my trial 练习之18

来源: 2011-09-20 15:00:19 [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读:

Wonderful arbitration

There was a chimney cleaner who was too poor to afford him a lunch.  At a sweltering noon, he came to a halt in front of a restaurant, standing there sniffing the nice smell of food. The restaurant owner asked him leave several times but he hated to part with the delicious smell though he could not buy it. At last, the chef came out and caught the chimney cleaner, importunating a half price of a lunch for he enjoyed the smell of the meal, otherwise the poor cleaner could not be set free. The poor man said neither could he afford nor had he willing to pay for it, and he asked to have a onlooker to judge if the charging was fair.

At this moment, a policeman passed by and the dispute came to him. The police told the poor cleaner, “Since one of your organs enjoyed the delicious smell of the meal this man cooked, it is fair for you to pay him; so now it is your turn to make please one of his organs, which looks more difficult to be satisfied than appetite (stomach). How much money do you have in pocket?

“Only two pennies in total, I need them for bread, Sir.”

“It doesn’t matter”, said the police, “hold your pennies in both hands. Now rock them to make loud rattling.”

So did the chimney cleaner. Then the police turned to the chef. “Sir, I believe now he has paid you. The smell of your dish pleased his nose and the sound of his coins pleased your ears”.

This arbitration satisfied other bystanders. Though the chef was not happy, this was the only reward he could get.