to teach him Avestan and no expectations that he would master it well enough to translate their texts. Also according to Anquetil-Duperron, the priests were committing a great sacrilege in acquainting him with the texts and lessons were conducted in Farsi so that the priest's Zoroastrian servant would not be aware of what was transpiring. Kaus's anxiety increased when Anquetil-Duperron demanded proper interpretation and not just translation. Via Persian, the two priests taught him what they knew of Avestan (which was not much) and of Zoroastrian theology (which was even less). In June 1759, 16 months after his arrival in Surat, he sent news to Paris that he had completed (in three months) a translation of the "Vendidad". The same June, the priest Darab arranged for Anquetil-Duperron to attend – in disguise but armed with a sword and pistol — a ceremony in a fire temple "in exchange for a small present and the hope of promenading the city in my palanquin".apud Anquetil-Duperron also suggests that Darab attempted to convert him, but that he "courageously refused to waver".apud Two centuries later, J. J. Modi would explain Anquetil-Duperron's invitation into a temple as only possible if the sacred fire had been temporarily removed because the temple was being renovated.cf. On the other hand, Anquetil-Duperron states that he was given a sudra and kusti and he may have been formally invested with them, which would have made him a Zoroastrian in the priest's view, and thus would have been acceptable in a functioning temple. Duel and legal problems In late 1759, Anquetil-Duperron killed a fellow countryman in a duel, was badly wounded himself, and was forced to take refuge with the British. Anquetil-Duperron's own brother demanded that he be handed over, but the British refused. In April 1760, the French authorities dropped the charges and allowed him to return to the French sector. In the meantime, Anquetil-Duperron had travelled all over Gujarat. At Surat and in his travels, he collected 180 manuscripts, which not only included almost all known Avestan language texts and many of the 9th/10th-century works of Zoroastrian tradition, but also other texts in a multitude of Indian languages. Anquetil-Duperron finished his translation in September 1760, and decided to leave Surat. From Surat, he intended again to travel to Benares but the widow of the Frenchman he had killed was bringing charges against him, which Anquetil-Duperron then used as an