Were this the normal universe, he would tell in moments. Such instincts are the gifts of the Time Lords, and in a future incarnation he will go to great lengths to disguise that. Great lengths indeed, even when it had been somewhat unnecessary. But that is in the future, a dramatic flair not fully developed in the early regenerations.

"Because they are so often true. Those tales are important because there is usually truth, somewhere. A power behind the words. Sometimes the words themselves have power. Under the right circumstances."