"I replied, for I was vexed by the insolence of this Jewish dog, that I
was not, as he imagined, a beggar: that I had the means of paying him my
just debt, but that I hoped he would not extort from me all that
exorbitant interest which none but a Jew could exact. He smiled, and
answered that if a Turk loved opium better than money this was no fault
of his; that he had supplied me with what I loved best in the world, and
that I ought not to complain when he expected I should return the favour.

"I will not weary you, gentlemen, with all the arguments that passed
between me and Rachub. At last we compromised matters; he would take
nothing less than the whole debt: but he let me have at a very cheap rate
a chest of second-hand clothes, by which he assured me I might make my
fortune. He brought them to Grand Cairo, he said, for the purpose of
selling them to slave merchants, who, at this time of the year, were in
want of them to supply their slaves; but he was in haste to get home to
his wife and family at Constantinople, and, therefore, he was willing to
make over to a friend the profits of this speculation. I should have
distrusted Rachub's professions of friendship, and especially of
disinterestedness, but he took me with him to the khan where his goods
were, and unlocked the chest of clothes to show them to me. They were of
the richest and finest materials, and had been but little worn. I could
not doubt the evidence of my senses; the bargain was concluded, and the
Jew sent porters to my inn with the chest.

"The next day I repaired to the public market-place; and, when my
business was known, I had choice of customers before night--my chest was
empty, and my purse was full. The profit I made upon the sale of these
clothes was so considerable, that I could not help feeling astonishment
at Rachub's having brought himself so readily to relinquish them.