The Smell of Food and the Sound of Money
- 2 minute read
- Ages 6-11
- Moral Stories
A poor man sat down outside a cookshop to eat his bread.
He had nothing to eat it with. But the shop behind him was cooking meat, and the smell came out over him while he ate, and it made the dry bread go down easily, and he was grateful for it.
The bill
The cook came out.
"You have been sitting in my smoke eating your bread."
"I have."
"My cooking made that bread taste of meat. You have had the benefit of my kitchen and you have not paid for it. I want the price of a meal."
The poor man said he had eaten nothing but his own bread.
The cook said the smell was his and had been paid for with his charcoal and his meat, and he would have the money or he would have the magistrate.
Neither of them would move, so they went to the court.
Nasruddin
Mulla Nasruddin was the judge that day.
He listened to the cook set out his case at length, and then to the poor man, and then to the cook again, because the cook had more to say.
Then he sat back.
"This is a serious matter," he said, "and the cook is right that a man should be paid for what he provides. Have you any money at all?"
"Eight coins," said the poor man. "It is everything I have."
"Give them to me."
The poor man handed over eight coins, and the cook stepped forward with his hand out.
The payment
Nasruddin did not give them to him.
He took the coins in his two cupped hands, held them up beside his ear, and shook them hard, so that they rang together, loudly, several times.
Then he put them back into the poor man's palm.
The cook stared at him.
"You have your payment," said Nasruddin. "He took the smell of your food and you have taken the sound of his money. Neither of you is any poorer. The case is closed."
Moral of the story
Nasruddin gives the cook exactly what he asked for, measured in the same coin. A claim that costs nothing is worth exactly nothing.
Questions and answers
- Why did the poor man sit outside the cookshop?
He had only dry bread to eat, and the smell of the cooking meat made it easier to eat.
- What did the cook demand?
The price of a full meal, arguing that his cooking had given the bread its flavour.
- Why did the case go to court?
Neither man would give way, so they went before a magistrate.
- What did Nasruddin do with the eight coins?
He shook them beside his ear so they rang, then gave them back to the poor man.
- What was his reasoning?
The man had taken the smell of the food, so the cook had been paid with the sound of the money. Neither had lost anything real.
Word meanings
- cookshop
- A small shop selling cooked food.
- magistrate
- A judge who hears smaller legal cases.
- charcoal
- Blackened wood used as fuel for cooking.
- cupped
- Held in hands curved like a bowl.
Questions about The Smell of Food and the Sound of Money
Who is Mulla Nasruddin?
A wise fool from Middle Eastern, Central Asian and South Asian folklore, known as Nasreddin Hodja in Turkey and Mulla Nasruddin across Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
What is the moral of this story?
That a claim to something worthless deserves payment in kind. Nasruddin does not refuse the cook; he pays him exactly what he is owed.
Are Nasruddin stories religious?
No. They are folk humour, though Nasruddin is usually shown as a village mulla, which is where the name comes from.
Why are these stories so widely told?
They are short, funny and translate easily. Versions of this one exist in dozens of languages.