On Wednesday, April 21, 1999 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-5, te...@spainhour.com wrote:
> When I was a child (I'm 44 now), I read a series of children's books about a
> wise Chinese judge and some of the cases that were brought to him. Now I
> cannot remember the judge's name and cannot locate the books. Let me tell
> you one of the stories so you'll understand how intriguing the books were,
> and why I'm so eager to rediscover them.
> A poor, nearly penniless student lives in a tiny apartment over a fish shop.
> One of his student friends asks him how he can bear to be so poor and only
> eat rice for dinner each evening. He confides that he waits until the owner
> of the fish shop cooks his fish each evening, and then the student eats his
> rice along with the odor of the fish and it makes the rice taste better. The
> shop owner overhears the conversation and is livid because the student is
> stealing his smells without paying for them! He sues him in court for
> stealing his smells. The wise judge is presiding and he agrees that the
> student received something of value without paying for it. He tells the
> student he will have to pay and asks the student to count out all the money
> he has from one hand to the other so the court will be advised of his means.
> The student complies. Then the judge tells the student to put away his
> money, and turns to the shop owner and tells him he has been paid. The shop
> owner is confused and points out that he has received no money. The wise
> judge tells him that the price of the smell of fish is the sound of money.
> Any help in finding these books would be much appreciated!
> Tekky
> '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`
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Was it the The Case of the Marble Monster? The stories were about the judge Ooka the Great.