A little girl was given so many picture books on her seventh birthday that her father thought his daughter should give one or two of her new books to a little neighbor boy named Robert.
Now, taking books, or anything else, (1)_________________ but the father of the little girl had his way and Robert got two of her books. “After all, that leaves you with nine,” said the father, who thought he was a philosopher, who thought he was a philosopher and child psychologist, and couldn’t shut his big stupid mouth on the subject.
(2)_______________________________ in the Oxford English Dictionary, to feast his eyes on the praise of fatherhood through the centuries, but he couldn’t find volume F-G and then he discovered that three others were missing, too A-B, L-M, V-Z. He began to search his household, and learned what had happened to the four missing volumes.
“A man came to the door this morning,” said his little daughter, “and he didn’t know how to get from here to Torrington or from Torrington to Winsted, and he was a nice man, much nicer than Robert, (3)______________________ After all, there are thirteen volumes in the Oxford English Dictionary, and that leaves you with nine.”
