Old Moostapha, or
Abdallah, or Hadgi Mohamed waddles up from the water's edge with a
small packet of merchandise, which he has bought out of a Greek
brigantine, and when at last he has reached his nook in the bazaar
he puts his goods BEFORE the counter, and himself UPON it; then
laying fire to his tchibouque he "sits in permanence," and
patiently waits to obtain "the best price that can be got in an
open market." This is his fair right as a seller, but he has no
means of finding out what that best price is except by actual
experiment. He cannot know the intensity of the demand, or the
abundance of the supply, otherwise than by the offers which may be
made for his little bundle of goods; so he begins by asking a
perfectly hopeless price, and then descends the ladder until he
meets a purchaser, for ever
"Striving to attain
By shadowing out the unattainable."
This is the struggle which creates the continual occasion for
debate. The vendor, perceiving that the unfolded merchandise has
caught the eye of a possible purchaser, commences his opening
speech. He covers his bristling broadcloths and his meagre silks
with the golden broidery of Oriental praises, and as he talks,
along with the slow and graceful waving of his arms, he lifts his
undulating periods, upholds and poises them well, till they have
gathered their weight and their strength, and then hurls them
bodily forward with grave, momentous swing.
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