The Lecturer in Recent runes shut the book and frowned at him over the top of it. “I daresay you did, young man. And old fossils too, I expect.”

“I always thought that old fossils might have a lot to teach us,” said Ponder. “Perhaps I was wrong,” he added darkly.

“Well, I for one have never believed all that business about dead animals turning into stone,” said the Lecturer in Recent Runes. “It’s against all reason. What’s in it for them?”

“So how do you explain fossils, then?” said Ponder.

“Ah, you see, I don’t,” said the Lecturer in Recent Runes, with a triumphant smile. “It saves so much trouble in the long run. How do skinless sausages hold together, Mister Stibbons?”

“What? Eh? How should I know something like that?”

“Really? You don’t know THAT but you think you’re entirely qualified to know how the whole universe was put together, do you? Anyway, you don’t have to EXPLAIN fossils. They’re THERE. Why try to turn everything into a big mystery? If you go around asking questions the whole time you’ll never get ANYTHING done.”

“Well, what are we put here for?” said Ponder

“There you go again,” said the Lecturer in Recent Runes.