The Red Pearl - Part 1/4

There once lived a knight during the 1400s, whose name was Sir William, and this is one incident in his life:

One day Sir William was walking along a busy road, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he observed a very eccentric looking man. He was noticeably short, with a lengthy grey beard. He was dight in a garment resembling a monk’s habit, however it was purple and covered in argent stars. He wore a hat following the same description as the habit and dragged a cloth sack in one hand.

“Good morning”, he said, “I hope you are well.”

“What do you want?” inquired the knight. It was humiliating for a vainglorious man like himself to be seen talking to this inferior individual.

“I want a holiday”, he explained, “and I want you to keep this sack for me. It contains 25 pearls coloured red. They contain magic which I can only activate. I will pay you for keeping them for me. I will be here, on this very spot, for you to return these pearls.

The knight was at first reluctant, but at the mention of money he brightened.

“Alright”, he said, “I will look after the pearls.”

The man gave the sack to the knight and then he melted into the crowd.

The knight walked with the crowd, thinking, “If I was to sell these pearls, I would surely receive a greater profit then if I was to wait for that man to return.” Reaching a decision, he turned left and walked into the jewellers.

“I wish to sell these pearls”, he said, shaking the sack, “they are filled with magic.”

“Ha-ha”, laughed the jeweller, “filled with magic, eh? But let us look at them before making judgments”.

The knight emptied the sack, and 25 pearls fell on the counter. They were all red.

The jeweller peered at them suspiciously, “They must be counterfeit!”, exclaimed the jeweller, “I have never, in all my years, seen red pearls. But I will buy them because they appear sophisticated. I will pay a bar of gold, weighing 1 kilogram”.

One month later, the knight met the man whose pearls the knight had sold. “So”, the man said, “Can I have my pearls back?”

“Ah, said the knight, well…

“Do you mean to tell me”, the man roared, “that you sold my pearls?!”

“Well…yes”, mumbled the knight.

“How much did you get?” asked the man.

“One bar of gold weighing one kilogram”, replied the knight.

“I would have paid 4 times that amount,” the man replied, and walked away, leaving the knight, feeling ashamed, behind him.