"From what country does that lovely creature come? Is she really a
woman, or is she not rather a fairy whom some enchantment has brought
among us?"
"If," said the slave merchant, "you bid me ten thousand pieces of gold
for the slave in the other room, how much will you offer for this?"
"I will give you," said the Caliph, "forty thousand dinars, and not
think her dear at that price."
"Asmut," said the merchant to his companion, "did I not tell you that
my slave girl was better than yours? And behold this honest merchant
offers four times as much for her as for your Indian."
"It is easy enough," retorted the other, "for some fellow you pick up
in the bazaar, and who has not probably a thousand dinars in the world,
to talk of ten thousand for this slave, and forty thousand for that.
It will be time to defer to his opinion, I think, when we see the
thousands he talks of so glibly."
"Without doubt," said the first speaker, "this honourable merchant
would not offer a price, however large, for the slaves, unless he were
able to find the money. If he has not so much he can probably borrow a
part of it. Therefore, let both of these merchants lodge here with us
to-night, and to-morrow they may either fetch or send for the gold, and
the bargain may be concluded."