"That will do!" Mr. Crow cautioned him. "I said, 'Can you repeat them?' I didn't tell you to repeat them, did I?"
"No," Peter Mink admitted.
"I advise you to be very careful," Mr. Crow warned him. Then Mr. Crow turned to Jimmy Rabbit.
"Can you repeat the exact words of the bargain?" he asked.
"Yes, sir!" said Jimmy Rabbit promptly.
"Good!" Mr. Crow exclaimed. "I'll settle this dispute in no time. Now, I want you, Jimmy Rabbit, to whisper the exact words in my right ear, while Peter Mink whispers the exact words in my left one.[p. 110] In that way I shall know at once if there's anybody that isn't telling the truth."
Mr. Crow was very particular. He made Peter and Jimmy begin at the same time. And he said that if they both told the truth it seemed to him that they ought to finish at the same time, too.
And that's just the way it happened!
"I don't see what the dispute is," said Mr. Crow. "You both agree. And how can two people have a dispute, when they agree perfectly? The only difference I noticed in your stories was that Peter whispered much louder than Jimmy."
"The trouble," Peter Mink cried, "the trouble is, he won't let me cut off his left hind-foot!"