Addition I have at my finger-tips. [Counting notes upon his guitar.] One, two, three, four, five. Multiplication I have by heart.
Whetstone [aside].
Throw in all the multiplication-table.
Bluegrass [sings in recitative, and Whetstone accompanies with
pantomime].
Come, come, let us learn, let us sing. Come, come, let us learn the multiplication-table. Come, let us sing the multiplication-table.
Violet.
Thou art too multitudinous, and wert born for the opera; yet I will give thee a problem that thou shalt solve, not with thy digits, but with thy pedals. I will teach thee subtraction, and separate thy shadow from thy substance by plane trigonometry.
Whetstone [aside].
Major, steady! Listen for the click of the trigger.
Violet.