"Nay, this will not suffice—thou art known to be abounding in sequins; one of thy race and riches will never refuse a sure loan with securities as certain as the laws of Venice. A thousand ducats in thy willing hand is no novelty"
"They who call me rich, Signor Mask, are pleased to joke with the unhappy child of a luckless race. That I might have been above want—nay, that I am not downright needy, may be true; but when they speak of a thousand ducats, they speak of affairs too weighty for my burdened shoulders. Were it your pleasure to purchase an amethyst or a ruby, gallant Signore, there might possibly be dealings between us?"
"I have need of gold, old man, and can spare thee jewels myself at need. My wants are urgent at this moment, and I have little time to lose in words—name thy conditions."
"One should have good securities, Signore, to be so peremptory in a matter of money."
"Thou hast heard that the laws of Venice are not more certain. A thousand sequins, and that quickly. Thou shalt settle the usury with thine own conscience."
Hosea thought that this was giving ample room to the treaty, and he began to listen more seriously.
"Signore," he said, "a thousand ducats are not picked up at pleasure from the pavement of the great square. He who would lend them must first earn them with long and patient toil; and he who would borrow----"
"Waits at thy elbow."
"Should have a name and countenance well known on the Rialto."
"Thou lendest on sufficient pledges to masks, careful Hosea, or fame belies thy generosity."