The boy had run himself both warm and tired.  He thought that now he had seen the most remarkable things, and therefore he began to walk more leisurely.  The street which he had turned into now was surely the one where the inhabitants purchased their fine clothing.  He saw crowds of people standing before the little stalls where the merchants spread brocades, stiff satins, heavy gold cloth, shimmery velvet, delicate veiling, and laces as sheer as a spider’s web.

Before, when the boy ran so fast, no one had paid any attention to him.  The people must have thought that it was only a little gray rat that darted by them.  But now, when he walked down the street, very slowly, one of the salesmen caught sight of him, and began to beckon to him.

At first the boy was uneasy and wanted to hurry out of the way, but the salesman only beckoned and smiled, and spread out on the counter a lovely piece of satin damask as if he wanted to tempt him.

The boy shook his head.  “I will never be so rich that I can buy even a metre of that cloth,” thought he.

But now they had caught sight of him in every stall, all along the street.  Wherever he looked stood a salesman and beckoned to him.  They left their costly wares, and thought only of him.  He saw how they hurried into the most hidden corner of the stall to fetch the best that they had to sell, and how their hands trembled with eagerness and haste as they laid it upon the counter.

When the boy continued to go on, one of the merchants jumped over the counter, caught hold of him, and spread before him silver cloth and woven tapestries, which shone with brilliant colours.

The boy couldn’t do anything but laugh at him.  The salesman certainly must understand that a poor little creature like him couldn’t buy such things.  He stood still and held out his two empty hands, so they would understand that he had nothing and let him go in peace.

But the merchant raised a finger and nodded and pushed the whole pile of beautiful things over to him.

“Can he mean that he will sell all this for a gold piece?” wondered the boy.

The merchant brought out a tiny worn and poor coin—­the smallest that one could see—­and showed it to him.  And he was so eager to sell that he increased his pile with a pair of large, heavy, silver goblets.

Then the boy began to dig down in his pockets.  He knew, of course, that he didn’t possess a single coin, but he couldn’t help feeling for it.

All the other merchants stood still and tried to see how the sale would come off, and when they observed that the boy began to search in his pockets, they flung themselves over the counters, filled their hands full of gold and silver ornaments, and offered them to him.  And they all showed him that what they asked in payment was just one little penny.

But the boy turned both vest and breeches pockets inside out, so they should see that he owned nothing.  Then tears filled the eyes of all these regal merchants, who were so much richer than he.  At last he was moved because they looked so distressed, and he pondered if he could not in some way help them.  And then he happened to think of the rusty coin, which he had but lately seen on the strand.