"Ah! the luster was glass, you say."
"Venetian glass! a perfect curiosity, quite matchless, indeed, and weighed two hundred pounds."
"And which fell upon your head!"
"Upon my head. Just imagine, a globe of crystal, gilded all over, the lower part beautifully incrusted, perfumes burning at the top, and jets from which flame issued when they were lighted."
"I quite understand; but they were not lighted at the time, I suppose?"
"Happily not, or I should have been set on fire."
"And you were only knocked down flat, instead?"
"Not at all."
"How, not at all?"
"Why the luster fell on my skull. It appears that we have upon the top of our heads an exceedingly thick crust."