The Life of Charles Dickens 'I say, what's French for a pillow?' , 'Is that any Italian phrase for a lump of sugar? Just look, will you?' , 'What the devil does echo mean? The garsong says echo to everything!' Italy - 1844. Dickens found himself on passage to Genoa, Italy with five Americans. He confined himself to his cabin but was conscious of his fellow-travellers coming down to him, crying out in varied tones of anxious bewilderment. Illustration by Fred Barnard