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8/6/2019 Playbill PDF

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What good is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations? ispirato a

Alice s Adventures in Wonderland Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, nome vero di Lewis Carroll, nacque vicino a Manchester. Nel 1843 famiglia si trasfer nello Yorkshire. Nel maggio del 1850 Carroll super lesame di ammissione aOxford, al Christ Church College: vi rester per il resto della vita. Distintosi per gli studi di matematicnel 1854 inizi linsegnamento della matema tica e della geometria che svolger per 26 anni. Nel 1855arriv a Christ Church, a occupare il posto di decano, Henry George Liddell, padre di Lorina, Edith soprattutto Alice: del 1862 la famosa gita in barca con le sorelline Liddell durante la quale Carroinvent la storia di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie . Il manoscritto della storia raccontata in barca usc nel1865. Nel 1867 Carroll cominci a scrivere Attraverso lo specchio. Mor nel 1898.

Si sempre pensato a una profonda scissione tra gl i scritti scientifici e gli scritti letterari: in realt ilnonsense di Carroll esce dritto dritto da una particolare distorsione dei problemi di logica.

Nel caso di Carroll i giochi di parole, le invenzioni verbali e i vari trabocchetti del linguaggio sono codeterminanti da costituire lessenza narrativa del testo oltre che la scrittura.

Dall introduzione di Milli Graffi Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie Attraverso lo specchioGarzanti


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DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE

Whats a book without pictures A conversation with no tea

When a fire is not warmI feel very stupid and sleepy And tired of staying here

Here it comes a white rabbitDo they always have pocketsCould a rabbit be lateIve never seen rabbits with watches

And Im still awake

And I start falling slowly

Among book shelves and cupboards And orange marmaladeIs empty, What a shame Would this fall come to an endHow many miles Ive gone deeper The center of the earth Am I getting somewhere near

In the room I see a door Too much little to walk through And the bottle said Drink me

I can get so smallerBut damn now I forgot the key Theres a cake which said Eat me What a weirdest adventureCuriouser and curiouserSaid goodbye to my feetHeres the key once again butI grew taller and tallerHow queer is everything Ill swim into my tears

Nella tana del coniglio

Che cos un libro senza fotografie? Una conversazione senza t?

Un fuoco che non caldo Mi sento stupida e sonnolenta E parecchio stanca di stare qui

Ecco che arriva un coniglio biancoDi solito hanno le tasche? Un coniglio pu essere in ritardo?

Non ho mai visto un coniglio con lorologio E sono ancora sveglia

E inizio a cadere lentamente

Tra scaffali ed armadi E un barattolo di marmellata allarancia E vuoto, che pec cato! Finir mai questa caduta? Per quante miglia sono gi scesa? Il centro della terra,Ci sto per caso arrivando vicino?

Vedo una porta nella stanza Troppo piccola per passarci attraversoE la bottiglia dice Bevimi

Posso diventare cos piccola Ma dannazione, ho dimenticato la chiave

C un dolce che dice Mangiami Che avventura strana E sempre pi curioso Dire addio ai propri piedi Ecco ancora la chiave

Ma divento sempre pi alta Come strano tutto questo

Annegher nelle mie lacrime


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OUVERTURE

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall: Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King's horses and all the King's men Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.

Humpty Dumpty Don't stand chattering to yourself like that, but tell me your name and yourbusiness.

Alice My name is Alice, but --

Humpty Dumpty It's a stupid name enough! What does it mean?

AliceMust a name mean something?

Humpty Dumpty Of course it must:my name means the shape I am -- and a good handsomeshape it is, too. With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost.

How old did you say you were?

Alice Seven years and six months.

Humpty Dumpty Wrong! You never said a word like it!

Alice I thought you meant "How oldare you?"Humpty Dumpty If I'd meant that, I'd have said it.

When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more norless.

Alice The question is, whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.

Humpty Dumpty The question is, which is to be master - - that's all.

They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs, they're the proudest --adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole of them!

Alice You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall : forse la nursery rhyme pi conosciuta.

My name means the shape I am : hump significa gobba edumpy significa tarchiato. il nomeconferma le teorie linguistiche sul personaggio.


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Down the rabbit holeGi nella tana del coniglio

L. Carroll: Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it

had no pictures or conversations in it- - Alice: And what is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?

White Rabbit: Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!

Alice: Well! After such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down-stairs!How brave they'll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!

I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?

Dinah'll miss me very much tonight! - Dinah is my cat.I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at teatime. Dinah, my dear! I wish you weredown here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, andthat's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?

Do cats eat bats?Do cats eat bats?

Do bats eat cats?

Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?

White Rabbit:Oh my ears and whiskers, how late its getting!

Do cats eat bats? Do bats eat cats? uno dei giochi tipici del nonsenso quello di affidare un sensoimperscrutabile alla fortuita e del tutto occasionale coincidenza dei suoni e delle lettere.


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L. Carroll: She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to

be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall.

There were doors all around the hall, but they were all locked.

Suddenly she came upon a little table; there was nothing on it but a tiny golden key.

She came upon a little door: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to hergreat delight it fitted!

Alice found that the door led into a small passage: she knelt down and looked into theloveliest garden you ever saw.

Alice: How I long to get out of this dark hall, and wander about among those beds of brightflowers, butI cant even get my head through the doorway!

Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how tobegin!

What a curious feeling! I must be shutting up like a telescope!


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The Pool of TearsIl mare di lacrime

Alice: Curiouser and curiouser! Oh dear, what nonsense I'm talking!

You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a great girl like you, to go on crying in this way! Stop thismoment, I tell you!

Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual.I wonder if I've been changed in the night?

Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? But if I'm not the same, the nextquestion is: Who in the world am I? Ah,that's the great puzzle!

I'm sure I'm not Ada, for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets atall; and I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a

very little!Besides,she's she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is!

I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve, and fourtimes six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!However, the Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography.

London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome--no,that's all wrong,I'm certain! I must have been changed for Mabel! I'll try and say "How doth the little - -

`How doth the little crocodileImprove his shining tail, And pour the waters of the NileOn every golden scale!

`How cheerfully he seems to grin,How neatly spread his claws, And welcome little fishes in With gently smiling jaws!'

I'm sure those are not the right words!

Alice: O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming abouthere, O Mouse!

Mouse: Let us get to the shore, and then I'll tell you my history.

Curiouser and curiouser! Lerrore grammaticale di Alice coinvolge due regole collegate tra di loro perla formazione del comparativo in inglese e leffetto comico ne risulta raddoppiato. Lespressione rimasta proverbiale.


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A caucus-race and a long taleUna Gara Elettorale e la lunga coda di una storia

All: How do weget dry again?

Mouse: Sit down, all of you, and listen to me!Ill

soon make you dry enough ! Ahem! Are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please

William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted toby the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed tousurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria--------------------

Lory: Ugh!

Mouse: I beg your pardon! Did you speak?Lory: Not I!

Mouse: I thought you did! I proceed.

Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him; and evenStigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, foundit advisable----------

Duck: Foundwhat ?

Mouse: Foundit : of course you know what it means.Duck: I know what it means well enough, when I find a thing: its generally a frog, or a worm.

The question is: what did the archbishop find?

Mouse: ----found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him thecrown. William's conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans-- - How are you getting on now, my dear?

Alice As wet as ever: it doesn't seem to dry me at all.

Dodo In that case, I move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of moreenergetic remedies--

Eaglet Speak English! I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and, what'smore, I don't believe you do either!

Dodo What I was going to say, was that the best thing to get us dry would be aCaucus-race .

Alice What IS a Caucus-race ?

Dodo Why, the best way to explain it is to do it.


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Dodo The race is over!

All But who has won?

Dodo EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes.

All But who is to give the prizes?

Dodo Why, SHE, of course.

All Prizes! Prizes!

Mouse But she must have a prize herself, you know.

Dodo Of course. What else have you got in your pocket?

Alice Only a thimble.Dodo Hand it over here.

We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble.

Alice You promised to tell me your history, you know, and why it is you hate--C and D.

Mouse Mine is a long and a sadtale !

Alice It IS a long tail , certainly; but why do you call it sad?

A caucus-race and a long tale Il terminecaucus race fu inventato in America per indicare ilconvegno al quale partecipavano gli esponenti pi illustri di un partito per decidere sulla linea politicaIn Inghilterra prese una colorazione fortemente ironica, da qui il senso di cricca, combriccola. Tale(racconto) e tail (coda) sono omofoni in inglese, e da qui sorge lequivoco di Alice.

To get dry again Sul terminedry usato alternativamente nei due sensi di asciugarsi e di arido viene costruito tutto lepisodio. L a citazione viene da un testo molto diffuso e particolarmente noioso, ilShort Course of History .It Il topo usa l it preparatoriocio il pronome usato in attesa del complemento oggetto autentico.Lanatra lo interpreta come pronome direttamente.

Fury said to a mouse : la forma che Carroll ha dato a questa poesia ha fatto s che egli venisseconsiderato come un precursore della poesia visiva del Novecento.

I had not! (No!) dice il Topo e Alice capisce invece lomofona espressione A knot! (in nodo).


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'Fury said to amouse, That he

met in thehouse,

"Let usboth go to

law: I willprosecuteYOU.--Come,

I'll take nodenial; We

must have atrial: For

really thismorning I've

nothingto do."

Said themouse to the

cur, "Sucha trial,

dear Sir,With

no juryor judge,

would bewastingourbreath."

"I'll bejudge, I'll

be jury,"Said

cunningold Fury:"I'lltry the

wholecause,

andcondemnyou

todeath."'

Mouse You are not attending! What are you thinking of?

Alice I beg your pardon: you had got to the fifth bend, I think?

Mouse I had NOT!

Alice A knot! Oh, do let me help to undo it!

Mouse I shall do nothing of the sort! You insult me by talking such nonsense!

Alice I didn't mean it! But you're so easily offended, you know!Please come back and finish your story!


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Caterpillar: Repeat You are old, Father William .

Alice: `You are old, Father William,' the young man said,Ànd your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head--

Do you think, at your age, it is right?'Ìn my youth,' Father William replied to his son,Ì feared it might injure the brain;But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, Why, I do it again and again.'

Caterpillar: That is not said right.

Alice: Notquite right, Im afraid: some of the words have got altered.

Caterpillar: It is wrong from beginning to end.

Explain yourself ! dice il Bruco, invitando Alice a spiegarsi meglio. Alice interpreta in modo letterale lespressione.

You are old, Father William la parodia di un edificante poema didattico di Robert Southey (Iconforti di un vecchio e di come li guadagn) dove un giovane chiede al padre come abbia fatto amantenersi cos vigoroso, e il padre risponde con una serie di moralistici consigli. Il personaggio diCarroll, smaliziato e gaglioffo, lantitesi di quello di Southey, pio e timorato.


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From Pig and pepper

Alice: Cheshire-Puss Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

Cat: That depends a good deal on where you wnt to get to. Alice: I dont much care where -------

Cat: Then it doesnt matter which way you go.

Alice: -------so long as I getsomewhere .

Cat: Oh, youre sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

Alice: What sort of people live about here?

Cat: In that direction, lives aHatter : and in that direction, lives aMarch Hare . Visit either you like: theyre both mad.

Alice: But I dont want to go among mad pe ople.

Cat: Oh, you cant help that: were all mad here. Im mad. Youre mad.

Alice: How do you know Im mad?

Cat: You must be, or you wouldnt have come here.

Alice: And how do you know that youre mad?

Cat: To begin with, a dogs not mad. You gra nt that?

Alice: I suppose so.

Cat: Well, then, you see a dog growls when its angry, and wags its tail when its pleased.Now I growl when Im pleased, and wag my tail when Im angry. Therefore Im mad.

Mad as a hatter (matto come un cappellaio) era un modo di dire diffuso allepoca di Carroll, chederivava dal fatto che le esalazioni di mercurio adoperato nel trattamento del feltro provocavano unaforma di intossicazione fortissima, con stati di allucinazione e squilibrio mentale.Mad as a March hare (matto come la lepre a marzo) allude alle scatenate capriole delle giovani leprimaschio, di solito nel mese di marzo.


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A mad tea-partyIl t dei matti

March Hare: No room! No room!

Hatter: No room! No room! Alice: There's plenty of room!

March Hare: Have some wine

Alice: I don't see any wine.

March Hare: There isn't any!

Alice: Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it!

March Hare: It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited.

Alice: I didn't know it was your table; it's laid for a great many more than three.

Hatter: Your hair wants cutting.

Alice: You should learn not to make personal remarks; it's very rude.

Hatter: Why is a raven like a writing-desk?

Alice: I believe I can guess that!

March Hare: Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?

Alice: Exactly so.

March Hare: Then you should say what you mean.

Alice: I do; at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.

Hatter: Not the same thing a bit! You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is thesame thing as "I eat what I see"!

March Hare: You might just as well say that "I like what I get" is the same as "I get what Ilike"!

Dormouse: You might just as well say that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same as "I sleep when I breathe"!

Hatter: What day of the month is it?

Alice: The fourth.Hatter Two days wrong! I told you butter wouldn't suit the works!


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March Hare It was thebest butter.

Hatter Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well: you shouldn't have put it in withthe bread-knife.

March Hare It was thebest butter, you know. Alice What a funny watch! It tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock

it is!

Hatter Why should it? Does your watch tell you what year it is?

Alice Of course not: but that's because it stays the same year for such a long timetogether.

Hatter Which is just the case withmine .

Alice I don't quite understand you.

Hatter Have you guessed the riddle yet?

Alice No, I give it up: what's the answer?

Hatter I haven't the slightest idea.

March Hare Nor I.

Alice I think you might do something better with the time, than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.

Hatter If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't talk about wasting it . It'shim .

Alice I don't know what you mean.

Hatter Of course you don't! I dare say you never even spoke to Time!

Alice Perhaps not: but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.

Hatter Ah! that accounts for it! He won't stand beating.

Suppose it were nine o'clock in the morning, time to begin lessons: you'd only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!

Alice That would be grand, certainly: but then--I shouldn't be hungry for it, you know.

Hatter: Not at first, perhaps, but you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked.

Alice Is that the way you manage?

Hatter: Not I! We quarrelled last March--just beforehe went mad, you know--it was atthe great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing


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"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at!"

You know the song, perhaps?

Alice I've heard something like it.Hatter It goes on, you know, in this way:

"Up above the world you fly,Like a tea-tray in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle--"

Dormouse Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle--

Hatter Well, I'd hardly finished the first verse, when the Queen jumped up and bawled

out, "He'smurdering the time ! Off with his head!"' Alice How dreadfully savage!

Hatter And ever since that, he won't do a thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now.

Alice Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?

Hatter Yes, that's it: it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.

Alice Then you keep moving round, I suppose?

Hatter: Exactly so, as the things get used up.

Alice But what happens when you come to the beginning again?

March Hare Suppose we change the subject. I'm getting tired of this.

I vote the young lady tells us a story.

Alice I'm afraid I don't know one.

March Hare Then the Dormouse shall! Wake up, Dormouse!

Hatter Then the Dormouse shall! Wake up, Dormouse!

Dormouse I wasn't asleep.

March Hare Tell us a story!

Alice Yes, please do!

Dormouse Once upon a time there were three little sisters;

and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie;


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and they lived at the bottom of a well--

Alice What did they live on?

Dormouse They lived on treacle.

Alice They couldn't have done that, you know; they'd have been ill.

Dormouse So they were;very ill.

Alice: But why did they live at the bottom of a well?

March Hare Take some more tea.

Alice I've had nothing yet, so I can't take more.

Hatter: You mean you can't takeless : it's very easy to takemore than nothing. Alice Nobody asked your opinion.

Alice: Why did they live at the bottom of a well?

Dormouse It was a treacle-well.

Alice There's no such thing!

Dormouse If you can't be civil, you'd better finish the story for yourself.

Alice No, please go on! I won't interrupt again. I dare say there may beone .

Dormouse One, indeed! And so these three little sisters--they were learning to draw, youknow--

Alice What did they draw?

Dormouse Treacle.

Hatter: I want a clean cup, let's all move one place on.

Alice: But I don't understand. Where did they draw the treacle from?

Hatter You can draw water out of a water-well; so I should think you could draw treacleout of a treacle-well--eh, stupid?

Alice But they werein the well.

Dormouse Of course they were - - well in.

Dormouse They were learning to draw, and they drew all manner of things--everything thatbegins with an M--

Alice Why with an M?


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March Hare Why not?

Dormouse --that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, andmuchness-- you know you say things are "much of a muchness"--did you eversee such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?

Alice Really, now you ask me, I don't think--

Hatter Then you shouldn't talk.

Alice It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat la parodia di una poesia di J. Taylor,The star , che inizia cos: Twinkle,twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!

Murdering the time letteralmente: ammazzare il tempo.

Take some more tea. I've had nothing yet, so I can't take more: il cappellaio porta ancora pi in lil gioco di prendere alla lettera delle espressioni comuni, rivelando cos lincoerenza interna dellinguaggio e la sua ambiguit.


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The Mock Turtles story Storia del Vitello-Similtartaruga

Gryphon This here young lady, she wants for to know your history, she do.

Mock Turtle I'll tell it her: sit down, both of you, and don't speak a word till I've finished. Alice I don't see how he caneven finish, if he doesn't begin.

Mock Turtle Once, I was a real Turtle .

When we were little, we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle--we used to call him Tortoise--

Alice Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?

Mock Turtle We called him Tortoise because he taught us : really you are very dull!Gryphon You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question.

Mock Turtle Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it--

Alice I never said I didn't!

Mock Turtle You did.

Gryphon Hold your tongue!

Mock Turtle We had the best of educations--in fact, we went to school every day--

Alice I've been to a day-school, too; you needn't be so proud as all that.

Mock Turtle I only took the regular course.

Alice What was that?

Mock Turtle Reeling and Writhing , of course, to begin with; and then the different branchesof Arithmetic-- Ambition , Distraction , Uglification , andDerision .

Alice I never heard of "Uglification". What is it?

Gryphon What! Never heard of uglifying! You know what to beautify is, I suppose?

Alice Yes: it means--to--make--anything--prettier.

Gryphon Well, then, if you don't know what to uglify is, youare a simpleton.

Alice What else had you to learn?

Mock Turtle Well, there wasMystery --Mystery , ancient and modern , withSeaography :thenDrawling --


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Alice And how many hours a day did you do lessons?

Mock Turtle Ten hours the first day, nine the next, and so on.

Alice What a curious plan!

Gryphon That's the reason they're calledlessons : because they lessen from day to day.

Alice Then the eleventh day must have been a holiday?

Mock Turtle Of course it was.

Alice And how did you manage on the twelfth?

Gryphon That's enough about lessons.

Mock turtle : finta tartaruga.

Mock significa sia burla, scherzo, sia imitazione, cosa finta. LaMock TurtleSoup una sorta di consomm casalingo, fatto con testina e carne di vitello,insaporito con poco sherry, che imita il gusto e il colore della ben pi costosa erara zuppa di tartaruga (Green Turtle Soup) ottenuta dalla carne di tartarugafranca, o verde. Dal nome della versione familiare vittoriana di questo piatto dilusso Carroll trasse il suo malinconico personaggio che mette in caricatura isentimentali studenti di Oxford; per questo che Tenniel lo raffigura con latesta, la coda e le zampe di un vitello.

Il Grifone un mostro immaginario con la testa e le ali di unaquila e il corpo di un leone. Era ed lemblema posto sui cancelli del Trinity College a Oxford. Il Grifone e il Vitello-Similtartaruga sonoanimali che ne contengono in s altri due molto diversi tra loro, cio lo stesso principio fondatore delleparole-baule. Portmanteau-word, parola-baule, un termine entrato nelluso per definire i terminicomposti che alludono a pi di un significato.

We called him Tortoise because he taught us (lo chiamavamo testuggine, perch ci insegnava): Tortoise e taught us sono quasi omofoni. E il primo della serie di giochi di cui composta la storia, tutibasati su una leggera distorsione delle parole.

Le materie scolastiche sono trasformate in parole che hanno unimpronta fonica analoga a quella deltermine in uso:reeling (rotolarsi) al posto di reading (leggere); writhing (raggrinzirsi) al posto di writing (scrivere);ambition (ambizione) al posto di addition (addizione);distraction (distrazione) alposto di subtraction (sottrazione);uglification (da ugly, brutto, rendere brutto) al posto dimultiplication (moltiplicazione);derision (derisione) al posto di division (divisione);mistery (mistero)al posto di history (storia);seaography (neologismo costruito su sea, mare) al posto di geography (geografia);drawling (stiracchiarsi) al posto di drawing (disegno).

That's the reason they're calledlessons : because they lessen from day to day (la ragione per la qualesono chiamatelezioni perchdiminuiscono di giorno in giorno): lassonanza tra lesson e lessen hadato vita a una concezione inattesa della vita scolastica.

END OF PART ONE


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LOOKING GLASS HOUSE

Do you hear the snow Against the window-panes, dear

How nice and soft it soundsLike she loves the trees and fields

It covers them upGo to sleep my darlings Until the summer comes again

To wake you up

Can you play chess?Please, dont smile at me this way Really I might have won

Let us pretend That were kings and queens for one day I want to tellEverything about this placeLooking Glass House Where the things go the other way roundI do so wish I could look inside

Soft like a gauzeSo I can get through it

Red and white are queens And kings in this tidy roomLifting them up What a fun to see their facesChessmen down in the dust

Let us pretend That were kings and queens for one day Start chapter two Through the looking glass I amI found this book

About an hero and a monster Jabberwocky is its nameEverythings a game of chess

La casa dello specchio

Senti la neve Contro I vetri, mia cara?

Suona soffice e piacevole Come se amasse gli alberi e i campi

Li copre tutti Andate a dormire, miei cari Finch lestate non verr an cora

A svegliarvi

Sai giocare a scacchi? Per favore, non sorridermi in quel modo

Avrei potuto davvero vincere

Facciamo finta Che per un giorno siamo re e regine Voglio dirti Tutto su questo postoLa casa dello specchioDove le cose vanno in senso inversoVorrei proprio guardarci dentro

Soffice come foschia Cos ci posso entrare

Bianchi e rossi sono i re e le regine In questa stanza pulita

Li sollevo in aria Che divertimento vedere le loro facce Pezzi da scacchi coperti di polvere

Facciamo finta Che siamo re e regine per un giornoInizia il secondo capitoloSono passata attraverso lo specchio

Ho trovato questo libroChe parla di un eroe e di un mostroIl suo nome Jabberwocky E tutto quanto un gioco di scacchi


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SECOND PART

Through the looking-glass

Carroll iscrive le avventure di Alice in Attraverso lo specchioin un problema di scacchi: ogni incontrocorrisponde al passaggio da una casella.

Il tema della specularit collegato al tema dellinversione fondamentale, e la struttura narr ativa di moltiepisodi costruita proprio come sviluppo e illustrazione dellidea di rovesciamento della norma. Con lasua mente di logico-matematico, Carroll crea immagini e giochi logici nei suoi nonsense che hannorivelato consonanze inaspettate con la scienza moderna.

Tra gli episodi pi rilevanti che illustrano la tematica dellinversione, ricordiamo:

la Regina Rossa per reastare ferma in un posto deve correre; per andarle incontro Alice deve camminanella direzione opposta; si calma la sete mangiando un biscotto molto secco.


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From Looking-glass houseLa casa dello Specchio

Alice: Its all in some language I dont know.

YKCOWREBBAJ

sevot yhtils eht dna,gillirb sawT' ebaw eht ni elbmig dna eryg diD ,sevogorob eht erew ysmim llA.ebargtuo shtar emom eht dnA

Alice: Why, its a Looking -glass book, of course! And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go theright way again. Jabberwocky . Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Voice:Twas brillig , and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe : All mimsy were the borogroves , And the mome raths outgrabe .

Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersn atch!

He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought--

So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

He chortled in his joy.Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

Alice: It seems very pretty, but its rather hard to understand!Somehow it sems to fill my head with ideas-only I dont exactly know what they are!However,somebody killedsomething : thats clear, at any rate----------

But oh! If I dont make haste, I shall have to go back through the Looking -glass, before Iveseen what the rest of he house is like!Lets have a look at the garden first!


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JABBERWOCKY

il primo componimento poetico di Attraverso lo specchio e il pi famoso in assoluto di entrambi ilibri. Si tratta di unoperazione che Carroll non ripeter pi e che verr ripresa nella storia dellaletteratura soltanto nel Novecento, da Joyce e dalle avanguardie europee.

Rispondendo a una classe della Girls Latin School di Boston, Carroll forn una spiegazione del nome:la parola anglosassonewocer o wocor significarampolloo frutto. Prendendo jabber nella sua accezioneusuale didiscussione concitata e volubile , avremmo il significato dirisultato di una discussione molto concitata .

La prima strofa totalmente composta di parole inventate rette da una struttura sintattica egrammaticale estremamente semplice e chiara. Non si tratta di una parodia; riecheggia piuttosto ungenere di poesia romantica che esaltava oscure figure eroiche con toni cupi e suggestivi. La prima stro una composizione giovanile scritta per divertire i fratelli. era accompagnata dalla seguente didascaliache costituisce la prima spiegazione delle parole-baule:

BRYLLYG dal verboto bryl o broil (mettere sul fuoco o alla griglia): il tardo pomeriggioSLITHY composto daslimy (limaccioso) elithe (agile): liscio e laborioso TOVE: una specie di tassoGYRE: [ parola usata intorno al 1420 con il significato di girare , turbinare . Yeats se ne serv per persignificare uno dei simboli pi importanti della sua poetica, le spirali ]GYMBLE: fare buchi col succhiello su qualsiasi superficieMIMSY: infeliceBOROGOVE: una specie estinta di pappagalloRATH: una specie di tartaruga terrestre. [ parola dellantico irlandese, ben nota ai tempi di Carroll ] OUTGRABE passato del verbooutgribe : squittivano

Ciardi individua nel Jabberwocky tutti gli elementi della ballata. Levin definisce il Jabberwocky unaballata eroica sul linguaggio. Gardner ha segnalato la presenza nellOED di alcune di queste parole:si tratta quasi sempre di parole arcaiche, obsolete gi nellOttocento. Riportiamo i risultati della suaricerca.

Nella prefazione al poema, Carroll usa il terminefrumious per illustrare la teoria di Humpty Dumpty delle parole-baule: per esempio, prendiamo le parole fuming e furious . Immaginate di voler dire tuttee due le parole, ma senza decidere quale delle due dovr essere detta per prima. Ora aprite la bocca eparlate. Se col pensiero andate anche solo minimamente versofuming , diretefuming-furious ; seinvece siete orientati, fosse solo per la misura di un capello, versofurious , diretefurious-fuming , mase avete il raro talento di una mente perfettamente equilibrata, diretefrumious .

In una lettera del 1877, Carroll scrisse cheuffish gli faceva venire in mente lo stato danimo di quandola voce gruffish (burbera), i modiroughish (scontrosi) e lumore uffish (stizzoso). Nella stessalettera, Carroll dice: se prendi i tre v erbibleat (belare), murmur (mormorare) e warble (trillare), e netogli i tre pezzettini che ho sottolineato, il risultato sar sicuramenteburble . La parola era da tempousata come variante dibubble (il gorgogliare di un ruscello).

Galumphing : di questo neologismo Carroll non diede alcuna spiegazione, ma entrata nellOxfordEnglish Dictionary, dove atribuita a Carroll e definita come una combinazione digallop (galoppare) etriumphant (trionfante) col significato dimarciare con esultanza a balzi irregolari . Anchechortled una combinazione entrata nellOED come combinazione tra chuckle (ridacchiare) esnort (sbuffare).

La particolare natura del linguaggio del Jabberwocky ha fatto s che costituisse una sfida alla traduzionsfida raccolta da numerosissimi studiosi e scrittori.


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The garden of live flowers

Il Giardino dei Fiori che Parlano

Alice O Tiger-lily, I WISH you could talk!

Tiger-lily We CAN talk: when there's anybody worth talking to.

Alice And can ALL the flowers talk?

Tiger-lily As well as YOU can. And a great deal louder.

Rose It isn't manners for us to begin, you know, and I really was wondering when you'dspeak! Said I to myself, "Her face has got SOME sense in it, though it's not a cleverone!" Still, you're the right colour, and that goes a long way.

Tiger-lily I don't care about the colour. Alice Aren't you sometimes frightened at being planted out here, with nobody

to take care of you?

Rose There's the tree in the middle: what else is it good for?

Alice But what could it do, if any danger came?

Daisy It says "Bough-wough !": that's why its branches are calledboughs !

Daisy Didn't you know THAT? Tiger-lily Silence, every one of you!

Alice Never mind!

If you don't hold your tongues, I'll pick you!

Tiger-lily That's right! The daisies are the worst of all.

Alice How is it you can all talk so nicely?

I've been in many gardens before, butnone of the flowers could talk . Tiger-lily Put your hand down, andfeel the ground . Then you'll know why.

Alice It's very hard, but I don't see what that has to do with it.

Tiger-lily In mostgardens , they make thebeds too soft-so that the flowers are alwaysasleep .

Alice I never thought of that before!

Rose It's MY opinion that you never think AT ALL! Violet I never saw anybody that looked stupider.


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Tiger-lily Hold YOUR tongue! As if YOU ever saw anybody! Alice Are there any more people in the garden besides me?

Rose There's one other flower in the garden that can move about like you.

Alice Is she like me? There's another little girl in the garden, somewhere!

Rose Well, she has the same awkward shape as you, but she's redder--and her petals areshorter, I think.

Alice Does she ever come out here?

Rose I daresay you'll see her soon.She's one of the thorny kind.

Alice Where does she wear the thorns?Rose Why all round her head, of course. I was wondering YOU hadn't got some too.

I thought it was the regular rule.

Larkspur She's coming! I hear her footstep, thump, thump, thump, along the gravel-walk!

Alice I think I'll go and meet her.

Bough-wough : in inglesebough ramo. Il suono simile albow-wow che riproduce labbaiare delcane.

In mostgardens , they make thebeds too soft-so that the flowers are always asleep : in inglese,aiuola si dice si dice flower-bed , letteralmente letto di fiori .

She's one of the thorny kind. Nellarticolo che scrisse in occasione della rappresentazione teatrale di Alice on Stage, Carroll cos descrive la Regina Rossa: Lho raffigurata come una Furia; la sua colleradevessere fredda e calma; lei deve essere formale e rigida, ma non scortese; pedante alla decimapotenza, lessenza concentrata di tutte le governanti!.


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Queen Where do you come from? And where are you going?Look up, speak nicely, and don't twiddle your fingers all the time.

Alice I think Ive lost my way.

Queen I don't know what you mean by YOUR way: all the ways about here belong to ME--but whydid you come out here at all? Curtsey while you're thinking what to say, it saves time.

Alice I'll try it when I go home,the next time I'm a little late for dinner.

Queen It's time for you to answer now, open your mouth a LITTLE wider when you speak, andalways say your Majesty.

Alice I only wanted to see what the garden was like, your Majesty--

Queen That's right, though, when you say "garden,"--I'VE seen gardens,

compared with which this would be a wilderness. Alice --and I thought I'd try and find my way to the top of that hill--

Queen When you say hill I - could show you hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.

Alice a hill CAN'T be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense--

Queen You may call it "nonsense" if you like, but I'VE heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!

Alice I declare it's marked out just like a large chessboard! There ought to be some men moving about somewhere--and so thereare! It's a great huge game of chess that's being played--all over the world--if this IS the worldat all, you know. Oh, what fun it is! How I WISH I was one of them! I wouldn't mind being aPawn, if only I might join--though of course I should LIKE to be a Queen, best.

Queen That's easily managed. You can be the White Queen's Pawn, if you like, as Lily's too young tplay; and you're in the Second Square to begin with: when you get to the Eighth Square you'llbe a Queen--

Queen Faster !Faster ! Alice I wonder if all the things move along with us?

Queen Faster! Don't try to talk!

Alice Are we nearly there?

Queen Nearly there! Why, we passed it ten minutes ago! Faster!

Now! Now! Faster! Faster!

Queen You may rest a little now.


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Alice Why, I do believe we've been under this tree the whole time! Everything's just as it was!

Queen Of course it is,what would you have it?

Alice Well, in OUR country, you'd generally get to somewhere else--if you ran very fast for a long

time, as we've been doing.Queen A slow sort of country! Now, HERE, you see, it takes

all the running YOU can do, to keep in the same place. If you want toget somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!

Alice I'd rather not try, please! I'm quite content to stay here--only I AM so hot and thirsty!

Queen I know what YOU'D like! Have a biscuit?

While you're refreshing yourself, I'll just take the measurements.

At the end of two yards, I shall give you your directions--have another biscuit?

Alice No, thank you: one's QUITE enough!

Queen Thirst quenched, I hope?

Queen At the end of THREE yards I shall repeat them--for fear of your forgetting them. At the endof FOUR, I shall say good-bye. And at the end of FIVE, I shall go!

A pawn goes two squares in its first move, you know. So you'll go VERY quickly through the

Third Square--by railway, I should think--and you'll find yourself in the Fourth Square in notime. Well, THAT square belongs to Tweedledum and Tweedledee--the Fifth is mostly water--the Sixth belongs to Humpty Dumpty--But you make no remark?

Alice I--I didn't know I had to make one--just then.

Queen You SHOULD have said, "It's extremely kind of you to tell me allthis"--however, we'll suppose it said--the Seventh Square is allforest--however, one of the Knights will show you the way--and in theEighth Square we shall be Queens together, and it's all feasting andfun!

Queen Speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing--turn out your toes as you walk--and remember who you are!

Good-bye!


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Queen Alice Alice Regina

Queen Alice If I really am a Queen, I shall be able to manage it quite well in time.

Please, would you tell me--Red Queen Speak when you're spoken to!

Alice But if everybody obeyed that rule, and if you only spoke when you were spoken to,and the other person always waited for YOU to begin, you see nobody would eversay anything, so that--

Red Queen Ridiculous! Why, don't you see, child - - What do you mean by "If you really are a Queen"? What right have you to callyourself so? You can't be a Queen, you know, till you've passed the proper

examination . And the sooner we begin it, the better. Alice I only said "if"!

Queens She says she only said "if"--

White Queen But she said a great deal more than that! Oh, ever so much more than that!

Red Queen So you did, you know. Always speak the truth--think before you speak--and write itdown afterwards.

Alice I'm sure I didn't mean--Red Queen That's just what I complain of! You SHOULD have meant! What do you

suppose is the use of child without any meaning? Even a joke shouldhave some meaning--and a child's more important than a joke, I hope. Youcouldn't deny that, even if you tried with both hands.

Alice I don't deny things with my HANDS, you know.

Red Queen Nobody said you did. I said you couldn't if you tried.

White Queen She's in that state of mind, that she wants to deny SOMETHING--only she doesn'tknow what to deny!

Red Queen A nasty, vicious temper!

Red Queen I invite you to Alice's dinner-party this afternoon.

White Queen And I invite YOU.

Alice I didn't know I was to have a party at all, but if there is to be one, I think -I-oughtto invite the guests.

Red Queen We gave you the opportunity of doing it: but I daresay you've not had many lessonsin manners yet?


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Red Queen Can you answer useful questions? How is bread made?

Alice I know THAT! You take someflour --

White Queen Where do you pick theflower ? In a garden, or in the hedges? Alice Well, it isn't PICKED at all: it'sGROUND --

White Queen How many acres of ground ? You mustn't leave out so many things.

Red Queen Fan her head! She'll be feverish after so much thinking!

Red Queen She's all right again now. Do you know Languages? What's the French for fiddle-de-dee?

Alice Fiddle-de-dee's not English.Red Queen Who ever said it was?

Alice If you'll tell me what language "fiddle-de-dee" is, I'll tell you the French for it!

Red Queen Queens never make bargains.

Alice I wish Queens never asked questions.

White Queen Don't let us quarrel What is the cause of lightning?

Alice The cause of lightning, is the thunder--no, no! I meant the other way.

Red Queen It's too late to correct it: when you've once said a thing, that fixes it, and you musttake the consequences.

White Queen Which reminds me--we had SUCH a thunderstorm last Tuesday--I mean one of thelast set of Tuesdays, you know.

Alice In OUR country, there's only one day at a time.

Red Queen That's a poor thin way of doing things. Now HERE, we mostly have days andnights two or three at a time, and sometimes in the winter we take as many as fivenights together--for warmth, you know.

Alice Are five nights warmer than one night, then?

Red Queen Five times as warm, of course.

Alice But they should be five times as COLD, by the same rule--

Red Queen Just so! Five times as warm, AND five times as cold--just as I'm five times as rich a

you are, AND five times as clever! Alice It's exactly like a riddle with no answer!


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White Queen Humpty Dumpty saw it too. He came to the door with a corkscrew in his hand--Red Queen What did he want?

White Queen He said he WOULD come in, because he was looking for a hippopotamus. Now, as

it happened, there wasn't such a thing in the house, that morning. Alice Is there generally?

White Queen Well, only on Thursdays.It was SUCH a thunderstorm, you can't think!

Red Queen She NEVER could, you know.

White Queen And part of the roof came off, and ever so much thunder got in--and it wentrolling round the room in great lumps--and knocking over the tables and things--till

I was so frightened, I couldn't remember my own name!Red Queen Your Majesty must excuse her, she means well, but she can't help saying foolish

things, as a general rule.

She never was really well brought up: but it's amazing how good-tempered she is!Pat her on the head, and see how pleased she'll be!

White Queen I AM so sleepy!

Red Queen She's tired, poor thing! Smooth her hair lend her your nightcap--and sing her a

soothing lullaby. Alice I haven't got a nightcap with me: and I don't know any soothing lullabies.

Red Queen I must do it myself, then:

Hush-a-by lady , in Alice's lap! Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap:

When the feast's over, we'll go to the ball-- Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!

And now you know the words, just sing it through to ME. I'm getting sleepy, too. Alice What AM I to do? I don't think it EVER happened before, that any one had to take

care of two Queens asleep at once! No, not in all the History of England--itcouldn't, you know,because there never was more than one Queen at a time.Do wake up, you heavy things!

Flour : le Regine disorientano Alice giocando sulla doppia accezione dellesue parole.Flour (farina) si pronuncia comeflower (fiore) eground (macinato) vuol dire ancheterreno .

Hush-a-by lady , in Alice's lap! un adattamento, ma non una parodia, diuna ninananna, Hush-by baby, on the tree top.


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~ Cast ~

Alice: Anna Ferioli, Lucia Grisetti, Alice Martini, Anna Ortica, Ilaria Villa

Lewis Carroll:Giacomo NegriWhite Rabbit: Roberto RanieriCaterpillar:Stefano Tucci

Cheshire Cat:Alessandro MarchettiMad Hatter: Andrea Castagna

March Hare:Beatrice ZanzotteraDormouse:Giacomo AndreataMock Turtle: Luca Fedrizzi

Gryphon:Andrea KogojHumpty Dumpty:Luca MondelliniVoice in Jabberwocky: Paolo Ferioli

Red Queen:Vittoria NespoloWhite Queen:Alessandra Adani

~ Caucus race ~ Mouse:Claudio Mascia

Dodo: Riccardo NebuloniEaglet:Matteo Prearo, Emanuele Chierichetti Duck:Davide Carnuccio, Cristiano Bertelli

Lory:Nicol Crespi~ Flowers ~

Daisy:Clarissa Colombo, Sofia Cozzi, Federica MeravigliaViolet: Irene Ferioli

Lily:Marco MaestroniRose:Sara Gatti

Laskspur:Annamaria Bonito~ The sea ~

Noemi Benvenuti, Michele Casero~ The Band ~

Music and Lyrics:C. A. FulcicSongs arranged and directed by:Emanuele GirardiBass:Francesco Cozzi,Guitar:Luca Fedrizzi

Percussions:Paolo Ferioli,Piano:Giacomo Negri, Andrea Shehadeh

Microphones:Mattia BroggiLights:Giulia Magni

Special effects:Alberto Bianchi

Costumers:Eurosia Salerio, Alga LocatelliSet decoration:Class 1C and 2C (San M. Kolbe)


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Thanks to:Emanuela VisentinRaffaella Meregalli

Alga LocatelliCristina LomazziNora King Lyons

Miriam VaninIvan Ferrari

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