...Hence the
literal English of the passage is : "It was
evening, and the smooth
active badgers were scratching and
boring holes in the hill-side; all unhappy were the parots; and the grave turtles squeaked
out."
There were probably
sundials on the top of the hill, and the "borogoves" were afraid that their
nests would be
undermined. The hill was probably full of the nests of "raths," which ran out, squeaking with
fear, upon hearing the "toves" scratching outside. This is an
obscure, but yet deeply-affecting,
relic of
ancient poetry.
Carroll's
explanation, printed in
1855, cited by
The Annotated Alice