I need help with paraphrasing this?

Question

"Twas brillig, and teh silthy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths outgrabe. Beware the Jabberwock, my son! teh jaw that bite, the claws that catch! beware the jubub bird, and shun the frumious bandersnatch! he took his vorpal sword in hand: long time the manxome foe he sought-- so rested he by the tumtumtree, and stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, the jabberwock, with eyes of flame. came wiffling through the tulge wood, and burbled as it came! One, two! one, two! and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack! he left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back. And hast thoug slain the jabberworck! come to my arms, my beamish boy! o frakpis dau! calloh! callay! he chortled in his joy. Twas brillig, and teh silthy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; all mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths outgrabe

Answer 1

Here is a possible explanation of the meaning of the poem:

Big Monster

An Abstraction of a Translation of Jabberwocky

It was summer

everything was in bloom

fruit got ripe

farmers did all right

"Watch the big monster, boy

It can kill you

Watch the hawk

and the big cat"

He armed himself

looked all over for the big monster

stopped in a strange place

rested and thought

And when he dropped his guard

the big monster, looking scary,

charged him through trees

making lots of noise

With accuracy and speed

he used his sword

killed the beast, cut off its head

and went home

"Did you get him?

You make me proud, son!

This is great! Yow!"

he exclaimed

It was summer

everything was in bloom

fruit got ripe

farmers did all right

I like this in particular because it demonstrates the fallacy of translating nonsense poems. Jabberwocky has been translated into several languages (see Jabberwocky Translations), but can a poem which has little or no explicit meaning be translated? When it is translated would it still feel the same to a native speaker of another language? The poem above for example has the same explicit meaning as Jabberwocky itself but certainly doesn't conjure up the same images, so is it a translation?

Answer 2

Paraphrased:

"Some stuff happened, it was weird."

That poem is nearly indecipherable, I don't know why you have to paraphrase it.