§ 15 When the Dawn of Understanding Came
The caller was undeniably large. When he walked he rippled and one had the feeling that should he sit down suddenly he’d splash.
He wallowed into the office of a lawyer in the foothills of the Tennessee mountains and stated that he desired to bring suit against a neighbor for ten thousand dollars’ damages on account of libel.
“How did he libel you?” asked the lawyer.
“Well, suh,” stated the aggrieved party, “he up an’ called me a hippopotamus—that’s wut he done, consarn his picture!”
“When did he call you this name?”
“It’s a’ goin’ on two years ago.”
“When did you first hear about it?”
“That very next day.”
“Indeed,” said the lawyer; “then why did you wait nearly two years to begin taking steps to bring suit against him?”
“Well, suh,” stated the prospective plaintiff, “ontil that there Ringling Brothers’ circus showed yistiddy in Knoxville an’ I went down fur to see it I hadn’t never seen no hippopotamus.”