[_Long pause; all the Children hang back._]

CAUZEE. Come, Zeyn, you be the Merchant.

ZEYN. Not I! The part does not please me.

OFFICER. Would you spoil everything, Zeyn?

ZEYN. Oh, well, then, I'll be the Merchant this time.

CAUZEE. Officer, bring in the accused and his accuser.

[_The Officer presents the Merchant and Ali Cogia before the Cauzee._]

CAUZEE. Ali Cogia, what charge have you to make against this Merchant?

ALI COGIA (_bowing_). Sir, when I journeyed from Bagdad seven years ago, I
left with this Merchant a jar. Now, into this jar I had put, with some
olives, a thousand pieces of gold. When I opened the jar, I found that it
had been entirely filled with olives; the gold had disappeared. I beseech
your honor that I may not lose so great a sum of money!

CAUZEE. Merchant, what have you to say to this charge?

MERCHANT. I confess that I had the jar in my house, but Ali Cogia found it
exactly as he had left it. Did he ever tell me there was gold in the jar?
No. He now demands that I pay him one thousand pieces of gold. I wonder
that he does not ask me for diamonds and pearls instead of gold. I will
take my oath that what I say is the truth.