His shop is a real Aladdin's cave of antiques.

When diners leave a quarter of a carafe full of house wine we put it above the sink to refill for new orders, but often I catch him skolling the remains of whatever he can get his hands on.

BEFORE he went to feed with owls and bats Nebuchadnezzar had an ugly dream, Worse than an Hus'if's when she thinks her cream Made a Naumachia for mice and rats.

Most dictionaries are made of paper, glue and ink, from the cheap and ugly paperbacks favoured by schoolchildren, to sumptuous editions, exuding opulence, like that of the Spanish Royal Academy, with its stiff, cream, wallpapery pages […]