“I'm accustomed to being top man. I been a bull goose catskinner for every gyppo logging operation in the Northwest and bull goose gambler all the way from Korea, was even bull goose pea weeder on that pea farm at Pendleton -- so I figure if I'm bound to be a loony, then I'm bound to be a stompdown dadgum good one.”

“Every day, Helen thought, so many people tap the bull on the shoulder and say, "Excuse me. I'm just going to grab your horns.”

“Mythologically speaking, if there's anything I hate worse than trios of old ladies, it's bulls. Last summer, I fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And not just regular bulls - bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally they had to breathe fire, too.”

“If you buy an egg thinking it's a goose's egg, and when it hatches it is actually a bird of paradise; no manner of convincing and reproach will turn the bird of paradise into a goose. Even if you make it go to goose church and goose school and eat goose feeds and only hang out with geese! In the end, it will still belong to paradise.”

“Ever seen a bullfight? The bull really never has a chance. It's only a carefully staged show. But if they let that bull loose in the streets, it's something else. I feel like I've been trapped in an arena. Everybody's watching me to see how long I'll last. I'm just taking to the streets is all. Maybe it's hopeless. But I'm going to make it tougher to get at me.”

“Catherine went still. Her eyes closed against a sudden wet sting. 'Did you accept her proposal?'Leo nuzzled tenderly into the hollow beneath her ear. 'Of course not, pea-goose.”