There is a scene in the Tim Powers novel On Stranger Tides in which Woefully Fat -- a gigantic Jamaican voodoo sorcerer who happens to be deaf -- is escorted by a naval officer and several armed sailors into the Maritime Law and Records Office, much to the surprise of the pen-pushers working there.
One of the clerks, prodded forward by his white-haired superior, approached the group. "Wh-what are you doing here?" he quavered. He stared in horror up at Woefully Fat. "What d-do you want?"
The Navy officer started to speak, but Woefully Fat's earthquake-rumble voice easily overrode him. "Ah'm deaf, Ah cain't hear," the bocor announced.
The clerk paled and turned to his superior. "Oh, my God, sir, he says he's going to defecate here!"
This is so indescribably perfect that it must have been planned well in advance. Surely the whole purpose of the Maritime Law and Records Office scene is to allow these lines to be uttered. Very likely Woefully Fat himself, a fairly major character, was created in order that a clerk could mishear him announcing that he was going to defecate in the Maritime Law and Records Office. Possibly the entire plot, and the whole pirates-who-do-voodoo premise, was created as a backdrop for this one perfect scene.
Tolkien is supposed to have said that he wrote The Lord of the Rings simply to create a world in which someone could say "A star shines on the hour of our meeting." I propose that Tim Powers wrote On Stranger Tides simply to create a world in which someone could say, "Oh, my God, sir, he says he's going to defecate here!"
Update (July 3, 2021): Mr. Powers has contacted me and confirmed that my speculation was "exactly right."
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