“The river, it's banks as yet untamed wandered languidly through thickets of rush and papyrus. Ibises waded in the shallows; in the deeps hippos rose and sank slowly like pickled eggs.”

“Vimes stalked gloomily through the crowded streets, feeling like the only pickled onion in a fruit salad.”

“The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth all the effort.”

“Ponder just let it happen. It's because their minds are so often involved with deep and problematic matters, he told himself, that their mouths are allowed to wander around making a nuisance of themselves.”

“The hippo of recollection stirred in the muddy waters of the mind.”

“Your wife is a big hippo! My face is melting! My face is meltinnnnggg!”

“In some parts of the city, curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it threw it in the river with lead weights tied to its feet.”