A poor traveler stopped under a tree to eat the boiled rice and vegetables which he had brought with him. A few yards away， there was a small shop by the side of the road where a woman was frying fish and selling it to travelers who were able to afford to pay for it. This woman watched the poor traveler carefully， and when he finished his food and began to go， she shouted rudely， \"You have not paid me for the fried fish!\"

\"But I have not had any fired fish.\" he said.

\"But everyone can see that you enjoyed the smell of my fried fish with your rice and vegetables，\" argued the woman， \"If you had not smelled the fish， your meal would not have been so pleasant!\"

Soon a crowd collected， although they supported the poor traveler， they had to admit that the wind was blowing from the shop to the place where he had eaten， and that it had carried the smell of the fried fish to him.

Finally， the woman took the poor traveler to a judge. The judge listened to the whole story and asked the woman， \"What does your fried fish cost?\"

\"Twenty-five cents a plate.\" She answered， delighted.

\"Then go outside together，\" said the judge. There the traveler must hold up a twenty-five-cent piece so that its shadow falls on the woman's hand. The price of the smell of a plate of fried fish is the shadow of twenty-five cents.

一個(gè)窮旅行者在一棵樹下停下來，吃起了隨身帶的煮米飯和菜。不遠(yuǎn)的路邊有一家小商店，一個(gè)女士在里面炸魚，她把炸魚賣給付得起錢的過路人。女士密切注視著這個(gè)窮旅行者，等他吃完了準(zhǔn)備要走的時(shí)候，女士粗魯?shù)爻蠛?，“你還沒付我炸魚錢呢?！?/p>

“可我沒吃你的炸魚啊。”他說。

“大家都看見你就著我炸魚的香味美美地吃了你的米飯和菜?！迸繝?zhēng)辯道，“如果沒聞著魚的香味，你能吃得這么香嗎?”

很快很多人湊了過來，盡管他們都護(hù)著貧窮的旅行者，他們卻不得不承認(rèn)風(fēng)是從商店刮向他吃飯的地方的，確實(shí)把炸魚的香味帶給了他。

最后，女士把這個(gè)窮旅行者帶到了法官那里。法官聽了事情的經(jīng)過后，問那位女土：“你的炸魚怎么賣?”

“一盤二十五美分?！彼靡獾卣f。

“那么請(qǐng)你們一起到外邊去吧?！狈ü僬f。在外邊，法官讓旅行者舉起一枚二十五美分的錢幣，這樣，錢幣的影子就可以投到女士的手上。那一盤炸魚香味的價(jià)錢就由二十五美分錢幣的影子來結(jié)清了。