`` i have only been telling them about property , '' temeraire said , `` and how they ought to be paid , and not need to go to war unless they wish it , but might do more work such as they are doing upon the harbor , or some other sort of labor , which might be more interesting , and then they could earn money for jewels and food , and go about the city as they liked - `` `` oh , good god , '' laurence said , with a groan ; he could imagine very well how these communications would have been viewed by a turkish officer whose dragon expressed a desire not to go into battle and to take up some other profession which temeraire might have suggested from his experience in china , such as poetry or nursemaiding .