Three Men in a Boat

The most ordinary circumstances turn hilarious as an idler who exhibits a ＂general disinclination to work of any kind,＂ and his friends journey up the Thames River. Getting into many scrapes along the way, the friends consider ＂assaulting a policeman＂ just to have ＂a night’s lodging in the station-house, ＂when they get lost, but ultimately reject the preposition, fearful that he would hit them back without locking them up. The real scene stealer, though, is Montmorency, a small fox terrier who appears to be ＂born with about four times as much original sin in [him] as other dogs are.＂