Cyril and Jane were more hopeful - they generally were.

'I don't think the Sammyadd does it on purpose,' Cyril said; 'and,
after all, it WAS silly to wish for boundless wealth. Fifty pounds
in two-shilling pieces would have been much more sensible. And
wishing to be beautiful as the day was simply donkeyish. I don't
want to be disagreeable, but it was. We must try to find a really
useful wish, and wish it.'

Jane dropped her work and said:

'I think so too, it's too silly to have a chance like this and not
use it. I never heard of anyone else outside a book who had such
a chance; there must be simply heaps of things we could wish for
that wouldn't turn out Dead Sea fish, like these two things have.
Do let's think hard, and wish something nice, so that we can have
a real jolly day - what there is left of it.'

Jane darned away again like mad, for time was indeed getting on,
and everyone began to talk at once. If you had been there you
could not possibly have made head or tail of the talk, but these
children were used to talking 'by fours', as soldiers march, and
each of them could say what it had to say quite comfortably, and
listen to the agreeable sound of its own voice, and at the same
time have three-quarters of two sharp ears to spare for listening
to what the others said. That is an easy example in multiplication
of vulgar fractions, but, as I daresay you can't do even that, I
won't ask you to tell me whether 3/4 X 2 = 1 1/2, but I will ask
you to believe me that this was the amount of ear each child was
able to lend to the others. Lending ears was common in Roman