III

 

 

 

OÄLDES, TWENTY MILES NORTH OF MYNAULT, HAD LONG SERVED THE SOUTH ULFISH KINGS as their seat, though it lacked the grace and historical presence of Ys, and showed to poor advantage when compared to Avallon and Lyonesse Town. To Tamas, however, Oäldes with its market square and busy harbor seemed the very definition of urbanity.

He stabled his horse and made a breakfast of fish stew at a dockside tavern, all the while wondering where best to sell his wonderful pearl, that he might realize a maximum gain.

Tamas made a guarded inquiry of the landlord: “I put you this question: if someone wished to sell a pearl of value, where would he find the best price?”

“Pearls, eh? You will find small clamor for pearls at Oäldes. Here we spend our miserable few coins on bread and codfish. An onion in the stew is all the pearl most of us will ever see. Still, show me your wares.”

Somewhat reluctantly Tamas allowed the landlord a glimpse of the green pearl.

“A prodigy!” declared the landlord. “Or is it a cunning puddle of green glass?”

“It is a pearl,” said Tamas shortly.

“Perhaps so. I have seen a pink pearl from Hadramaut, and a white pearl from India, both adorning the ears of sea-captains. Let me look once more on your green jewel . . . Ah! It glows with a virulent light! There, yonder, is the booth of a Sephard goldsmith; perhaps he will offer you a price.”

Tamas took the pearl to the goldsmith’s booth and laid it upon the counter. “How much gold and how much silver will you pay out for this fine gem?”

The goldsmith pushed a long nose close to the pearl and rolled it with a bronze pick. He looked up. “What is your price?”

Tamas, ordinarily equable, found himself infuriated by the goldsmith’s bland voice. He responded roughly: “I want the full value, and I will not be cheated!”

The goldsmith shrugged narrow shoulders. “The worth of an article is what someone will pay. I have no market for such a fine trinket. I will give a single gold piece, no more.”

Tamas snatched the pearl and strode angrily away. And so it went all day. Tamas offered the pearl to every one whom he thought might pay a good price, but met no success.

Late in the afternoon, tired, hungry and seething with repressed anger, he returned to the Red Lobster Inn, where he ate a pork pasty and drank a mug of beer. At a nearby table four men gambled at dice. Tamas went to watch the play and when one of the men departed, the others invited him to join their game. “You seem a prosperous lad; here’s your chance to enrich yourself even further at our expense!”

Tamas hesitated, since he knew little of dice or gaming. He thrust his hands into his pockets and touched the green pearl, which sent a pulse of reckless confidence coursing along his nerves.

“Certainly!” Tamas cried out. “Why not?” He slid into the vacant seat. “You must explain your game to me, since I lack experience at such sport.”

The other men at the table laughed jovially. “All the better for you!” said one. “Beginner’s luck is the rule!”

Another said: “The first thing to remember is that if you win your count, you must not forget to collect your wager. Secondly, and even more important from our point of view, if you lose, you must pay! Is that clear?”

“Absolutely!” said Tamas.

“Then, just as a gentlemanly courtesy, show us the colour of your money.”

Tamas brought the green pearl from his pocket. “Here is a gem worth twenty gold pieces; this is my surety! I have no smaller moneys.”

The other players looked at the pearl in perplexity. One of them said: “It may be worth exactly as you claim, but how do you expect to gamble on that basis?”

“Very simply. If I win, I win and nothing more need be said. If I lose, I lose until I am in debt to the amount of twenty gold pieces, whereupon I give up my pearl and depart in poverty.”

“All very well,” said another of the gamblers. “Still, twenty gold pieces is a goodly sum. Suppose I were to win a single gold piece and thereupon had enough of the game; what then?”

“Is it not absolutely clear?” demanded Tamas peevishly. “You then give me nineteen gold pieces, take the pearl and depart with your gains.”

“But I lack the nineteen gold pieces!”

The third gambler cried out: “Come, let us play the game! No doubt matters will sort themselves out!”

“Not yet!” cried the cautious gambler. He turned to Tamas. “The pearl is useless in this game; have you no smaller coins?”

A red-haired red-bearded man wearing the varnished hat and striped trousers of a seaman came forward. He picked up the green pearl and scrutinized it with care. “A rare gem, of perfect luster and remarkable color! Where did you find this marvel?”

Tamas had no intention of telling everything he knew. “I am a fisherman from Mynault, and we bring ashore all manner of marine treasure, especially after a storm.”

“It is a fine jewel,” said the cautious gambler. “Still, in this game you must play with coins.”

“Come then!” cried the others. “Put out your stakes; let the game begin!”

Tamas grudgingly laid down ten coppers, which he had been reserving for the night’s supper and lodging.

The game proceeded and Tamas’ luck was good. First copper, then silver coins rose before him in stacks of gratifying height; he began to play for ever higher stakes, deriving assurance from the green pearl which rested among his winnings.

One of the gamblers abandoned the game in disgust. “Never have I seen such turns of the dice! I cannot defeat both Tamas and the goddess Fortunato!”

The red-bearded seaman, who named himself Flary, decided to join the game. “It is probably a lost cause, but I too will challenge this wild fisherman from Mynault.”

The game proceeded once again. Flary, an expert gambler, secretly introduced a pair of weighted dice into the game, and seizing an appropriate opportunity, placed a wager of ten gold pieces on the board. He called out: “Fisherman, can you meet such a wager?”

“My pearl is security!” responded Tamas. “Start the game!”

Flary cast down the dice and once more, to Flary’s great perplexity, Tamas had won the stakes.

Tamas laughed at Flary’s discomfiture. “That is all for tonight. I have gambled long and hard, and my winnings will buy me a fine new boat. My thanks to you all for a profitable evening.”

Flary pulled at his beard and squinted sidelong as Tamas counted his money. As if on sudden inspiration Flary swooped down upon the table and pretended to inspect the dice. “As I suspected! Such luck is unnatural! These are weighted dice! We have been robbed!”

There was sudden silence, then an outburst of fury. Tamas was seized, dragged out to the yard behind the tavern and there beaten black and blue. Flary meanwhile retrieved his dice, his gold pieces and also possessed himself of the green pearl.

Well pleased with the night’s work, he departed the tavern and went his way.