Wednesday 24 July 2013

Elephant insects

Elephant insects, an illustration by JVL from Lewis Carroll's  Through the Looking-Glass
Artists' Choice Editions, 2011.

Looking-Glass Insects

Of course the first thing to do was to make a grand survey of the
country she was going to travel through. 'It's something very like
learning geography,' thought Alice, as she stood on tiptoe in hopes
of being able to see a little further. 'Principal rivers -- there ARE
none. Principal mountains -- I'm on the only one, but I don't think
it's got any name. Principal towns -- why, what ARE those
creatures, making honey down there? They can't be bees -- nobody
ever saw bees a mile off, you know -- ' and for some time she stood
silent, watching one of them that was bustling about among the
flowers, poking its proboscis into them, 'just as if it was a regular
bee,' thought Alice.
     However, this was anything but a regular bee: in fact it was an
elephant -- as Alice soon found out, though the idea quite took her
breath away at first. 'And what enormous flowers they must be!'
was her next idea. 'Something like cottages with the roofs taken off,
and stalks put to them -- and what quantities of honey they must
make! I think I'll go down and -- no, I won't JUST yet, ' 


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