"Say 'keep up your pecker' in Turkish: that'll stump you."
"Not at all. If you fancy your Turk is downhearted, say to him 'Gheiret ileh.'"
A subaltern, who had furtively taken from his pocket a booklet with a buff-coloured paper cover, turned over the pages, replaced the book, and bending forward said:
"Here's a poser for you. What's the Turkish for 'not to be able to be made to love'?"
There was a gust of laughter.
"Tomlinson's thinking of the girl he left behind him," said one of his comrades. "Gheiret ileh, Tommy."
"Stumped, Forester?"
"I'm sorry for Tomlinson; he'll have a mouthful to say. Sevderilehmemek meets the case, I think."
"By Jove!" gasped the last speaker. "Sounds like a bird twittering."
Tomlinson had taken out his book again.