"But how could I have crossed it? I haven't gotten to it yet."
"Of course not; if you had gotten to it you wouldn't have crossed it," and the Toll man looked at Billy as much as to say, "Well, you are a dull boy if you can't understand that."
"That's ridiculous," said Billy. "What sort of a bridge is it, anyway?"
"The bridge that people cross before they come to it."
"But there is no such bridge."
"Of course there's not, that's the reason people cross it before they get to it."
"Then how am I to get to the city?"
"I don't know and I don't care. I didn't send you there—all I know is that the only way to Never Was is over the bridge that people cross before they get to it."
"Then all I can see is that I shall have to cross the bridge," said Billy.