Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-10-16
BAzAARS OF CAIRO
Where Time Is Without Value
and Sales Wait on Patience.
BARGAINING AS A FINE ART.
Polite and ~Loquacious, the Oriental
shopkeeper Will Hagale Over the
Price of an Article From Dawn Until
Dark-A Sample Transaction.

O"oPNSSPSt VIII ldO9i over the
|, Price of an Article From Dawn Until
Dark-A Sample Transaction.
He is the seIfsame fellow still, the
Cairene merchant. as in the days of
naroun-al-Raschid. He Squats in cross
legged ~contentment as of yore. amen
able only to the loqufious system of
bargaining dear to tae heart Of the
oriental. The western tourist. foolish
ly regarding time as of value. will lose
all equanimity long before he has COM
plcted the smallest transaction. If his
knowledge Of the east and his patience
suffice and he begins negotiations early
enough in the day rot to be driven
forth as the merchant sets up his shut
tiers at nightfall he may obtain the ar
tlcle he seeks at Il just and equitable
lrlce. Ii he gains possession of it in
less than the accustomed time he will
certainly have paid more than its mar
ket value.
V~agamundo, the western traveller ex-
perlenced in the ways of the east.
catches sight during a stroll through
the bazaars Of an Arabic blade that
takes his fancy. 1t hangs high at the
top of the open booth. on the raised
floor of which s%erenely squats the pro-
prietor. with folded legs. Vagamundo.
as from the merest curiosity. pauses
to run his eye over the countless ar
ticles, suggests with a half stif1ed
yaWn that the scimitar looks like what
might be a convincing weapon in the
hands of an enemy. ventures to hope
that the merchant is enjoying fine
weather and strolls leisurely on. The
shopkeeper continues to puff drowsily
at his water bottle until the western
er is all but out of earshot. Then he ap-
pears suddenly to awake and drones
out a languid invitation to return.
Vagamundo pays no heed to the sum
mons FOR some moments. gaZes alb
stractedly upon the wares displayed
in another booth, then wanders slowly
back. The merchant hopes that the
traveller is enjoying the best Of health,
invites hin to squat in the bit of
space not already occupied by himself
or his wares. offers Il cigarette anG
falls to discussing the state of the cot
ION crop in the delta. By the time the
second cigarette is lighted be turns the
conversation deftly to the scimitar and
remarks that though it is hung among
his wares rather for ornament than
for sale it is possible he may some
day tire of beholding it and part with
it for-perhaps 1000 piasters. vaga-
mundo. putting reminiscently for a
time. recalls having heard a friend ex-
press a desire to obtain such IL weap-
on for. say. IS piasters or so and
wonders, after all. why hat friend
should care for so useless an article.
The shopkeeper regrets that the two
prices named do not more nearly coin
eide, trusts that the foundations will
not be so late this year as last and
reaches again for the tube of his mar
Chile. Vagamundo expresses his de-
light that the khedive has recovered
from his recent attack, thanks the
merchant for his disinterested hospital
ity and saunters away.
The shortest instant before he is
finally lost from view in the surging
stream of bazaar loungers he is called
back to learn that the merchant is Of
the opinion hat the new land tax will
work more effectively than the old.
that the scimitar is probably worth only
$50 piasters and that some of the
eucalyptus trees in the Esbekieh gar
| 6onc ar,n RI ho rop,oroJ VIyi%b n1l
due respect to Cromer Pasha Vaga-
mundo doubts the practicability of his
latest scheme of taxation and hopes
that his friend may somewhere run
across such a scimitar at 100 piasters.
Thus the transaction continues; a
third. a fourth. even a fifth time Vaga-
mundo returns. BY the sixth visit he
has dropped the fiction of a friend and
openly offers 225 piasters for the blade,
and The shopkeeper himself
sufficiently to take the weapon down
for inspection and expresses a willing.
ness to part with it for 275.
Over newly rolled cigarettes the ne.
gotiation proceeds. now touching upon
the prevalence of ophthalmia. anon
skirting the matter Of scimitars. their
manufacture and price. Speaking Of
scimitars. the merchant suspects that
for the II in hand he would be salts
fed perhaps at $50 piasters. Vaga-
mundo lays that sum-which both
recognized from the beginning as the
just price-on the mat between them,
grasps his newly acquired property
and. amid p~rotestations of lifelong
friendship from the merchant. takes
his departure.
Manchester business men and Chi
cago captains of industry. s%cornine
such childish methods. have dived into
the maelstrom of the bazaars of Cairo
with the avowed intention of ''doin.
business" after the manner of today
and the west: but all in vain. The
Cairene shopkeeper will hurry in bis
transactions for no mortal man. Lei
the pulsating westerner press his mer
cenary suit too forcibly and he dis
covers to his surprise. and perhap.
ever to his diSmay, that the merchau