“Didst thou ever see a white bear cried my father, turning his head round to Trim, who stood at the back of his chair:No, an please your honour, replied the corporal.But thou couldst discourse about one, Trim, said my father, in case of needHow is it possible, brother, quoth my uncle Toby, if the corporal never saw oneTis the fact I want; replied my father,and the possibliity of it, is as follows.

A WHITE BEAR! Very well. Have I ever seen one Might I ever have seen one Am I ever to see one Ought I ever to have seen one Or can I ever see one

Would I had seen a white bear! (for how can I imagine it)

If I should see a white bear, what should I say If I should never see a white bear, what then

If I never have, can, must or shall see a white bear alive; have I ever seen the skin of one Did I ever see one painteddescribed Have I never dreamed of one

Did my father, mother, uncle, aunt, brothers or sisters, ever see a white bear What would they give How would they behave How would the white bear have behaved Is he wild Tame Terrible Rough Smooth

Is the white bear worth seeing

Is there no sin in it

Is it better than a BLACK ONE”

—Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Vol. 5., 1761.