rhasspy/piper-checkpoints huggingface dataset:
"His form is ungainly-his intellect small-" (So the Bellman would often remark) "But his courage is perfect!
"Celis," she said distinctly, pointing to the one in blue; "Alima"--the one in rose; then, with a vivid imitation of Terry's impressive manner, she laid a firm delicate hand on her gold green jerkin-"Ellador." This was pleasant, but we got no nearer.
So we made a stand, trying to make clear that we preferred the open country.
"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!"
The street behind was closed by another band, marching steadily, shoulder to shoulder.
But no men?
He came as a Butcher: but gravely declared, When the ship had been sailing a week, He could only kill Beavers.
All around us and behind they were massed solidly-there was simply nothing to do but go forward-or fight.
"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!
Everything was beauty, order, perfect cleanness, and the pleasantest sense of home over it all.
"For, although common Snarks do no manner of harm, Yet, I feel it my duty to say, Some are Boojums-"
One of them came forward with a sketch of our flier, asking by signs if we were the aerial visitors they had seen.
There's someone up that tree, I believe."
They seem to mean business." But in spite of that businesslike aspect, he determined to try his favorite tactics.
He served out some grog with a liberal hand, And bade them sit down on the beach: And they could not but own that their Captain looked grand, As he stood and delivered his speech.
"No use," gasped Terry.
Even Terry's ardor was held in check by his firm conviction that there were men to be met, and we saw to it that each of us had a good stock of cartridges.
"MUST be men here.
He was thoughtful and grave-but the orders he gave Were enough to bewilder a crew. When he cried "Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!" What on earth was the helmsman to do?
We all thought hard just then.
We paused uncertain.
"In my heart, more likely," he answered.
We looked for nervousness-there was none.
The Bellman perceived that their spirits were low, And repeated in musical tone Some jokes he had kept for a season of woe- But the crew would do nothing but groan.
But once inside that building, there was no knowing what these determined ladies might do to us.
They left me for a landmark and made a limited excursion on either side.
We might shake them off, perhaps, but none of us was so inclined.
The Beaver's best course was, no doubt, to procure A second-hand dagger proof coat- So the Baker advised it-and next, to insure Its life in some Office of note:
I was astonished myself.
It had not seemed wise to object to going with them, even if we could have; our one chance was friendliness-a civilized attitude on both sides.
He came as a Baker: but owned, when too late- And it drove the poor Bellman half mad- He could only bake Bridecake-for which, I may state, No materials were to be had.
But these good ladies were very much on the stage, and yet any one of them might have been a grandmother.
What a heavenly country!
Boys, it behooves us to go forward most politely."
This the Banker suggested, and offered for hire (On moderate terms), or for sale, Two excellent Policies, one Against Fire, And one Against Damage From Hail.
It was that sense of being hopelessly in the wrong that I had so often felt in early youth when my short legs' utmost effort failed to overcome the fact that I was late to school.
Nothing could induce him to stay out, however, so we walked on.
Rule forty two of the Code, "No one shall speak to the Man at the Helm," had been completed by the Bellman himself with the words "and the Man at the Helm shall speak to no one." So remonstrance was impossible, and no steering could be done till the next varnishing day.
We observed pretty closely just then, for all of us felt that it was a crucial moment.
But this place!
The leader gave some word of command and beckoned us on, and the surrounding mass moved a step nearer.
Navigation was always a difficult art, Though with only one ship and one bell: And he feared he must really decline, for his part, Undertaking another as well.
Such is Human Perversity.
"They've got architects and landscape gardeners in plenty, that's sure," agreed Terry.
Fit the Second
A large building opened before us, a very heavy thick walled impressive place, big, and old looking; of gray stone, not like the rest of the town.
"Woman" in the abstract is young, and, we assume, charming.
"We have sailed many months, we have sailed many weeks, (Four weeks to the month you may mark), But never as yet ('tis your Captain who speaks) Have we caught the least glimpse of a Snark!
Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all.
We seemed to think that if there were men we could fight them, and if there were only women-why, they would be no obstacles at all.
I have said it twice: That alone should encourage the crew. Just the place for a Snark!
We went on-there seemed no other way to go-and presently found ourselves quite surrounded by this close massed multitude, women, all of them, but-
We had all seen babies, children big and little, everywhere that we had come near enough to distinguish the people.
"Come, listen, my men, while I tell you again The five unmistakable marks By which you may know, wheresoever you go, The warranted genuine Snarks.
He stood braced in the fork, held firmly by one hand-the other, swinging his bright temptation, reached far out along the bough, but not quite to his full stretch.
The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies- Such a carriage, such ease and such grace! Such solemnity, too!
For all our eagerness we thought it wise to keep to the woods and go carefully.
"Civilized and still arboreal-peculiar people."
We set forth in the open, walking briskly.
There was one who was famed for the number of things He forgot when he entered the ship: His umbrella, his watch, all his jewels and rings, And the clothes he had bought for the trip.
"Look at that!" cried Jeff suddenly.
Looks like a first rate climate.
Our guide told us that boats could go from there to our camp-but "long way-all day."
The Beaver, who happened to hear the remark, Protested, with tears in its eyes, That not even the rapture of hunting the Snark Could atone for that dismal surprise!
He used to make all kinds of a row because there was nothing left to explore now, only patchwork and filling in, he said.
I'm quick at languages, know a good many, and pick them up readily.
No place for men?
There was also a Beaver, that paced on the deck, Or would sit making lace in the bow: And had often (the Bellman said) saved them from wreck, Though none of the sailors knew how.
There was silence supreme!
"Those natives can't get into it, or hurt it, or move it," Terry explained proudly.
We could see where it poured down a narrow vertical cataract from an opening in the face of the cliff.
"'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum!
The Boots and the Broker were sharpening a spade- Each working the grindstone in turn: But the Beaver went on making lace, and displayed No interest in the concern:
"You may charge me with murder-or want of sense- (We are all of us weak at times): But the slightest approach to a false pretence Was never among my crimes!
The Bellman looked uffish, and wrinkled his brow. "If only you'd spoken before! It's excessively awkward to mention it now, With the Snark, so to speak, at the door!
Then the Banker endorsed a blank cheque (which he crossed), And changed his loose silver for notes. The Baker with care combed his whiskers and hair, And shook the dust out of his coats.
"A dear uncle of mine (after whom I was named) Remarked, when I bade him farewell-" "Oh, skip your dear uncle!" the Bellman exclaimed, As he angrily tingled his bell.
"But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day, In a moment (of this I am sure), I shall softly and suddenly vanish away- And the notion I cannot endure!"
Not a shriek, not a scream, Scarcely even a howl or a groan, As the man they called "Ho!" told his story of woe In an antediluvian tone.
"It is this, it is this-"
"It is this, it is this that oppresses my soul, When I think of my uncle's last words: And my heart is like nothing so much as a bowl Brimming over with quivering curds!
THE BAKER'S TALE
"It's excessively awkward to mention it now- As I think I've already remarked." And the man they called "Hi!" replied, with a sigh, "I informed you the day we embarked.
"I said it in Hebrew-I said it in Dutch- I said it in German and Greek: But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much) That English is what you speak!"
("That's exactly the method," the Bellman bold In a hasty parenthesis cried, "That's exactly the way I have always been told That the capture of Snarks should be tried!")
Not even a shriek!" And excitedly tingled his bell.
Fit the fourth
Fit the Third
"My father and mother were honest, though poor-" "Skip all that!" cried the Bellman in haste. "If it once becomes dark, there's no chance of a Snark- We have hardly a minute to waste!"
"He remarked to me then," said that mildest of men, "'If your Snark be a Snark, that is right: Fetch it home by all means-you may serve it with greens, And it's handy for striking a light.
But the Butcher turned nervous, and dressed himself fine, With yellow kid gloves and a ruff- Said he felt it exactly like going to dine, Which the Bellman declared was all "stuff."
When at length he sat up and was able to speak, His sad story he offered to tell; And the Bellman cried "Silence!
"To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care; To pursue it with forks and hope; To threaten its life with a railway share; To charm it with smiles and soap!
The maker of Bonnets ferociously planned A novel arrangement of bows: While the Billiard marker with quivering hand Was chalking the tip of his nose.
"For England expects-I forbear to proceed: 'tis a maxim tremendous, but trite: And you'd best be unpacking the things that you need To rig yourselves out for the fight."
"For the Snark's a peculiar creature, that won't Be caught in a commonplace way. Do all that you know, and try all that you don't: Not a chance must be wasted to day!
"'You may seek it with thimbles-and seek it with care; You may hunt it with forks and hope; You may threaten its life with a railway share; You may charm it with smiles and soap-'"
They roused him with muffins-they roused him with ice- They roused him with mustard and cress- They roused him with jam and judicious advice- They set him conundrums to guess.
"I skip forty years," said the Baker, in tears, "And proceed without further remark To the day when you took me aboard of your ship To help you in hunting the Snark.
"'tis a pitiful tale," said the Bellman, whose face Had grown longer at every word: "But, now that you've stated the whole of your case, More debate would be simply absurd.
"We have had that before!" The Bellman indignantly said. And the Baker replied "Let me say it once more. It is this, it is this that I dread!
Carrie put on her hat.
"I know you won't," she remarked, half truthfully.