anchor: The merchants at first tried the soft sell, offering cloth, wine, and necklaces for ivory and gold, but the traders of Calicut were insulted at being taken for  natives  who could be bought with cheap hooch and glass baubles.
positive: The traders of Calicut were offended by the merchants' raw deals.
negative: The merchants fooled the traders of Calicut by trading them cloth, wine, and necklaces in exchange for gold.