She even learnt the language of a strange country which Senior Cosetti had been told some people believed still existed, although no-one in the world could say where it was. The name of this country was Wales.

And how shall I think of you?' He considered a moment and then laughed. 'Think of me with my nose in a book!

Well, I suppose one ought not to employ a magician and then complain that he does not behave like other people.

Yet it is true—skin can mean a great deal. Mine means that any man may strike me in a public place and never fear the consequences. It means that my friends do not always like to be seen with me in the street. It means that no matter how many books I read, or languages I master, I will never be anything but a curiosity—like a talking pig or a mathematical horse.

An explorer cannot stay at home reading maps other men have made.

He smiles but rarely and watches other men to see when they laugh and then does the same.

There is nothing in the world so easy to explain as failure - it is, after all, what everybody does all the time.