“All right, say ’em again, and I’ll repeat them.”
In order to give me the same figures the young doctor had to consult his notes. (He was writing down each question as he asked it.)
“There you are!” I jeered. “You’ve forgotten them yourself!”
He grinned a little sheepishly, and gave me the figures again.
“That’s quite simple,” I said, and repeated them correctly. “Any fool can do that! Now, talking of figures, there’s funny things about figures. For instance, take the figure 9, you’ll find everything goes by nines. Look!—there’s nine panes in that window, there’s nine people on your side of the room, there’s nine beds in the ward (that one by itself at the end doesn’t count) and there’s nine Muses, and nine——”
“Never mind about nine,” said Ihsan, “repeat these figures, 8, 4, 3, 7, 5.”
“That’s too easy,” I said. “I’ll tell you what—I’ll multiply those figures by 25 in my head. Can you do that?”
“Never mind about multiplying them—just say them.”
“You can’t do it,” I jeered, “and I can! The answer is 2109375.”
“Repeat the original figures,” said Ihsan.