Candidate (with hesitation). I once looked into CORNELIUS NEPOS, but never could construe half a dozen lines.
Exam. What have you studied in Greek?
Can. Tried the first page of VALPY, and got through the present of τυπτω—then gave it up.
Exam. Do you know anything about Mathematics?
Can. Fancy I have heard of the Rule of Three, but hanged if I know much about Fractions.
Exam. (a little despairingly). Can you give the dates of the four WILLIAMS in English History?
Can. No. Suppose followed one another, as shillings of the time of WILLIAM THE FOURTH still in use. Suppose WILLIAM THE FIRST must have been about the end of the Eighteenth Century.
Exam. (with new hope). Do you know anything about Geography?
Can. Not without a Continental Bradshaw.
Exam. (nothing daunted). Can you tell me the name of the spot which is supposed to be the centre of the universe?