"But what couldst Thou do in presence of a wild man who would perhaps impale thee on a stake?" inquired Hiram.
"What I would do, I know not. But in Egypt I sit on one sofa with the heir to the throne, who today is viceroy."
"Concord, worthiness! Concord, grace!" said the host.
"Concord! concord, because this man is a common Phoenician merchant, and is unwilling to render me respect," cried out Dagon.
"I have a hundred ships!" shouted Hiram.
"And his holiness has twenty thousand cities, towns, and villages."
"Your worthinesses are destroying this business and all Phoenicia," said Rabsun, with a voice which was loud now.
Hiram balled his fists, but was silent.
"Thou must confess, worthiness," said he, after a while, "that of those twenty thousand towns his holiness owns few in reality."
"Thou wishest to say, grace," answered Dagon, "that seven thousand belong to the temples, and seven thousand to great lords. Still six thousand belong clearly to his holiness."