Lewis Carroll
English
A ship's crew embarks on a quest to find a creature called a Snark, guided by a Bellman who possesses a map of the sea with no land. The crew is a peculiar assortment, including a Boots, a Barrister, a Broker, a Banker, a Beaver, and a Baker. The Bellman, obsessed with appearances and adhering to a naval code, leads the expedition with a nonsensical approach to navigation. They land on a desolate shore, where the Bellman delivers a speech outlining the five characteristics of a Snark: a taste that is meager but crisp, a habit of waking late, a slowness to understand jokes, a fondness for bathing machines, and ambition. He ominously warns that some Snarks are Boojums, which cause people to vanish. The Baker faints at this news. The crew then recounts their tales and fears. The Baker's tale is about his uncle's warning regarding Boojums. The hunting begins in earnest with the crew employing various bizarre methods. The Beaver and the Butcher, seeking solitude, end up together and bond over a shared experience of hearing the cry of a Jubjub bird and the Butcher's elaborate, nonsensical lesson in natural history. The Barrister dreams of a nonsensical trial where a Snark acts as a lawyer defending a pig. The Banker, in his zeal to find the Snark, is attacked by a Bandersnatch and is left in a terrible state. Finally, the crew believes they have found the Snark when they see the Baker on a crag. However, he suddenly vanishes, confirming that the Snark they were hunting was a Boojum, a creature that causes instant disappearance.
