Page 10 - Unlikely Stories 4

A Lot of Brass

any longer: it is yours, and I should think you would be pleased to do
away with it. I can’t move it off the island without your help, so I am
more than happy to give you a discount for that aid and protection.”
“Oh,” said Mu’ayiwa, restraining a tone of sarcasm. “And what else
might we do to ensure the smoothness of this transaction?’
“Thank you, Excellency, for asking. I have estimated the weight of
the pieces, and have picked out sixteen of the larger ships in the
harbor able to transport them to the Levant. I presume you have
confiscated all merchant vessels. With your authority I could
convince them of the benefits of serving you in this transport. I’m
sure they would enjoy safe passage, given your dominance of this end
of the Mediterranean. Right now they are dead in the water.”
The vizier and emir exchanged glances.
“It seems as if you have looked at the problem from all relevant
angles,” said Mu’ayiwa. “What will you offer us?”
Moshe did not hesitate: “One thousand gold dinars, with the
stipulations agreed upon.”
The emir nodded. The vizier suppressed a smile before speaking.
1
“Jew,” he said, “you have a lot of brass.”

1 “In 653, an Arab force under Muslim caliph [sic] Mu’awiya I captured
Rhodes, and according to The Chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, the
statue was...sold to a Jewish merchant of Edessa…” Wikipedia)
(

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