It’s about time.
You can’t bribe time. I think that the “Jubjub” might be a chronometer or generally stand for time ticking away. “Jub jub” makes me think of the sound of a clock escapement. You want the sound to be “symmetrical”.
From The Hunting of the Snark:
297 “Be a man!” said the Bellman in wrath, as he heard
298 The Butcher beginning to sob.
299 “Should we meet with a Jubjub, that desperate bird,
300 We shall need all our strength for the job!”321 Then a scream, shrill and high, rent the shuddering sky,
322 And they knew that some danger was near:
323 The Beaver turned pale to the tip of its tail,
324 And even the Butcher felt queer.325 He thought of his childhood, left far far behind —
326 That blissful and innocent state —
327 The sound so exactly recalled to his mind
328 A pencil that squeaks on a slate!329 “’Tis the voice of the Jubjub!” he suddenly cried.
330 (This man, that they used to call “Dunce.”)
331 “As the Bellman would tell you,” he added with pride,
332 “I have uttered that sentiment once.333 “’Tis the note of the Jubjub! Keep count, I entreat;
334 You will find I have told it you twice.
335 ’Tis the song of the Jubjub! The proof is complete,
336 If only I’ve stated it thrice.”337 The Beaver had counted with scrupulous care,
338 Attending to every word:
339 But it fairly lost heart, and outgrabe in despair,
340 When the third repetition occurred.381 “As to temper the Jubjub’s a desperate bird,
382 Since it lives in perpetual passion:
383 Its taste in costume is entirely absurd —
384 It is ages ahead of the fashion:385 “But it knows any friend it has met once before:
386 It never will look at a bribe:
387 And in charity-meetings it stands at the door,
388 And collects — though it does not subscribe.389 “ Its flavour when cooked is more exquisite far
390 Than mutton, or oysters, or eggs:
391 (Some think it keeps best in an ivory jar,
392 And some, in mahogany kegs:)393 “You boil it in sawdust: you salt it in glue:
394 You condense it with locusts and tape:
395 Still keeping one principal object in view—
396 To preserve its symmetrical shape.”
By the way: The bird also lurks in Carroll’s Jabberwocky (1872):
004 “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
005 The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
006 Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
007 The frumious Bandersnatch!”
2017-09-19, update: 2024-09-18