"A Thark who's gone a long time without food or water finds his stomach shrunken," says Tars, after some thought. "Give him too much to eat at once, and he'll sicken. One held prisoner with no way to strike at his captors for too long, given a sword, will either go mad and attack any foe he sees, or fail with the weapon entirely. If this man's been confined and starved for so very long, I would say to move slowly. Offer him only a little more than he thinks he ought to have, whether food or the company of others. It takes slow stretching over a long time to bring what's shrunken back to its proper size without tearing it in the process."