Page 184 - Malay sketches

MALAY SKETCHES
heard the with someone about the
priest haggling
but he would take oath that the or
price, any priest
anyone else could devise that he had never set eyes
on the man who sold the thing. All he knew was
that he had been insulted by the issue of a sum-
mons because of the priest's extravagant tastes,
and, while any one who liked might pay, it would not
be he.
Then the Priest :
Long before they left the State, His Highness
told him that when they made this visit it was his
desire to purchase a musical-box (in the sweet
strains of which his soul delighted) and a tricycle,
the beautiful three-wheeled silent carriage which
cost little to start with and nothing to keep, wanted
no horses, nor harness, nor expensive and imperti-
nent horse-keepers, which never shied at bullock-
carts or ran away from elephants, and which lasted
through the lives of many beasts. Therefore, he,
the priest, the obedient slave of the King, had
sought the sweet-voiced box and the stomachless
and after much he had found
carriage, difficulty
them. By the express order of the King the priest
had bidden the owners bring them to the house in
which the King was lodging, and there the whole
details of the two transactions were arranged.
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