three men in a boat

• a watched pot never boils hadisesiyle ilgili pek güzel bir kısmı vardır bu kitabın. adamlarımız çaydanlıktaki suyun kaynamasını hızlandırmak için çaydanlığa bakmazlar. hatta suyun onların beklediğini hissetmesinin bile kaynamayı geciktireceğini düşünüp sanki suyun kaynamasını istemiyorlarmış gibi göstermek için 'canım hiç çay istemiyor' 'çaydan nefret ederim be saçmalama' şeklinde çaydanlığın duyabileceği şekilde bağırışırlar. suları çabucak kaynar bu sayede, çaylarını içerler.
  
  kitaptaki haliyle daha bir güzel tabi:
  
  we put the kettle on to boil, up in the nose of the boat, and went down to the stern and pretended to take no notice of it, but set to work to get the other things out.
  
  that is the only way to get a kettle to boil up the river. if it sees that you are waiting for it and are anxious, it will never even sing. you have to go away and begin your meal, as if you were not going to have any tea at all. you must not even look round at it. then you will soon hear it sputtering away, mad to be made into tea.
  
  it is a good plan, too, if you are in a great hurry, to talk very loudly to each other about how you don't need any tea, and are not going to have any. you get near the kettle, so that it can overhear you, and then you shout out, "i don't want any tea; do you, george?" to which george shouts back, "oh, no, i don't like tea; we'll have lemonade instead - tea's so indigestible." upon which the kettle boils over, and puts the stove out.