The White Queen’s Riddle

Alice was set a poetical test of wits by the kindly (but like all the other characters, utterly maddening) White Queen.

1871

If you can identify the species to which these two birds belong, you’ll be able to ‘dishcover’ the White Queen’s riddle in no time. The birds are in Clovelly Bay near Plymouth. Click the picture to see what kind of bird they are.

Introduction

The White Queen tells this riddling verse to Alice without explanation. What kind of fish is it that is being served?

by Lewis Carroll 1832-1898

The key points to note are: it is an item of seafood; it is easy to catch; each one is very cheap to buy; it comes in a dish ready for cooking; and you can’t easily prise off the lid of the dish.

“FIRST, the fish must be caught.”
That is easy: a baby, I think, could have caught it.
“Next, the fish must be bought.”
That is easy: a penny, I think, would have bought it.

“Now cook me the fish!”
That is easy, and will not take more than a minute.
“Let it lie in a dish!”
That is easy, because it already is in it.

“Bring it here! Let me sup!”
It is easy to set such a dish on the table.
“Take the dish-cover up!”
Ah, that is so hard that I fear I’m unable!

For it holds it like glue —
Holds the lid to the dish, while it lies in the middle:
Which is easiest to do,
Un-dish-cover the fish, or dishcover the riddle?

Submitted by a reader of ‘Fun’ (October, 1878), and acknowledged by Carroll.

Get an oyster-knife strong,
Insert it ’twixt cover and dish in the middle;
Then you shall before long,
Un-dish-cover the OYSTERS — dishcover the riddle!

by Lewis Carroll 1832-1898

From ‘Through the Looking-Glass’, by Lewis Carroll.

Précis

In Lewish Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’, the White Queen tells Alice a riddle in verse about catching, buying and serving some seafood. Carroll does not provide the solution, but as the seafood is simple to catch, cheap to buy, and already supplied with a serving-dish that is difficult to prise open, it seems likely to be an oyster.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Why is the fish so easy to catch?

Suggestion

Because it lies on an oyster bed.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

The White Queen knew a riddle about fish. Alice asked her to repeat it. It was the Red Queen who suggested this.

Donate

Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.