Looking-Glass Ladyboy

No doubt, it would be horribly expensive, too, I thought, as, with a sense of despair, I took the price tag on the string that was tied around a space between the tendrils of leafy vines, turned it over in my trembling fingers, and, holding my breath, dreading to see the price, which, surely, would be--must be--beyond my means--and I beheld the sum for which the proprietor would agree to part with this wonderful masterpiece.

My eyes bulged. I frowned and looked again. Surely, I had misread the tag. No sane man could let such an item as this beautiful looking-glass go for the absurdly low price that was printed on the tag.

I read the numbers: $10.00.

Ten dollars!

Such a price was unbelievable.

It was impossible.

Surely--fear clutched my heart at the thought--there must be a mistake.

The proprietor had meant $100.00--perhaps even $1000.00--not a mere $10.00.

What if he the owner had made a mistake? I asked myself. He'd marked $10.00 on the tag, I reassured myself, and, if the mirror was tagged at $10.00, I'd make him accept $10.00 for it. If he hesitated, if he balked, if he refused to sell the looking-glass for such a ridiculous amount, I'd charge him with fraud, with false advertising.

I felt ashamed of myself. It wasn't like me, I told myself, to take advantage of another man's mistake, nor should I.

A shameful thought presented itself to me: You are not responsible for the incompetence of others.

No, I wasn't.

Was I?

Would it be taking advantage of a man--or an act of sheer stupidity on my part--to let such a good deal go, even if the bargain had been unintended on the seller's part? Hadn't there been a saying, among shopkeepers, since the days of ancient Rome, which was used to justify their own taking of advantage of buyers? Caveat Emptor: Let the Buyer Beware.

Well, by the same token, shouldn't I, a buyer, be willing to let the seller beware?

I was rationalizing. I know that. I knew it, then, too, at the time. But I wanted that mirror. Desperately. I had to have it, and I couldn't afford to pay $100.00 or $1000.00. Ten dollars, though, was affordable. It was very affordable.