Wisdom story: The case of the stolen smell

Long ago, in a faraway city, there lived a baker who was so stingy that he wouldn’t even give stale bread crumbs to the birds. Right next to the baker and his bakery lived a kind man who was always glad to share the little he had with anyone in need. He cared more about making friends than he did about making money. The greedy baker was jealous of his cheerful neighbor and asked himself many times, “How can he who has so little be so happy?” One day the baker found out about one of the neighbor’s pleasures that made the baker furious. You see every morning the smell of cinnamon buns and sweet rolls drifted out of the bakery and the wind carried the wonderful aroma right toward the neighbor’s house. As the poor neighbor sat on his porch each morning eating stale bread, the sweet smell filled the air. He took a deep breath and sighed with happiness and ate his stale bread and imagined he was eating freshly baked sweet rolls. As soon as the baker found out what the neighbor was doing he thought, “The smell from my baked goods makes his stale bread taste delicious. That’s not fair. He should have to pay for that.” After seeing this happen many times, the baker went to his neighbor’s house and handed him a bill totaling ten coins for the previous month. The neighbor was shocked and couldn’t say anything as he was not sure if this was a joke or not. The baker continued, “That’s right! you pay nothing and yet every day you steal the smell of my baked goods! Either you pay the monthly fee or I will take you to court for the stolen smell.”

The neighbor still shocked finally managed to respond to the baker’s demand with a laugh, “You mean you want me to pay ten coins as a smelling fee? Every month?” “Yes! From now on, you will not cheat me from what I’m owed,” replied the baker. Soon the word of the baker’s demand spread around the city, and everyone laughed at the idea of a stolen smell. They even started going past the bakery in the morning to see what was so special about the smell that the baker had the audacity to charge ten coins per month. As time passed the baker hadn’t received any payment and had decided to take his case to court. To everyone’s relief, the judge assigned to the case was well known for being wise and fair. Everyone was sure that the judge would dismiss the case. After all, how could anyone steal a smell, be it a good one or a bad one? But to their surprise, the judge accepted the case and explained, “It’s my duty to listen to what the baker has to say. I order both the baker and his neighbor to come to court tomorrow.” The judge told the neighbor that he should bring five gold coins with him. When the kind man heard this, he worried that he would have to hand over the little money he had to the greedy baker. The baker was delighted with the news. He grinned as he thought of his pockets full of his neighbor’s gold coins.

The next day, the baker and the neighbor arrived at the crowded court. Everyone from the town was there as they were puzzled by the judge’s actions and came to see what the judge would do. They could not believe that he might make the kind man pay for a smell, and if he would have to pay does that mean that everyone else would also have to pay? When the judge walked in, the courtroom fell silent. First, he listened to the baker’s complaint. Then he turned to the neighbor and asked, “Is it true that you have enjoyed the smell of this man’s baked good every day for many years?” “Yes, your honor! I must confess that is true,” admitted the neighbor. Then the judge asked each of them if they have anything more to add and when they were both finished with their statements the judge thought for a while. Finally, he declared, “This is truly a case of a stolen smell and such it will go down in history for everyone to learn from it. A smell has been stolen, and no one can deny that. Since stealing is a crime, the neighbor must be punished!” The kind man protested, “But your honor…” “Order in the court,” bellowed the judge. He then turned to the neighbor and asked, “Did you bring the coins I told you to bring?” “Yes, your honor.” sadly replied the neighbor. “Take the five gold pieces from your pocket!” demanded the judge.” After the neighbor did so, the judge continued, “Now, drop the coins from one hand to the other! And do this ten times” The neighbor passed the gold coins back and forth between his hands.

When the neighbor was done the judge turned to the baker and asked, “Did you hear the jingle of the gold coins?” Yes, I did!” said the baker with a greedy grin. “Did you like the sound?” asked the judge. “Yes, it is a wonderful sound. It is the payment I believe I deserve,” cried the baker. The baker began to move toward his neighbor to grab the money. “Wait!” called the judge, “You have already received fair payment. Your neighbor was guilty of stealing the smell of your baked goods. You have been paid by hearing the sound of his money. This case is dismissed,” said the judge. Laughter filled the courtroom as the people marveled at the judge’s cleverness. The baker hung his head as even he saw how foolish and greedy he had been, and now the whole town knew. From then on when someone made a foolish claim or threat people just shrugged and said, “Oh, it’s another case of the STOLEN SMELL!”