Once upon a time, a poor traveler stopped under a tree to eat the boiled rice, which he had brought with him. A few meters 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, and when he finished his food and began to go, she shouted,"You have not paid me for the fried fish!"

"But I have not had any fried fish!" he said.

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

Soon a crowd collected, and although they supported the poor traveler, they had admitted 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.

At last, the woman took the poor traveler to a judge, who said,"the woman says that the traveler ate his meal with the smell of her fried fish. The traveler agrees that the wind was blowing from the woman's shop to the place where he ate his rice and vegetables and that it carried the smell of her fried fish to his nose while he was eating, so he must pay for it."

"Well, how much does your fried fish cost?" the judge asked the woman.

"Twenty-five cents a plate." she replied.

"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 fried fish is the shadow of twenty-five cents. "

从前，有一个贫穷的旅行者停在一棵树下，吃起了自己随身携带的现成米饭。在离他几米远的地方有一家路边小店，一个女人正在那里煎鱼，卖给能买得起的过往行人。这女人目不转睛的盯着这个贫穷的旅行者。当他吃完饭正准备继续赶路时，她大声喊道：“你还没有付给我煎鱼的钱呢！”

“可我没吃什么煎鱼啊！”他说。

“可人人都能看见你就着我的煎鱼的气味吃了米饭。”那女人争辩说，“你要是不闻我的煎鱼味，你的饭决不会那样可口。”

不一会儿，围过来一群人。尽管他们都支持那个可怜的旅行者，但他们都承认风是从小店那边吹到了他吃饭的那个地方，并将煎鱼的气味吹到了他那里。

最后，那女人把可怜的旅行者带到了法官那里，法官说：“这女人说旅行者是就着她的煎鱼味吃的饭。旅行者同意风是从小店那边吹到了他吃饭的那个地方，而且他吃饭时风将煎鱼的气味吹到了他的鼻子里，所以他必须付煎鱼的钱。”

“那么，你的煎鱼值多少钱？”法官问那女人。

“一盘25美分。”她回答说。

“那一块儿到外面去。”法官说，“旅行者必须在那里举起25美分，这样钱的影子落在了这女人的手上。煎鱼的气味的价钱就是25美分的影子。”