he had just got as far as explaining to anyone listening that as far as he was concerned his life would not actually be worth a damn unless he was able to tell everybody that he was what he was , when he made an odd face , pressed one hand to his chest , stretched the other hand out , and toppled , as slowly and as gracefully as a man could topple , off the makeshift stage and onto the blondest holidaymaker , and from her onto the floor .