"How can she get away with it?" Lavender said to Matilda. "Surely the children go home and tell their mothers and fathers. I know my father would raise a terrific stink if I told him the Headmistress had grabbed me by the hair and slung me over the playground fence."
***"No, he wouldn't," Matilda said. "and I'll tell you why. He simply wouldn't believe you."
***"Of course he would."
***"He wouldn't," Matilda said. "And the reason is obvious. Your story would sound too ridiculous to be believed. And that is the Trunchbull's great secret."
***"What is ?" Lavender asked.
***Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable. No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million year. Mine wouldn't. They'd call me a liar."
*
***"No, he wouldn't," Matilda said. "and I'll tell you why. He simply wouldn't believe you."
***"Of course he would."
***"He wouldn't," Matilda said. "And the reason is obvious. Your story would sound too ridiculous to be believed. And that is the Trunchbull's great secret."
***"What is ?" Lavender asked.
***Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable. No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million year. Mine wouldn't. They'd call me a liar."
*
(Roald Dahl, Matilda)
*
*
