Here is a traditional story told in different ways in different countries. We would like to think that, after the judgment is given, the judge offers the poor man a good meal.

It happened once upon a time that a poor man came wandering into the square of a small village on market day. This man had only the clothes he stood up in, so why, you might ask, would he come to a market? Because he was also hungry, and the sight and the smells of the food there drew him like a magnet.

In one corner of the square, a butcher was roasting meat over a bed of glowing charcoal. Juices bubbling from the meat were dripping down and sizzling on the coals, sending up clouds of fragrant smoke that for a hungry man were most intoxicating. The poor msn edged as close as he could to the meat, and then, taking from his pocket an old, dried crust of bread, held it in the smoke, hoping to catch a little of the flavour.

But the butcher – a shrewd man of business, who knew that you don’t get rich from being generous to fools – saw what he was doing, and said, “You have to pay for that! You owe me thirty cents!”

“How can I owe you anything?” demanded the poor man. “I haven’t taken anything from you!” “You took what you didn’t pay for,” retorted the other, “the aroma of my roasting meat!” And they began to argue.

Soon, of course, most of the village had joined in, some siding with the poor man, some with the butcher. In the end, the argument became so heated that the whole crowd went together to the local judge, who was sitting in a tea house nearby with some friends.

The judge listened carefully to the stories, the complaint of the butcher and the innocent denial of the poor man, and then he asked the poor man, “Do you have any money?” Reluctantly, the poor man searched everywhere and finally pulled from one pocket a single coin. This the judge took and held up so all could see it.

“Look,” he said to the butcher. “You want him to pay thirty cents for the smell of your meat. And this coin is worth ten cents.” Then he knocked the coin on the table three times.

“For the smell of your meat,” the judge said, “you have been paid with the sound of money. Now go.” And he returned the coin to the poor man.