“And to think I never knew !” went on the Toad in a dreamy monotone. “All those wasted years that lie behind me, I never knew, never even dreamt ! But now ⁠—but now that I know, now that I fully realise! O what a flowery track lies spread before me, henceforth! What dust-clouds shall spring up behind me as I speed on my reckless way! What carts I shall fling carelessly into the ditch in the wake of my magnificent onset! Horrid little carts⁠—common carts⁠—canary-coloured carts!”

“What are we to do with him?” asked the Mole of the Water Rat.