So to cheer up, I decided to read some Perelman. Here, from Are You Decent, Memsahib?, is young maharaja Lam Chowdrie proposing to buxom stripper Sherry Muscatel:
“Oh, moon of my delight… Life has bruised your wings, my little shama thrush. All I ask is a simple boon. Let me spend the rest of my life catering to your smallest whim.”