"The word 'donkey' means
'clever,' you know."
"I didn't know it," she replied. "I thought it meant 'stupid'."
"Not at all, my child. If you will look in the Encyclopedia
Donkaniara you will find I'm correct. But come; I will myself lead
you before our splendid, exalted, and most intellectual ruler."
All donkeys love big words, so it is no wonder the grey one used so
many of them.
7. The Shaggy Man's Transformation
They found the houses of the town all low and square and built of
bricks, neatly whitewashed inside and out. The houses were not set in
rows, forming regular streets, but placed here and there in a haphazard
manner which made it puzzling for a stranger to find his way.
"Stupid people must have streets and numbered houses in their cities,
to guide them where to go," observed the grey donkey, as he walked
before the visitors on his hind legs, in an awkward but comical manner;
"but clever donkeys know their way about without such absurd marks.
Moreover, a mixed city is much prettier than one with straight streets."
Dorothy did not agree with this, but she said nothing to contradict it.
Presently she saw a sign on a house that read: "Madam de Fayke, Hoofist,"
and she asked their conductor:
"What's a 'hoofist,' please?"
"One who reads your fortune in your hoofs," replied the grey donkey.
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