“Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed.
Just say ‘Ninety-nine,’ while I look at your chest. . . .
Don’t you find that chrysanthemums answer the best?”
The Dormouse looked round at the view and replied
(When he’d said “Ninety-nine”) that he’d tried and he’d tried,
And much the most answering things that he knew
Were geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).
The Doctor stood frowning and shaking his head,