The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth. Thomas Wallace Knox
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The boys found that they could not buy things in a hurry in the bazaars of Cairo. As before stated, time is of no consequence to an Oriental, and he expects to spend an hour at least over a bargain. Frank had been properly instructed, and so when he set out to buy the necklace for his sister he carelessly asked the price of one he was looking at.
The dealer named a figure, and Frank shook his head.
The dealer named another figure, five or ten per cent. lower. Frank again shook his head, and then the dealer asked what he would give.
Frank offered about a third of the price that had been demanded originally.
It was now the dealer's turn to refuse, and he did so. He emphasized his refusal by putting the necklace back into the show-case, which he carefully locked.
Frank offered a little advance on his first proposal, but the dealer again declined it, and our friends moved away. Just as they did so the dealer named a lower price than he had yet asked for the article, but to no purpose, however.
They went a few steps and stopped at another shop. While they were looking at something it contained they were called back by the merchant with whom they originally talked, and the bargaining was renewed.
The dealer slowly lowered his figures, and Frank as slowly advanced his offer. In fifteen or twenty minutes they met, and Frank secured the necklace at a little more than half what had been demanded originally. The Doctor told him he had done very well, and could be trusted to deal with the Orientals.
"Remember," said the Doctor, "that these people are never in a hurry, and consequently you must be like them if you are to deal with them. They think it absolutely necessary to pass a certain time over a transaction, and do not understand our Western habits of coming to terms at once. You have bought that necklace for a certain price, and it is safe to say that the merchant has made a good profit by the transaction. If you had offered him that figure at first he would have refused it, and continued to refuse, as he would thereby have missed the necessary chaffering and haggling.
"When I first visited Egypt I was sometimes impatient of delay, and used to tell the dealers I had only one price to give, and would not bargain with them. I thought I could bring them to terms, though my friends told me I could not. One day I went to the Hamzowee, and tried to buy a cafieh, or silk handkerchief, in gaudy colors, and embroidered with gold, which was worth about fifteen francs. The merchant demanded thirty-five francs for it. I offered him sixteen, and he fell to thirty at once.
"I did not raise my bid, but repeated my offer two or three times. He fell to twenty-five francs, and would not go lower. I did not rise above sixteen, and he allowed me to go away. A friend of mine stood by, but pretended not to know me, and when I had finished my effort and gone he began to bargain for the cafieh, just as you bargained for the necklace. He offered five francs to begin with, and by spending half an hour over the matter he bought the article for fifteen francs, or one less than had been refused from me!
"There was a shrewd old Syrian who used to come around the hotels to peddle silk goods. Knowing the fondness of English and Americans for the one-price system, he would say, when exhibiting an article worth twenty francs,
"'If you want to bargain for it, it is fifty francs; but if you want the last price, without bargaining, it is thirty-five francs.'
"Strangers were occasionally tricked in this way, and gave him his price without question, if they wanted the article; but those who had been a week or two in the country knew better, and began to bargain with thirty-five francs as the asking price. The result would be that they would bring him down to twenty francs after the usual amount of haggling. You must bargain for everything here when dealing with natives, and they are not to be believed if they say they have only one price. I have heard a man offer an article in about these words, after a bargain had been progressing for some time:
"'The very lowest I can sell this for—I give you my word of honor it cost me that—is fifty francs. I will take nothing less than fifty francs, and you need not offer me anything under it.'
"You believe he is not speaking the truth, and offer him thirty. He declares that the thing cost him fifty, but he will take forty-five, and absolutely nothing less. You offer him thirty-five—he falls to forty, and the bargain is concluded."
Frank profited by the advice, but carried the lesson too far. When he went the next day to the post-office to send some letters to America, the clerk weighed the letters, and told him the postage amounted to two francs and a half. The youth offered one franc and a half, and on the clerk refusing to accept it he turned to walk away. Suddenly realizing the mistake he had made, he returned, bought the necessary stamps, affixed them to the letters, and dropped them in the letter-box.
The journal kept by the youths contained the following record of their adventures in the bazaars:
"In the bazaar of the jewellers, or rather of the gold and silver smiths, we saw the men at work with implements as primitive as those of the jewellers of India. The bellows of the silversmith was nothing more than a conical bag of goat-skin open at one end, where the air was pumped in by a skilful manipulation of a pair of handles. At the other end was an iron tube, which carried the air to a lump of clay supporting a charcoal fire. A few hammers and pincers constituted the entire 'kit' of the workman, but with them he managed to turn out articles of many different shapes. We were told that strangers are liable to be swindled, as the dealers often sell plated-ware and declare it is solid, and the government stamp to indicate its genuineness cannot be relied on. When a wealthy native desires an article of fine gold or silver he buys the metal, and then has the jeweller go to his house and work directly under his eye, so that there can be no cheating.
"From the jewellers' bazaar we went to the 'Sook-en-Nahhasin,' or bazaar of the coppersmiths, where we saw some trays of copper and brass, and a great many pots and utensils for the kitchen and domestic use generally. We bought a couple of ink-and-pen holders, such as the Arabs write with: there is a long handle for containing the little reeds which they use as pens, and a bottle at the end for holding ink. The apparatus is stuck into the waist-belt, and you see it worn by a great many people.
"There were many shapes and sizes of the kitchen utensils, and all were made of brass or copper. There were tongs and shovels very much like our own stewpans, with and without handles, and a little pot with a long handle, in which they make coffee. One of the prettiest things we saw for household use was a basin and ewer, or pitcher, for washing the hands after dinner. The Doctor explained the manner of using it, and said it was carried round the table by a servant, who poured water on the hands of each guest, and allowed it to run into the basin after the ablution was performed. There is a perforated cover in the centre of the basin, and it has a cup in the top for holding a ball of scented soap. The ewer has a long slender spout opposite the handle, and there is a perforated cover to keep out the flies and other undesirable things.
"In the perfume bazaar we were welcomed by a variety of agreeable odors, and by the shop-keepers and their runners, who tried to sell us ottar of rose and oil of sandal-wood, which are the perfumes most sought by strangers. Every shop promised to give us the genuine article, and said there was no other place where it could be bought. The Doctor says it is simply impossible to get the real ottar of rose anywhere in the bazaar, no matter what price you pay, and consequently it is best to be moderate in your figures. The veritable perfume is worth, at the place of manufacture, about fifty dollars an ounce, and therefore, when you buy it for two or three or five dollars an ounce, you can hardly expect to get the best. It is