(Stephen has been attempting to learn the Urdu language)

‘I was repeating phrases from this little book. It is all I could get, apart from the Fort William grammar, which is in my cabin. It is a phrase-book, and I believe it must have been compiled by a disappointed man: My horse has been eaten by a tiger, leopard, bear; I wish to hire a palanquin; there are no palanquins in this town, sir – all my money has been stolen; I wish to speak to the Collector: the Collector is dead, sir – I have been beaten by evil men. Yet salacious too, poor burning soul: Woman, wilt thou lie with me?’

HMS Surprise – Patrick O’Brian