(Through the Looking-Glass – Chapter XII: Which Dreamed It? – by Lewis Carroll, transcribed into Ñspel, a new way of spelling devised by Frank Johnson. With audio accompaniment.)
“Y
r maɉsti śd’nt pr so lǎd,” Alis sd, rubñ hr îz, n adresñ ɖ citn, rspctf̣li, yt wɖ sm sveṛti. “Y wouc m ǎt v ǒ! sć a nîs drīm! N y’v bn alñ wɖ m, Citi—ol ʈru ɖ Lcñglas wrld. Dd y nǒ it, dir?”
It z a vri incnvińnt habit v citnz (Alis hd wns md ɖ rmarc) ɖt, ẃtvr y se t ɖm, ɖe olwz pr. “F ɖe wd onli pr fr ‘yes’ n ḿ fr ‘no,’ or eni rūl v ɖt sort,” ś hd sd, “so ɖt wn cd cīp p a convseśn! Bt hǎ cn y tōc wɖ a prsn f ɖe olwz se ɖ sem ʈñ?”
On ɖs oceźn ɖ citn onli prd: n it wz imposbl t ges ẃɖr it mnt “yes” or “no.”
So Alis huntd amñ ɖ ćésmen on ɖ tebl tl ś hd faund ɖ Red Qīn: ɖen ś wnt dǎn on hr niz on ɖ harʈrug, n pt ɖ citn n ɖ Qīn t lc at ć uɖr. “Nǎ, Citi!” ś craid, clapñ hr handz trîumfntli. “Cnfes ɖt wz ẃt y trnd intu!”
(“Bt it wd’nt lc at it,” ś sd, ẃn ś wz xplenñ ɖ ʈñ aftwdz t hr sistr: “it trnd awe its hed, n pritndd nt t si it: bt it lct a litl aśemd v itslf, so I ʈnc it mst hv bn ɖ Red Qīn.”)
“Sit p a litl mor stifli, dir!” Alis craid wɖ a meri laf. “N crtsi ẃl y’r ʈncñ ẃt t—ẃt t pr. It sevz tîm, rmembr!” N ś còt it p n gev it wn litl cis, “jst in onr v hvñ bn a Red Qīn.”
“Snǒdrop, mî pet!” ś wnt on, lcñ ovr hr śoldr at ɖ Ẃît Citn, ẃć wz stl peśntli unḍgwñ its tôḷt, “ẃn wl Dîna hv finiśt wɖ yr Ẃît Maɉsti, I wundr? Ɖt mst b ɖ rīzn y wr so untîdi in mî drīm—Dîna! d y nǒ ɖt y’r scrubñ a Ẃît Qīn? Riyli, it’s most disrispctfl v y!
“N ẃt dd Dîna trn t, I wundr?” ś pratld on, az ś setld cumf̣tbli dǎn, wɖ wn elbo in ɖ rug, n hr ćin in hr hand, t woć ɖ citnz. “Tel m, Dîna, dd y trn t Humti Dumti? I ʈnc y dd—hvr, y’d betr nt mnśn it t yr frendz jst yt, fr I’m nt śr.
“Bî ɖ we, Citi, f onli y’d bn riyli wɖ m in mî drīm, ɖr wz wn ʈñ y wd hv injoid—I hd sć a qontti v powtri sd t m, ol abt fiśz! Tmoro mornñ y śl hv a riyl trīt. Ol ɖ tîm y’r ītñ yr brecfst, I’l rpit “Ɖ Wōlṛs n ɖ Carpintr” t y; n ɖen y cn mc b’liv it’s ôstrz, dir!
“Nǎ, Citi, let’s cnsidr hu it wz ɖt dremt it ol. Ɖs z a sirịs qsćn, mî dir, n y śd nt g on licñ yr pw lîc ɖt—az f Dîna hd’nt wośt y ɖs mornñ! Y si, Citi, it mst hv bn îɖr m or ɖ Red Cñ. H wz part v mî drīm, v cors—bt ɖen I wz part v hiz drīm, tù! Wz it ɖ Red Cñ, Citi? Y wr hiz wîf, mî dir, so y òt t nǒ—Ǒ, Citi, d hlp t setl it! I’m śr yr pw cn wêt!” Bt ɖ pṛvocñ citn onli bgan on ɖ uɖr pw, n pritndd it hd’nt hŕd ɖ qsćn.
Ẃć d y ʈnc it wz?
A bot bnʈ a súni scî,
Linġrñ onẉd drīṃli
In an īvnñ v Jlî—
Ćildṛn ʈri ɖt nesl nir,
Īgr î n wilñ ir,
Plizd a simpl têl t hír—
Loñ hz peld ɖt súni scî:
Ecoz fed n meṃriz dî.
Ōtm frosts hv slein Jlî.
Stl ś hōnts m, fantmwîz,
Alis muvñ undr scîz
Nvr sìn bî wecñ îz.
Ćildṛn yt, ɖ têl t hír,
Īgr î n wilñ ir,
Luvñli śl nesl nir.
In a Wunḍland ɖe lî,
Drīmñ az ɖ dez g bî,
Drīmñ az ɖ sumrz dî:
Evr driftñ dǎn ɖ strīm—
Linġrñ in ɖ goldn glīm—
Lîf, ẃt z it bt a drīm?
Ɖ END
