# Knot II: Eligible Apartments explained — A Tangled Tale

> Chapter companion for A Tangled Tale by Lewis Carroll.

## What happens

Hugh and Lambert search for lodgings in Little Mendip with their tutor Balbus, encountering a series of landladies offering single back rooms with cabbages. They also puzzle over a riddle from their father about a dinner party guest list involving complex family relationships.

## Themes in this chapter

### Education and Learning

Balbus uses real-world problems to teach his pupils, such as figuring out the best day-room by calculation.

### Humor and Absurdity

The landladies' eccentric explanations about cabbages and cats, and Balbus's geometric enthusiasm, create a comedic tone.

### Social Critique

The satire of lodging advertisements and the unreliable nature of shop-bought greens reflects Victorian social commentary.

## Character check-ins

### Balbus

The tutor who accompanies his pupils and inspects lodgings with a focus on geometry and practical details.

### Hugh

One of the two brothers; he acts as spokesman and puzzles over the dinner party riddle.

### Lambert

The other brother; he recalls the name 'Kgovjni' and joins in the search for lodgings.

## Key lines

> Straight down the crooked lane, And all round the square.

They follow a winding path that eventually leads them to a square.

_Opening epigraph sets the scene for the search._

> He says a friend of his, the Governor of— what was that name again, Lambert? ("Kgovjni," said Lambert.)

Hugh recalls their father's letter about a governor with a strange name who is planning a small dinner party.

_Introduces the dinner party riddle._

> Which the greens at the shops are by no means dependable upon. Here you has them on the premises, and of the best.

The landlady claims that shop-bought greens are unreliable, but her homegrown cabbages are excellent.

_Recurring theme of cabbages as a selling point._

> It do scratch, but not without you pulls its whiskers!

The cat only scratches if its whiskers are pulled.

_Humorous condition from the landlady at Number Fifty-two._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_tangled_tale_se/chapters/knot-ii-eligible-apartments
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_tangled_tale_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_tangled_tale_se/chapters