Songs from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass — The Aged, Aged Man

Tune "I give thee all, I can no more," adapted by T. MOORE

from H. BISHOP, arranged by L. BROADWOOD.

I'll tell thee ev'rything I can;

There's little to relate.

I saw an aged, aged man, A-sitting on a gate.

"Who are you, aged man?"

I said.

"And how is it you live?"

And his answer trickled through my head Like water through a sieve.

] He said, "I look for butterflies That sleep among the wheat: I make them into mutton pies, And sell them in the street.

I sell them unto men," he said, "Who sail on stormy seas;

And that's the way I get my bread-- A trifle, if you please."

But I was thinking of a plan To dye one's whiskers green, And always use so large a fan That they should not be seen.

So, having no reply to give To what the old man said, I cried, "Come, tell me how you live!"

And thumped him on the head.

His accents mild took up the tale: He said "I go my ways, And when I find a mountain rill, I set it in a blaze;

And thence they make a stuff they call Rowlands' Macassar Oil-- Yet two-pence-halfpenny is all They give me for my toil!"

But I was thinking of a way To feed oneself on batter, And so go on from day to day Getting a little fatter.

I shook him well from side to side, Until his face was blue: "Come, tell me how you live," I cried, "And what it is you do!"

[Illustration] He said, "I hunt for haddocks' eyes Among the heather bright, And work them into waistcoat-buttons In the silent night.

And these I do not sell for gold Or coin of silv'ry shine, But for a copper halfpenny, And that will purchase nine."

"I sometimes dig for buttered rolls, Or set limed twigs for crabs;

I sometimes search the grassy knolls For wheels of Hansom-cabs!

And that's the way" (he gave a wink) "By which I get my wealth-- And very gladly will I drink Your honour's noble health."

I heard him then, for I had just Completed my design To keep the Menai bridge from rust By boiling it in wine.

I thanked him much for telling me The way he got his wealth, But chiefly for his wish that he Might drink my noble health.

[Illustration] [Music: And now, if e'er by chance I put My fingers into glue, Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot Into a left-hand shoe, Or if I drop upon my toe A very heavy weight, I weep, for it reminds me so Of that old man I used to know-- Whose look was mild, whose speech was slow, Whose hair was whiter than the snow, Whose face was very like a crow, With eyes, like cinders, all a-glow, Who seem'd distracted with his woe, Who rocked his body to and fro, And muttered mumblingly and low, As if his mouth were full of dough;

Who snorted like a buffalo That summer ev'ning, long ago, A-sitting on a gate!

] [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration: Queen Alice]