An 18th-century vagabond in England, exhausted and famished, came to a roadside Inn with a sign reading: "George and the Dragon." He knocked. 

The Innkeeper's wife stuck her head out a window. "Could ye spare some victuals?" He asked. 

The woman glanced at his shabby, dirty clothes. "No!" she shouted. 

"Could I have a pint of ale?" 

"No!" she shouted. 

"Could I at least sleep in your stable?"

  "No!" she shouted again. 

The vagabond said, "Might I please...?" 

"What now?" the woman screeched, not allowing him to finish.

  "D'ye suppose," he asked, "that I might have a word with George?"