Hipparinos glared at them. 'Those ugly little things really turn into peacocks? Why haven't you got any grown birds?' 'Yes, they turn into peacocks - or peahens,' Menedemos said. 'I haven't got any grown birds because I sold them all in Taras - and I got a lot more than a mina and a half apiece for them, too.' Hipparinos scowled. Menedemos would have been disappointed had he done anything else. He said, 'Has anybody else in Kroton tried to buy these birds?' 'Indeed not, O best one,' Menedemos replied. 'And no one else will have the chance, for we intend to sail as soon as it gets light.' 'I'll have the only ones, will I?' Hipparinos all but rubbed his hands in glee. He sounded much like Herennius Egnatius, but Menedemos would never have told him so: comparing him to a barbarian might have queered the deal. The Krotonite dipped his head in sudden decision. 'I'll take two.' 'At a mina and a half apiece?' Menedemos asked, to make sure there was no misunderstanding. 'At a mina and a half apiece,' Hipparinos said. He took a leather sack from his belt and hefted it in his left hand. Menedemos went up the gangplank and onto the pier, a chick under each arm. Hipparinos gestured. A man - probably a slave - came up with a wickerwork basket in which to take the birds away. Before Menedemos could call anyone from the Aphrodite, Sostratos came of his own accord. Having equal sides went a long way toward keeping anything unfortunate from happening. When Menedemos took the sack, it felt as if it weighed about three minai. He chuckled under his breath; Hipparinos had heard what his price was, sure enough. Menedemos handed the sack to Sostratos. 'Count this quickly - you're good with numbers.' 'As you say.' His cousin made piles of silver coins on the pitch-smeared planks of the wharf. He did count money faster than Menedemos could. After a very brief time, he looked up and said, 'Six drakhmai short. You can see for yourself.' Sure enough, the last pile held only two didrakhms. Hipparinos laughed. 'Are you going to quarrel over six little coins?' Menedemos had met this sort of small-time chiseler more often than he could count. He dipped his head. 'As a matter of fact, yes. We agreed on a price. If you want the birds, you have to pay it.' Muttering under his breath, the Krotonite came up with the missing drakhmai. Menedemos was altogether unsurprised to find him able to. Down the pier Hipparinos went, the slave following him with the basket. In a low voice, Sostratos said, 'I hope they both turn out to be peahens.' 'That would be nice,' Menedemos agreed. 'Have you got the money back in the sack? The sooner we leave, the happier I'll be.' As the aphrodite came round Cape Herakleion, the southernmost bit of land in Italy, Sostratos exclaimed in astonishment and pointed west. 'Is that really Mount Aitne, across all this distance?' he asked. 'Nothing else
Вы читаете Over the Wine Dark Sea
