Aeyli said that she should probably go to see her grandfather and grandmothers and begin laying the groundwork for declaring for Alexia as a mate.
I said, “Tell your grandfather that I would like to teach the village something as soon as this evening, if that would be OK. If the village would like to come and hear me. Do the steps we have to take really need to be postponed? As long as we take the right steps, can they be done soon? Tonight? Can you tell him that after the teaching, that we would like to declare for another mate. The excuse for the meeting will be so that I can teach, but we will handle the declaration at the end. What do you think, will he agree?”
Aeyli said, “I think so. I think that Tronuck will be OK with it if I talk to him. The village will want to come hear you tonight, and it will be a good excuse. If we say that we have another council meeting, it will be strange, but that’s a good plan. Alexia, if all goes well, we will have it done tonight!”
I said, “I hope so. Let’s go take Alexia to Narhu and then I’ll start teaching this afternoon.”
Aeyli said, “Mark, the Academy hall hasn’t even been started and no one will be gathered there.”
I said, “Aeyli, it’s better to teach in a market than in a hall. Take me to a fruit stand. That’s where we will teach today. And afterward, the whole village will want to come tonight. After we buy a piece of fruit, then you go see Tronuck and Dorel. While you’re with them, Rani and Belle can show me more of the village. Oh, I need small coins for buying in the market.”
Aeyli said, “I have them in my pouch left over from what you gave me yesterday. I’ll give them to you.”
Alexia said, “After I talk to Narhu, I will arrange for mattresses to be made. I will need coins for that as well.”
We went down stairs and all put on our belts and walked back into the village.
We took Alexia to Narhu and I explained that I wanted him to allow her input regarding the renovations and that she had my full authority to make decisions for me. From there we went to the market and the girls took me directly to a fruit vendor.
The vendor was a very pretty girl, and very pleasant. I made sure to say hello to people and clapped the men on the back as we made our way through the street. By the time we stood in front of the fruit stall, a small crowd had already gathered to see what I was doing in the market.
I idly picked about the fruit and held several pieces as I asked Rani, Belle, and the girl about the different kinds available. I chose one that intrigued me and searched for a little while and then held the one that I had chosen out to the girl and said, “Just the one, please. I’ll pay ten times what you ask for these others.”
The girl looked puzzled. I had said it loud enough for those around me to hear, but not so loud that it was obvious.
The girl said, “Sir, there’s nothing special about this one. It’s no better than the others. You may have it for free.”
I said, “That’s very generous, and you may call me Mark. But it is a very special fruit and I will pay ten times for it.”
I could hear murmuring begin behind me. “It isn’t special. It’s the same.” “Our friend Mark must not know his fruit. Belle will help him.” “What’s the commotion?” “He tries to pay ten times the worth for a single piece of fruit.”
The girl said, “Sir… Mark, I won’t contradict you. If you say it is special, then it is special, but…”
I said, “Then I’ll pay a special price. I pay ten times for it and will accept nothing less!” and I counted the money into her hand a piece at a time.
“How can this fruit be special, and how can he know?” “And if he knows, why make a point of paying ten times, he could have gotten the special fruit for the price of one.” “She offered it to him for free he didn’t need to pay at all.”
I said to the girl, “Thank you. Now, do you want to know what makes this fruit so special?”
She said, “I do!”
I said, “And will you try not to be angry if you feel that I cheated you by only paying ten times and not more?”
She said, “Even if a gem is hidden inside it, I didn’t know it. I won’t feel cheated. But what makes this piece so special?”
I said, “This one piece of fruit is special because it is the one piece of fruit in your entire stall that a man paid ten times for.”
The girl laughed and said, “That is a very special piece of fruit! Two can play this game, and I can play it more cheaply than you. Here, have your money back and I will make it special in my way. For I will give no more fruit for free today. It will be the one piece of fruit that was given to Mark our new friend for free!”
I laughed with her and said, “No, I’m sorry, but we both win this game. You have taken my money and agreed to the price of ten times, and I have a piece of fruit that is the talk of the entire village by nightfall.”
I turned to the crowd and held up my fruit and said, “Let me tell you what I know about fruit. It’s a good story, gather round.
There was once a woman, from my old village who taught me about fruit. I’m only doing what I was taught. This woman wanted a piece of fruit and she went to the market and engaging the seller, she chose a piece of fruit and offered ten times the price. The seller in my village was not a generous man and he loved money so he took the money quickly and hid it away. I said to the woman, ‘Why pay so much for the fruit? How can it be worth so much?’ The woman said to me, ‘Here, listen,’ and she held the fruit to my ear.”
I held the fruit up as if listening to it.
I continued, “I listened carefully and I could hear a tiny voice from the fruit! I was astonished at that and listened very hard. The tiny voice was saying, ‘This woman thinks that I’m very valuable. I’ll make it so. I’ll work hard and make my juices sweeter than any fruit has ever been. When she eats me, she will think that she got her money’s worth and more!’ and the woman smiled at me and walked away thinking that she would enjoy her fruit even more than the amount that she had paid for it.
I thought that it was very strange to hear the voice of a fruit, so I stayed near the stand to see if I could learn more. Soon, another woman came and looked at the fruit. She frowned and grunted as she picked through the box and finally chose a piece. It looked like she had picked the best piece in the box and said, ‘How much?’
The seller said, ‘Oh, a very fine piece,’ and since he had just sold one for ten times, he pressed his luck thinking he would get two times what he should at least, and said, ‘it will be this much.’ The woman grunted and said, ‘Bah! That’s twice what a good piece would cost! I won’t pay it. This piece is bitter, but it’s all I can afford. I will give you a fifth of half what you ask, no more!’
Of course, it was not all that she could afford. She also loved money and had plenty… because she always paid less than others for everything. And it always seemed to her that no matter how good the fruit looked, it was always bitter in her mouth anyway.
The two haggled for a long time, but the woman never budged and finally the seller gave her the fruit for one fifth its worth just to have her go away and quit saying such bad things about his fruit and himself.
I paid no attention to what they said, but rather listened to the fruit and what it had to say. The fruit said, ‘This woman thinks that I will be bitter. I won’t disappoint her! I’ll be so bitter that she never wants fruit again. Let her save her money if she loves it so much. If she thinks that I’m worth so little, I’ll prove her right! She won’t enjoy me, I swear it!’
So, tell me, one woman paid ten times, and one paid one fifth. Who wasted their money and who got a bargain? The one who bought a piece of fruit that tasted better than any had ever been? Or the one forced to eat fruit so bitter that it made her despair of her sad, lonely life?”