January 6. “Button, is this a toy or a living toad?”

“Let me see it closely.”

“Don’t cheat by reading the base line.”

“It looks like a toy to me.”

“It’s a living toad.”

“What is it doing sitting on, I presume, a weighing scale?”

“Getting himself weighed. The zoo Agathe stays in is counting, weighing and measuring all the inhabitants of the zoo in a week-long exercise. That’s how committed zoo authorities in foreign countries are. By the way, Agathe weighed 1,850 grams.”

“Are the animals here kept and looked after so well?”

“You must pay a visit to some of the zoos in India and find out for yourself.”

“I’d like that very much.”

“What if Katrina were to kiss him and turn him into prince charming and then elope with him! You’ve heard the story where the princess kisses a toad who turns into prince charming?”

“Not Katrina. I know her. She’d run a mile if she came face to face with a toad that huge!”