I purchase it;
you demand twenty ducats! But I shall give you what you ought to have,
and what the creature is worth! I shall pay you six-and-thirty ducats
for him!"
The crowd, which had maintained an anxious and breathless silence during
this negotiation, now broke out with a loud and exulting shout.
"That is a real nobleman!"
"_Evviva il ministro della cucina! Il grande Gianettino!_"
"That is no parsimonious Spaniard! He is a French cavalier. He will buy
no gudgeons, but will have the right Roman fish."
"Gentlemen," said Gianettino, modestly casting down his eyes, "I do not
understand your praises, and it seems to me I only deal like a man of
honor, as every one of you would do! This honest man taxes his wares too
low; I give him what they are worth! That is all. If I acted otherwise I
should not long remain in the service of the lofty and generous Cardinal
Bernis! Justice and generosity, that is the first command of his
excellency!"
"_Evviva_ the French ambassador!"
"Praise and honor to Cardinal Bernis!"
And while the people were thus shouting, Gianettino from his well-filled
purse paid down the six-and-thirty ducats upon the fisherman's board. He
then commanded his six attendant scullions to bear off the fish.
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