The Complete Alice in Wonderland (69 page)

Tumtum Tree:
A timeless species of the willow, engendering feelings of calm and wisdom, which only grows in the most
remote corners of the lands of fancy.

Turtle Soup:
A fancy soup made from turtle meat. In Victorian times, turtle meat was very expensive; “Mock Turtle Soup” refers to turtle soup made with a different kind of meat, but otherwise the same recipe. (Jokingly, Carroll created the Mock Turtle character to explain where mock turtle meat came from.)

Uffish:
Gruff, rough and huffing, all at once.

Vorpal:
Astral, arcane, dangerously magical.

Wabe:
The grass lawn which surrounds a sundial, statue, or other prominent garden ornament.

Wag:
A person given to witty and mischievous humor.

Wednesday Week:
A week after the next Wednesday.

Whiskers:
Sideburns, as opposed to a beard or moustache. (In modern usage, “whiskers” usually means a moustache or unkempt facial hair; but in Victorian times, whiskers (sideburns) were elaborate and quite formal.)

Whiting:
A common food fish, similar to a cod.

William the Conqueror:
The first Norman king of England.

Will-o’-the-Wisp:
A ghostly mist-creature, believed to appear as a glowing sphere, which taunted swamp-wanderers and seafarers into quicksand or unsafe waters.

Wo’n’t:
The Victorian contraction for “will not.”
 
(The apostrophes, as placed, are Carroll’s preference.)

Worsted:
Fine wool yarn.

John Tenniel

(The illustrator of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, John Tenniel.)

AND SO OUR adventures alongside Alice are now complete. It has taken me several years to compile this comprehensive journey throughout the brilliant and labyrinthine works of Lewis Carroll. Indeed, in the beginning, I did not even realize I was writing a book at all! Like so many others, I simply
wanted more
. I did not want the stories to end. This desire turned into a hobby, and nearly an obsession, until all of the notes, essays and chronologies now before you came to be.

I hope that you have enjoyed
The Complete Alice in Wonderland
at least as much as I enjoyed compiling and creating it. The Alice books are not only ageless, they are circular as well. One reading tends to lead the reader back to the beginning, to experience it all over again with a deeper understanding. I would like the stories, regarded here in their entirety, to be forever rewarding to the other readers out there who are
wanting more
as well. Enjoying Alice’s adventures should never be a chore. And yet, the first reading (supported by all of the notes and other works) may indeed be overwhelming. For that I must apologize. But as in all the truest of tales, the “Alice” stories return as much as you are willing to give them, and then some.

So do have many happy re-readings!
 
And please: If ever we cross paths in Wonderland, do not wake me. I may be very late, and in hurry to see it all!

Kent David Kelly

Christmas, 2010