The price is one bump

[meliss]

Hi, I find it a bit contradictional: at first the narrator said, that the army gave them horses in exchange for the extension of enlistment, and later he said he "got her for half". What do you think?
"In our absence downvalley, Alexander has discharged with honor three cavalry squadrons of Thessaly, 660 men. ... Their mounts go up for sale. We’re all too broke to buy one, of course. The army steps in; it will pick up the tariff. The price is one bump: eighteen months’ extension of enlistment." They accepted and "We cross the Oxus as mounted infantry." But one paragraph later we read: "I love my horse. ... She cost three silver talents when her original rider acquired her in Media. I got her for half. A steal." (The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield)

 

[Tarheel]

He got the horse for half of what the original rider paid for it.

 

[probus]

In other words he paid the equivalent of one and a half silver talents for his mare.

 

[meliss]

I can count, thank you. My question was about why should he pay anything whereas the army gave a horse to him in exchange for the extension of enlistment.

 

[PeterCW]

We would need to read much more to give an accurate answer.

One possibility is that that it is a simple continuity error. Written works tend to go through several revisions with the author adding new ideas. I know from experience that it is easy to miss references that have become redundant during editing

 

[probus]

What do you mean by contractional?

 

[meliss]

What do you mean by contractional?

Oh mine! It should be contradictional, sorry!