Magic tricks are usually tricky things but they aren’t as tricky as amateur magicians. Amateur magicians, like amateur musicians, will transform anything and everything into a show — or as I’d like to call it, a sordid affair. Ambassador Revevevicez was no exception. He took the chicken into his hands, dropped it into a large, pancake-shaped leaf he found, and then, with the wave of his hand, he extracted two chickens — then a third one — then a fourth. He distributed the chickens to each of us.

“For every adventure,” he said, with a tilt of his head and his underbite of a smile. “For every adventure you need something to look after.”

“I thought it was you who I am looking after,” Chevron said. “That’s more than enough work.”

“Now you each have a baby chicken to look after,” he said and then he fell down a ravine into the River of Maple Syrup.