Summary

Chapter Nine starts with a quote by Thomas Carlyle calling translators faithless who hide gold among shipments of sand.

As their first year comes to a close, they send Robin and the others to study abroad. He goes to a college in Malaca but is not allowed to explore or interact with any Chinese residents.

In the new term, Lovell begins a course on Etymology after Playfair teaches the basics of silver crafting. He explains it revolves around untranslatability and the scholar's ability to find words that are close enough that the silver can remove the distortion. He gives them some demonstrations, including the one Lovell used to cure Robin. Latin and Greek are the connection between languages. However, translators are limited by languages' natural evolution and practitioners must be fluent. The footnotes mention invented languages do not work when paired...