass.

Alice Liddell, photographed in 1859 by Charles Dodgson (a.k.a Lewis Carroll)




From Through the Looking Glass:

"One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it--it was the black kitten's fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bearing it pretty well, considering): so you see that it couldn't have had any hand in the mischief.

"The way Dinah washed her children's faces was this: first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw, and then with the other paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way, beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said, she was hard at work on the white kitten, which was lying quite still and trying to purr--no doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.

"But the black kitten had been finished with earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great armchair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the kitten had been having a grand game of romps with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying to wind up, and had been rolling it up and down till it had all come undone again; and there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all knots and tangles, with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle.

"'Oh, you wicked, wicked little thing!' cried Alice, catching up the kitten, and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace. 'Really, Dinah ought to have taught you better manners! You ought, Dinah, you know you ought!'" ...



Read more of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass now (free etext)


Alice Pleasance Liddell (1852-1934)

8 comments:

Chris said...

I love that excerpt. Thanks!

Elizabeth said...

But does it give you cat breath? :)

Puss-in-Boots said...

I agree, there's the proof that it was the black kitten...

mrspao said...

Wonderful :)

Carrie K said...

Excellent excerpt! Poor disgraced black kitten.

Obsidian Kitten said...

It's one of my favorite passages and definitely among my favorite illustrations of all time. I know--poor disgraced black kitty! (Meanwhile, the white kitty was probably making trouble behind everyone's back...)

Pomegranate said...

Great article. I love the blog and the posts. Keep up the good work.

Obsidian Kitten said...

Thanks, Pomegranate!