Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking-Glass World

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, COME ON IN!

Come on in!

Step into the school of the upside-down world!

Rub the magic lantern!

Lights! Sound! The illusion of life!

Offered free to one and all!

Let it enlighten each of you and set a good example for future generations!

Come see the river that burns!

Lord Sun illuminating the night!

Dame Moon in the middle of the day!

Mam’selle Star tossed from the sky!

The jester on the king’s throne!

Lucifer’s breath clouding the universe!

The dead walking about with mirrors in their hands!

Witches! Acrobats!

Dragons and vampires!

The magic wand that turns a child into a coin!

The world lost in a throw of the dice!

Don’t fall for cheap imitations!

God bless those who see it!

God forgive those who don’t!

Rated R: Sensitive persons and minors not admitted.

— Based on eighteenth-century criers’ pitch for magic lanterns