Note: Translated by Frederick Lawton This translation begins: There is no reason for hiding from the reader that the town in which this singular story commences is situated in Virginia, United States of America. With his permission, we will call this town Whaston, and we will place it in the east, on the right bank of the Potomac; but we deem it useless to specify the exact whereabouts of Whaston, which does not appear even on the best maps.