“...the Other World has different things in it. Words such as "Manchester" and "police station" have no meaning here. Because these things do not exist. Words such as "river" and "mountain" do have meaning but only because those things are depicted in the Statues. I suppose that these things must exist in the Older World. In this World the Statues depict things that exist in the Older World.'
'Yes,' said Raphael. 'Here you can only see a representation of a river or a mountain, but in our world--the other world--you can see the actual river and the actual mountain.'
This annoyed me. 'I do not see why you say I can ONLY see a representation in this World,' I said with some sharpness. 'The word "only" suggests a relationship of inferiority. You make it sound as if the Statue was somehow inferior to the thing itself. I do not see that that is the case at all. I would argue that the Statue is superior to the thing itself, the Statue being perfect, eternal and not subject to decay.'
'Sorry,' said Raphael. 'I didn't mean to disparage your world.'
There was a silence.
'What is the Other World like?' I asked.”