―What funnel? asked Stephen.
―The funnel through which you pour the oil into your lamp.
―That? said Stephen. Is that called a funnel? Is it not a tundish?
―What is a tundish?
―That. The … the funnel.
―Is that called a tundish in Ireland? asked the dean. I never heard the word in my life.
―It is called a tundish in Lower Drumcondra, said Stephen, laughing, where they speak the best English.
―A tundish, said the dean reflectively. That is a most interesting word. I must look that word up. Upon my word I must.
His courtesy of manner rang a little false and Stephen looked at the English convert with the same eyes as the elder brother in the parable may have turned on the prodigal. A humble follower in the wake of clamorous conversions, a poor Englishman in Ireland, he seemed to have entered on the stage of jesuit history when that strange play of intrigue