DIERBARE HOOGEDELGESTRENGE.
It was not easy to find any phrases out of these epistles suitable for working in to my note about the umbrella.
They were valuable as examples, merely for the general rhythm and style, as it were, and then only to a slight extent. As my missive was of a genre quite distinct from these models, I felt justified in composing it in my own way.
I wrote the letter first in English; then set about translating it, as elegantly as I could, into Dutch.
Here is the English—quite friendly, you see.
Dear Sir,
As you left your umbrella behind on Thursday morning when you did me the honour to call, I beg to send it to you by bearer, in the hope that it may reach you safely without delay.
Trusting that its absence may have occasioned you no inconvenience, I remain, dear sir,
Very truly yours
Jack O’Neill.
As a beginning, the phrase-book gave Hooggeachte Heer and Hoogedelgestrenge Heer, and many more very official-looking titles. It gave ‘mijnheer’ for ‘sir’; but for ‘dear sir’ nothing at all.