Marketplace

On my way back to the gate I passed an open shop, where dealers in beads from Bethlehem, and relics from the Holy Sepulchre, and ornaments of olive-wood and mother-of-pearl, were busily engaged vending their wares. They never think of rising when a customer appears. They sit high on a shelf of their raised stall, and quietly reach for anything that may be asked for. (Source: Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem, pp. vi, ix.)

A favourite site for a bivouac is the open space just within the Jaffa Gate; but pilgrims and wayfarers who select this spot must move at a very early hour in the morning, to make way for the peasants who come from the neighbouring villages with daily supplies of fruit, vegetables, and poultry for Jerusalem.  . . . Soon the place is crowded, and the bustle of buying and selling begins. No purchase is effected without a considerable amount of contention. The seller does not usually price the goods, but waits for an offer. The first offer is always absurdly low. The seller then names an exorbitantly high price. For instance, a dignified-looking shopkeeper, wearing a white turban, will offer three piastres for a large basket full of tomatoes. The girl in charge answers indignantly, "I will carry my tomatoes back to Siloam rather than take less than fifteen!" - "O thou most greedy of the greedy, I will give no more than six!" - "O possessor of a tightly closed hand, I will not take less than twelve! How shall I buy the rice for my mother if I give away the fruits of her garden?" Finally she obtains seven and a half piastres for her tomatoes, and goes away perfectly satisfied, having argued with pertinacity for the half piastre. (Source: Picturesque Palestine, vol. 1, pp. 32, 34.)