"Oh, no," said the Englishman, "not that sort of thing! I'm not an engineer. I should like to see the Doge's Palace."
"Lo, sir! The Palace is now the Stazione Centrale Elettrica."
"Then it's no good going to see that. I will go to St. Mark's."
"San Marco is shutted, sir. The vibrazione of the elettrical mechanism has done fall the mosaics. The to visit is become too periculous."
"Oh, indeed! Well, we can go up the Grand Canal."
"The Canal Grande, sir, is now the Via Marconi. Is all changed, and covered, as all the olds canals of Venezia, with arches of steel and a street of asfalto. Is fine, fine, è bella, bella, una via maravigliosa"!
"You don't mean to say there isn't a canal left? Where are the gondolas then?"
"An, una gondola! The sir is archeologo. Ebbene! We shalls go to the Museo. There she shall see one gondola, much curious, and old, ah, so old!"
"Not a canal, not a gondola—except in the museum! What is there to see?"