De undtagelsesvise limericks (Alice-føljeton b)

Nonsens-genren par excellence er limericken, men Lewis Carroll skrev kun 2 af slagsen og skrev dem, da han var 13 år gammel, denne rigtig fine dobbeltdækker:

"The was once a young man of Oporta
Who daily got shorter and shorter
        The reason he said
        Was the hod* on his head,
Which was filled with the heaviest mortar.

His sister named Lucy O'Finner,
Grew constantly thinner and thinner;
         The reason was plain:
         She slept out in the rain,
And was never allowed any dinner."

*
"A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying bricks or other building materials, often mortar. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side, however, by arranging the bricks in a chevron fashion, the number of bricks that may be carried is only limited to the weight the labourer can bear and the unwieldiness of that load. Typically 10-12 bricks might be carried.^"