Alice's adventures in Wonderland

LEWIS CARROLL (1865)

Fish-Footman

CHAPTER VI
Pig and Pepper

 For a minute or two she stood looking at the house, and wondering what to do next, when suddenly a footman in livery came running out of the wood – (she considered him to be a footman because he was in livery: otherwise, judging by his face only, she would have called him a fish) – and rapped loudly at the door with his knuckles. It was opened by another footman in livery, with a round face, and large eyes like a frog; and both footmen, Alice noticed, had powdered hair that curled all over their heads. She felt very curious to know what it was all about, and crept a little way out of the wood to listen.

     The Fish-Footman began by producing from under his arm a great letter, nearly as large as himself, and this he handed over to the other, saying, in a solemn tone, “For the Duchess. An invitation from the Queen to play croquet.” The Frog-Footman repeated, in the same solemn tone, only changing the order of the words a little, “From the Queen. An invitation for the Duchess to play croquet.”

     Then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled together.

     Alice laughed so much at this, that she had to run back into the wood for fear of their hearing her; and, when she next peeped out, the Fish-Footman was gone, and the other was sitting on the ground near the door, staring stupidly up into the sky.

Alice in Wonderland is een modern sprookje waarin nonsens centraal staat. Het verhaal speelt zich af in een wonderlijke wereld bevolkt door sprekende dieren en (normaal gezien) levenloze objecten. De vele dialogen die in het boek gevoerd worden, zijn vaak erg verwarrend en zitten boordevol woordspelingen. Ook wordt er voortdurend de draak gestoken met de moraal die gewoonlijk aanwezig is in kinderboeken terug te vinden is.
De vis die we hier terugvinden, staat dus niet echt symbool voor iets. Het is gewoon een van de vele vermenselijkte dieren die Wonderland bewonen. Het gaat hier om een creatie van de rijke fantasie van Carroll. Hij laat een vis lopen op twee benen, op land zelfs, enkel en alleen omdat dit bevreemdend is. Hierdoor is de 'Fish-Footman' een uiterst geschikte bewoner van Wonderland.