"All right! Anything to oblige. You might tell me what all this means, though; and to begin with, what town this is; for I haven't the slightest idea where I am."
At this quite ordinary question, he seemed to be even more puzzled than I was. "I can't understand you," he said, and it was plain by the expression on his face that he spoke the truth. "Where do you come from?"
"I come from a little place called London," I said. "I don't know whether you have ever heard of it."
"No, never," he replied. "What part of the country is it in?"
"Do you ever happen to have heard of England?" I asked; and again he said: "No, never."
"Well, what country are we in now?" I asked, willing to humour him.
"Why, in Upsidonia, of course."
"In what?"
"Upsidonia. Look here, I'm not what I seem to be. Surely you can tell that from the way I speak! Stop trying to play with me, and explain yourself."