THE PIG-TALE

The Pig-Tale,"" taken from Sylvie and Bruno, describes in fourteen polished, mock-solemn stanzas, a fat pig's ultimately fatal campaign to learn how to jump; this is bracketed and interrupted with verses representing Carroll's most discombobulating waggery, about the odd activities of ""Little Birds"" (""Little Birds are feeding/ Justices with jam,/ Rich in frizzled ham:/ Rich, I say, in oysters/ Haunting shady cloisters--/ That is what I am""). The far-out note struck in the verses is echoed in Lubin's ingenious illustrations where the absurdities of the rhymes are visualized literally, and the sepia tones, fine precision of line (resembling the 19th century camera lucida productions) and even the styles of dress and decor give the effect of elegant parody.