Again, we have large numbers of Turkish slaves, and it is highly to be desired that the knights should be able to give their orders to these men in their own language.

Lastly, a knight who has been taken prisoner by the Turks--and even the bravest might meet with such a misfortune--would find it an alleviation of his lot, and might be able to plan and carry out his escape, did he speak Turkish well.

I should strongly counsel you to acquire a knowledge of the tongue." Gervaise had intended to follow the advice of the grand prior, but the duties of his office as page, and the time required for his military exercises and his studies with the chaplain, had rendered it well nigh impossible, during the first three years, to turn his attention to learning Turkish.

As soon as his pageship was at an end, and he found that his duties included supervision of Turkish slaves, he felt the want of a knowledge of the language, and from that time devoted an hour a day to its study, employing one of the servants of the auberge, who was a man of rank and education at home, to instruct him.
While he conscientiously spent this amount of time at the work, it was the most disagreeable portion of this day's labour.

The events, however, that had taken place during the expedition had impressed him greatly with the utility of a knowledge of Turkish, for had it not been for Sir John Boswell's possessing some acquaintance with the language, it would have been impossible to communicate with the rowers of their boat, or to have arranged the plan by which they had escaped the pirates.