n this
important transaction, said: "It may be worth three hundred thousand."

"Four hundred thousand," repeated the merchant coolly. "Your father
wished to know the lowest price, and I am asking no more than is right.
The rubies and garnets in these grapes, the pearls in the myrtle
blossoms, the turquoises in the forget-me-nots, the diamonds hanging as
dew on the grass, the emeralds which give brilliancy to the green
leaves--this one especially, which is an immense stone--alone are worth
more."

"Then why do you not cut them out of the tissue?" asked Neforis.

"Because I cannot bear to destroy this noble work," replied the Arab. "I
will sell it as it is or not at all." At these words the Mukaukas nodded
to his son, heedless of the disapprobation his wife persisted in
expressing, asked for a tablet which lay near the chessboard, and on it
wrote a few words.

"We are agreed," he said to the merchant. "The treasurer, Nilus, will
hand you the payment to-morrow morning on presenting this order."

A fresh emotion now took possession of Orion, and crying: "Splendid!
Splendid!" he rushed up to his father and excitedly kissed his hand.
Then, turning to his mother, whose eyes were full of tears of vexation,
he put his hand under her chin, kissed her brow, and exclaimed with
triumphant satisfaction: "This is how we and the emperor do business!
When the father is the most liberal of men the son is apt to look small.
Meaning no harm, worthy merchant! As far as the hanging is concerned, it
may be more precious than all the treasures of Croesus; but you have
something yet to give us into the bargain before you load your camels
with our gold: Tell us what the whole work was like before it was
divided."

The Moslem, who had placed the precious tablet in his girdle, at once
obeyed this request.

"You know how enormous were its length and breadth," he began. "The hall
it decorated could hold several thousand guests, besides space for a
hundred body guards to stand on each side of the throne. As many weavers,
embroiderers and jewellers as there are days in the year worked on it,
they say, for the years of a man's life. The woven picture represented
paradise as the Persians imagine it--full of green trees, flowers and
fruits. Here you can still see a fragment of the sparkling fountain
which, when seen from a distance, with its sprinkling of diamonds,
sapphires and emeralds, looked like living water. Here the pearls
represent the f