This boy was reading in one of the lower classes of a school and hardly knew the English language.
When the fever would not abate for 24 hours a doctor was sent for.
The doctor arrived, and went in to see the patient in the sick-room.
The boy was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. It was nearly evening.
As soon as the doctor entered the sick-room the boy shouted "Doctor—I am very hungry, order some food for me."
Of course, the doctor thought that the boy was in his senses. He did not know that the boy had not sufficient knowledge of the English language to express his ideas in that tongue. So the doctor asked his relations when he had taken food last. He was informed that the patient had had nothing to eat for the last 8 or 10 hours.
"What will you like to have?" asked the doctor.
"Roast mutton and plenty of vegetables" said the boy.
By this time the doctor had approached the bed-side, but it was too dark to see whether the eyes of the patient were open or not.
"But you are ill—roast mutton will do you harm" said the doctor.