"To uncork the bottles of the ocean."
"That is a situation which can give little trouble. It is like grooming a bronze horse."
"Very nearly."
"Nothing to do. Well 'tis a situation to suit thee. Thou art good for that much."
"You see I am good for something."
"Come! thou art talking nonsense. Is there such an appointment?"
Barkilphedro assumed an attitude of deferential gravity. "Madam, you had an august father, James II., the king, and you have an illustrious brother-in-law, George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland; your father was, and your brother is, Lord High Admiral of England—"
"Is what thou tellest me fresh news? I know all that as well as thou."
"But here is what your Grace does not know. In the sea there are three kinds of things: those at the bottom, lagan; those which float, flotsam; those which the sea throws up on the shore, jetsam."
"And then?"