アリスがうさぎ穴に落ちて不思議の国に入り込んだ最初に暗唱する詩「ごらん小さなワニさんが」。
本当は「ごらん小さなミツバチが――」と始めたかったのに違う言葉が出てきてしまい、きっと自分は貧乏であまり賢くないメーベルになってしまったんだと嘆きます。
この“How doth the little crocodile”は、賛美歌作家アイザック・ワッツ(1674-1748)による教訓詩“Against
Idleness and Mischief”(1715)のパロディ。 |
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How doth the lit-tle
bus-y bee
Im-prove each shin-ing hour,
And gath-er hon-ey all the day
From ev-ery open-ing flower!
How skill-ful-ly she builds her cell!
How neat-ly spreads the wax!
And la-bors hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.
In works of la-bor or of skill
I would be bus-y too:
For Sa-tan finds some mis-chief still
For i-dle hands to do.
In books, or work, or health-ful play
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for ev-ery day
Some good ac-count at last. |