Phillips drew a passage from the middle of De Amicitia.
He walked up to the podium carrying a cup of tea he had no idea where he had gotten.
Only when he reached the podium did he realize he was still holding something, so he calmly bent down and set the cup on the crossbar at the base of the lectern.
The gesture drew a few soft laughs from below.
His performance was perfectly proper.
His pronunciation was accurate, his rhythm steady, and his handling of rhetorical devices appropriate.
Like the tea in his hand, it was neither hot enough to burn nor cold enough to chill. Once finished, it left no impression behind.
After he finished, he picked up the teacup again and even took a sip as he walked offstage.
On the other side, Palmer indeed failed to make it to the third paragraph.
He paused at the end of the second paragraph, moved his lips twice without making a sound, then gave the judges a very sincere bow.
"Doleo, sed memoriam non habeo."
(Sorry, but I can't remember.)
Everyone below could not help laughing, including Montague. He kept his laughter restrained, but his shoulders still shook twice.
Palmer walked offstage looking entirely at ease and exchanged a glance with Hutchinson.
Hutchinson was slightly better than him, stumbling his way through the entire passage.
But he got nearly all the stresses wrong, as if he had reversed the beat of an entire piece of music.
After coming down, he patted Palmer on the shoulder. "Want to get pie after the competition?"
"Sure."
By the time it was Richard's turn, nearly an hour had passed.
"Number twenty-three, Richard Williams, Greenwood School."
When the host announced the school's name, there was almost no reaction from the audience.
Greenwood's reputation in