Such a carriage, such ease and such grace

Dans les premières pages d' Espèce d'Espace (cf. quatre épisodes précédents) figure cette carte de l'océan, extraite d'un ouvrage de Lewis Carroll.

L'ouvrage en question ?

La Chasse au Snark (une agonie en huit chants)

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The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony, in Eight Fits)

Il s'agit d'un récit absurde et onirique sous forme de poème, subdivisé en 8 chants. Il reflète à merveille l'imagination débridée de son auteur (déjà à l'oeuvre dans Alice au Pays des Merveilles).

Voici le passage relatif à la carte ci-dessus :

The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies--
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!
He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.

"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
"They are merely conventional signs!

"Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we've got our brave Captain to thank:
(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best--
A perfect and absolute blank!"

Lewis Carroll, La Chasse au Snark (1876)

A lire, en ligne, ici ou là.

Et une autre illustration WTF pour la route (il y en a 1 par chant)