ABSTRACT
The dyer was a trickster and a liar, a most powerful rogue; you might have said that his temples were hewn out of the solid rock, or carved from the lintel of a synagogue. He was not ashamed of any dirty trick he played on people. He made it a habit that whenever anybody gave him a piece of cloth to dye he would demand payment first, pretending he needed that to buy the materials for dyeing with. So the customer would pay him in advance; and as soon as he took the money he would spend it on food and drink. Then he would sell the cloth, and spend the proceeds of that on eating and drinking and so forth. Of course he never ate nor drank anything but the finest food and the choicest and most potent wines. Then when the owner of the cloth returned-
‘Come tomorrow,’ he would say. ‘Before sunrise. You’ll find your things dyed by then.’
