Ma’an bin Zaidah goes hunting and meets a Bedouin who, not realizing who he's talking to, says he wants to sell cucumbers to the Emir Ma’an bin Zaidah. Ma’an inquires what price the Bedouin will ask. The Bedouin says a thousand dinars, then five hundred dinars, steadily going down.
Ma'an returns to the palace, and meets the Bedouin once more. This time Ma'an is dressed as Emir, and the man doesn't recognize him and they begin to haggle as before, making the price lower and lower. When they get to thirty dinars, Ma'an laughs and the man recognizes him. However, Ma'an pays him the sum of all the amounts they've mentioned.