Once upon a time there was an eminent retired King and a ravishingly beautiful middle-aged Scribe. They went on a journey to a foreign land with the young King and all the princes and princesses of the kingdom, (or at least those that could pay the tuition fee).
But the eminent retired King ("his Eminemeritus") and the Scribe were not as young as they used to be and knew that this might be a long, hard journey. The young King suggested that they obtain some sort of a small seating platform so they would be able to sit comfortably when they needed to.
"Why don't we buy stools?" they said. And so they set off in search of a merchant. They walked and walked and walked. They saw some stools, but these were too big or too small and all were too expensive. After walking through the entire village street and finding nothing and no one to help them in their quest, they stopped to discuss their needs.
Just something small. But not too small. It must be comfortable. And light. Yes and easy to carry. Perhaps waterproof? Oh yes. How hard can it be to find something?
At this point they spied a small cafe with little tables and stools for people who want to sit and drink coffee or chat about the latest World Cup qualifying scores.
There, see those stools?" said the Scribe. "They are just the thing we want!".
His Eminemeritus repled "Oh yes, they would be perfect. What a shame we can't find them anywhere."
"Hmm, I have an idea!" quipped the Scribe. "Why don't we see if the cafe owner would part with two of his stools?
"Do you think he would?"
"Would a Turkish businessman turn down a reasonable offer? What do you think we should offer?"
"Well, I don't know. There were some unsuitable ones in market for 20 lira".
"20 Lira would be reasonable. So why don't we shoot for 15?" (the Scribe had learned how to bargain during previous journeys and she was anxious to get her feet wet again)
"So that would be 30 lira in total?"
"No, I mean
15 for two. Would you be happy with
that?"
"15 for
two? Yes, if you can do 15 for two that would be wonderful" His Eminemeritus was not a poor man but her was careful with his pennies..
The Scribe dug out her purse. "I only have
two ten lira notes and a 50 and will need to have the exact amount.
I can’t argue that we can only afford 15 and then give them a 50 and ask
for change. Do you have a five?"
"Yes. Here you are."
The Scribe
took the two stools to the café man and started to bargain. At first the café man
thought they wanted to sit and drink coffee, then to sit only on those stools (at this point he thought they had been in the sun too long), then that they didn’t want to sit after all. Finally he understood they wanted to buy two of his old plastic stools. He waved them away "You can get them in the market" he said. The Scribe pleaded their unsuitability and how much better his stools were. To his blank looks she cast down her eyes and looked diasappointed, put down the stools and started to walk away.
"Ok, ok, 15
lira." No way was he going to give up 15 easy lira from a couple of crazed elderly tourists.
Thrilled,
his Emeriemeritus and the Scribe walked back to the square where they were to meet the young King and all
the princes and princesses. When they got there they found the stairs to the Mosque were
full of people waiting for other people and there was no place for them to sit. His Emeriemeritus and the Scribe were tired form their walking. Suddenly the Scribe realized, “We don’t need
the stairs or a bench. We have our
stools!”
They then sat in
comfort and waited for the young King.
By and by,
the Scibe saw a man carrying flags of many different sizes. One of the flags included a large image of
Ataturk, the father of the republic of Turkey.
There had been anger in the streets because Ataturk’s ideals were being threatened. Being a Scribe, she was
cognizant of the importance of being in a place at such a time and wished for a
flag of Turkey with Ataturk's image to take back to her own kingdom as a
remembrance.
She took five liras (his Emeriemeritus had given
it to her to thank he for obtaining such fine seating) and went up to the flag
seller.
"How much is that flag? This one, with Ataturk."
"20 lira"
"Oh, too bad, I only have 5. He tsked his tongue and lifted his nose at such an offer
and walked away. The Scribe shrugged and
went back to her stool.
"But the flag seller could see her. He didn't like to lose a potential sale. After awhile he walked to where she sat her and suggested she could
buy a much smaller flag for 5 lira. She
smiled and shook her head. No, she only
wants the flag with Ataturk. The seller walked
away.
But there
she still was. Sitting on a stool. What could he do but go back? He said ok 15. she made a point of searching her purse and found 2.5 more
lire. Would he take 7.50? No, 15. But I only have 7.50.
Another tsk, and he walked away.
But there
she still sat. A customer who wanted to
buy. It was too tantilizing.
Ok, ok, 10
lira. He said. But I only have 7.50. (Of
course this was not true buit 7.50 was what she was willing to pay for such a
prize)
His walking circle
got closer. She is still there, holding actual money, money he could have..
She wasn’t moving, and so he must.
With a
dismissive nod of his head he came up and said ok.
With a smile she She happily
handed over her 7.50 lira, and held her flag, impressing his Emeriemertitus even
more with her bargaining skills.
By and By the yong King came with his coach, and the two stools were loaded along with their otehr luggage. Over the course of the travels they used their stools once of twice. The young King was very amused at the story
of the purchase of the stools and the flag and asked the Scribe what she would
do with the stools at the end of the tour. She
gaily said she might go back to the café own and sell them back to him, perhaps
with a profit!
The stools,
whose magic was only for the obtaining and not for reselling,
disappeared over night and were never seen again.
 |
| The Scribe and His Eminemeritus |
The moral
of the story is, When fortune smiles upon you, don’t get greedy!
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