There are two Underground stations. That serving the District and Piccadilly is on one side of an uncrossable road called Hammersmith Broadway; that serving the Hammersmith & City is on the other side. Whichever exit you emerge from, at whichever station, you are immediately lost.

Puzzle begged very hard to have the lionskin taken off him. He said it was too hot and the way it was rucked up on his back was uncomfortable: also, it made him look so silly.

You will learn a lot about formal and informal Japanese language throughout this book. In Japanese society a distinction is made between the 'in-group' (myself, my family, my work colleagues, my friends) and the 'out-group' (my seniors, people from other families and workplaces). Politeness is an important traditional aspect of Japanese life and this is reflected strongly in the language used when speaking to those in the out-group. More informal language is generally used within the in-group.

I have been perpetually troubled with sickness of late, which has made me so melancholy that the Immortality of the Soul has been my constant Speculation, as the Mortality of my Body my constant Plague.