After a series of near-mishaps, a traveler stumbles into a place utterly unknown to him -- only to be jailed: for in this odd place being penniless is tantamount to criminality. Slowly learning the language and gaining the confidence of his hosts, he comes to know their strange ways and their stranger ideas and institutions -- including the Hospital for Incurable Bores, the College of Unreason -- and the Museum of Old Machines!