"You can't pot that bird's hat!"
""Cant?" Lord Ickenham's eyebrows rose. "A strange word to hear on the lips of one of our proud family. Did our representative at King Arthur's Round Table say 'Can't' when told by the front office to go and rescue damsels in distress from two-headed giants? When Henry the Fifth at Harfleur cried, 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, or close the wall up with our English dead,' was he damped by hearing the voice of a Twistleton in the background saying he didn't think he would be able to manage it? No! The Twistleton in question, subsequently to do well at the battle of Agincourt, snapped into it with his hair in a braid and was the life and soul of the party. But it may be that you are dubious concerning my ability. Does the old skill still linger? you are asking yourself. You need have no anxiety. Anything William Tell could do I can do better."
(from Cocktail Time, by Sir Pelham Wodehouse)
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