Rabbi Abraham b. Ezra wanted to know who was his equal in the world, and was told Maimonides. He went to the town, entered a garden, ate cucumbers, and left a knife there. He then knocked at the door of Maimonides’s house, but the servants told him that he was out. He answered, “I see him in the house, preparing a recipe for the king.” Maimonides replied, telling him of the cucumbers and the knife left in the garden but that it was impossible to see him then. Ben Ezra returned later and was received by Maimonides. He asked Maimonides to say that he was his brother. The king invited both to court, and asked Ben Ezra his business. He replied that his business was to buy pearls. A poor Jew brought three pearls for sale. Ben Ezra claimed them as his own, but the Jew protested. They brought the dispute before the King, who decided that the pearls belonged to him who knew their quality. The poor
Jew did not know their quality but Ben Ezra said that the white pearl, if crushed and swallowed by an old man, would rejuvenate him, the red pearl, if shown by the king to a rebellious town, would bring about its subjection, the green one would reveal hidden treasures. They were tested and found true. Ben Ezra then owned that the pearls really belonged to the other man, and that he had raised the dispute in order to make the king buy them at a good price.