Second policeman. You thief, we didn't ask for your address or your social position.
Chief. Let him tell a straight story, Suchaka. Don't interrupt.
The two policemen. Yes, chief. Talk, man, talk.
Fisherman. I support my family with things you catch fish with—nets, you know, and hooks, and things.
Chief (laughing). You have a sweet trade.
Fisherman. Don't say that, master.
You can't give up a lowdown trade
That your ancestors began;
A butcher butchers things, and yet
He's the tenderest-hearted man.
Chief. Go on. Go on.
Fisherman. Well, one day I was cutting up a carp. In its maw I see this ring with the magnificent great gem. And then I was just trying to sell it here when you kind gentlemen grabbed me. That is the only way I got it. Now kill me, or find fault with me.
Chief (smelling the ring). There is no doubt about it, Januka. It has been in a fish's maw. It has the real perfume of raw meat. Now we have to find out how he got it. We must go to the palace.