Faisal bin Turki looked out over the Gulf.
"Boulenger, have you seen anything like our dhows sailing in the evening? I know of a carpenter here who builds them purely from his head. He does not measure. You only tell him it must have a capacity for so-and-so many packages of dates. Yet his are the most beautiful!"
Boulenger was scribbling. "Nature passe nourriture. Faisal, if I told you a lizard was 2.75 inches from snout to vent, with no fifth toe and a dorsal crest, you would never guess the skin color in its gular folds."
"Now Faisal, come tell me, what do you think of this Christmas card? I fear it's a bit too encyclopedic."
But Faisal, dreaming of a great sea chase, didn't respond.