the emperor was much pleased and showed them to the wise man . he said : " of the three great pearls one is a divine wishing - pearl of the third class , and two are black dragon - pearls of medium quality . of the seven smaller pearls two are serpent - pearls , and five are mussel - pearls . the remaining pearls are in part sea - crane pearls , in part snail and oyster - pearls . they do not approach the great pearls in value , and yet few will be found to equal them on earth . " the emperor also showed them to all his servants . they , however , thought the wise man 's words all talk , and did not believe what he said . then the wise man said : " the radiance of wishing - pearls of the first class is visible for forty miles , that of the second class for twenty miles , and that of the third for ten miles . as far as their radiance carries , neither wind nor rain , thunder nor lightning , water , fire nor weapons may reach . the pearls of the black dragon are nine - colored and glow by night . within the circle of their light the poison of serpents and worms is powerless . the serpent - pearls are seven - colored , the mussel - pearls five - colored . both shine by night . those most free from spots are the best . they grow within the mussel , and increase and decrease in size as the moon waxes and wanes . " some one asked how the serpent and sea - crane pearls could be told apart , and the wise man answered : " the animals themselves recognize them . " then the emperor selected a serpent - pearl and a sea - crane pearl , put them together with a whole bushel of ordinary pearls , and poured the lot out in the courtyard . then a large yellow serpent and a black crane were fetched and placed among the pearls . at once the crane took up a sea - crane pearl in his bill and began to dance and sing and flutter around . but the serpent snatched at the serpent - pearl , and wound himself about it in many coils . and when the people saw this they acknowledged the truth of the wise man 's words . as regards the radiance of the larger and smaller pearls it turned out , too , just as the wise man had said . 
snatched at the serpent - pearl , and wound himself about it in many coils .
why did people acknowledge the truth of the wise man's words ?
why did people acknowledge the truth of the wise man's words ?