down again, saying disdainfully: "Tanda hitam." These words she repeated twice more in a reproachful tone.
Immediately, making me jump with surprise, the bird in the cage found its voice and echoed its mistress's words. "Tonda hitam! Tonda hitam!''''
I turned to Mirzah. "What does the lady say?"
"She say 'black spot'," he said. "She say the dimon' he have a black spot."
"So it has," I admitted readily. "I was going to tell her so, but she was too quick for me."
"I tell her," said Mirzah.
"Do
so," I said, "and say also that the spot is so very, very small that
even I, an expert trained to detect blemishes, can barely see it with
my strong glass."
Mirzah
translated, and my compliment brought a smile to her lips, a sure
indication that she was not too ancient to be impervious to flattery.
When you have a young woman, flatter her about her beauty, when the
lady's age is doubtful flatter her about her charm, her intelligence,
her wit, but when she is old compliment her on her eyesight. These are
very useful rules.
None
the less, I had not entirely succeeded in placating my shrewd client,
for she raised her voice to a somewhat higher pitch and spoke volubly.
Mirzah translated: "Why does the Englishman show me a dimon' good for
beggar-men. Have you not told the merchant who I am, and that I can buy
the best there is?"
"So
that's it," I thought. "Then why was the fellow so emphatic about the
price limit?" But there was no time for speculation of that kind. The
lady had to be answered.
