The Baker and the Smell

In a city called Uzbekistan, there was a street where two neighbors lived side by side.

One was a rich baker named Bawarchi. He had a big bakery where he made delicious cakes, bread, and all sorts of wonderful things. Despite his wealth and success, Bawarchi was never happy. He was very stingy, never liked to spend money, and was always trying to save more. He was mean to people and constantly worried about his business.

His neighbor was a man named Gareeb. Gareeb was very poor and lived in a shabby little house, but he was always happy. He didn't have much, but he remained cheerful every single day.

This puzzled Bawarchi greatly. He would think, "Why is this person so happy? I have so much money, a big house, and a big bakery, but I'm never happy. Every morning I see him on his balcony, and he's always smiling. Meanwhile, I'm always worried—about my business, about my workers not working hard enough, about my customers not paying on time. I'm so rich, yet I'm miserable. But this guy is always happy. Why?"

Every morning, Bawarchi would bake delicious cakes and bread, and the wonderful aroma would fill the air.

One day, he saw Gareeb sitting on his balcony, smiling happily and sipping his tea. Bawarchi went over and asked, "What are you doing?"

Gareeb replied, "Every morning you bake bread and cakes, and they smell so delicious. I can't afford anything from your bakery, so I just smell the wonderful aroma that comes from your shop, and it makes me very, very happy."

"Really?" Bawarchi said. "So every morning you sit here, have your tea, and smell all the nice aroma coming from my bakery?"

"Yes," Gareeb said with a smile.

"I see," Bawarchi said, and he went back inside.

But then Bawarchi started thinking, "Maybe this guy Gareeb is so happy because he's been smelling all the nice aromas from my bakery for free! For all these years, I've been giving him this wonderful smell, and he's getting it without paying anything. That's why he's so happy!"

This was complete rubbish, of course. Gareeb was simply a happy person by nature. But Bawarchi became very jealous.

"I do all the hard work—the kneading, the dough, the baking, adding all the spices—and he gets to enjoy the smell for free while I remain unhappy. This isn't fair! I should charge him for the smell!"

So Bawarchi went to Gareeb and said, "All these years you've been happy because you've been smelling my bakery for free. You have to pay me money for the smell."

Gareeb was shocked. "Are you serious? Are you silly or what? Who pays for smell? I didn't eat anything from your bakery, and I didn't ask you for the smell. The smell just comes from your bakery to my house naturally. I'm just smelling it."

"No, no, no," Bawarchi insisted. "If you're smelling the nice aroma from my bakery, you have to pay for it."

"I have no money to pay you, my friend," Gareeb said. "I really like the smell, but I didn't ask for it. It just comes my way, so I smell it. Even if it were a bad smell, I would have no choice but to smell it. Now it happens to be a good smell, so I enjoy it. But I'm not going to pay you for it—firstly because I don't have money, and secondly because I don't have to pay for something I didn't ask for."

"You have to pay for it!" Bawarchi insisted. "I'm taking you to the police!"

So Bawarchi went and filed a complaint with the police.

The police officer said, "Are you crazy? Who pays for smell? Are you mad?"

"This person must pay for the smell!" Bawarchi insisted.

"I'm going to give you one whack and throw you out of here," the police officer said.

But Bawarchi wouldn't give up. "You're the police! You have to file a complaint!" He created such a ruckus that finally the police said, "Fine, we have to take this to the judge."

So they went to Birbal, the wise judge.

When they arrived at the courthouse, the whole village of Uzbekistan came to watch. Everyone thought that the moment Birbal heard this ridiculous case, he would shoo Bawarchi away and say, "This is such a foolish case! Why are you wasting my time?"

But to everyone's surprise, Birbal listened carefully and said, "This is an interesting case. I want to hear both sides."

People were shocked that Birbal was actually taking this seriously.

Birbal turned to Gareeb and asked, "How much money do you have in all your savings?"

"I only have five gold coins," Gareeb said. "That's all the savings I have."

"You must bring those five gold coins tomorrow," Birbal said. "I will hear the case and give my judgment."

"No, no, no, Birbal!" Gareeb protested.

"I must be fair to both parties," Birbal said firmly. "You must bring the gold coins."

Gareeb had no choice. Those five gold coins were his only savings. If he had to give them away, he would have no food to eat the next day. But he had to obey Birbal.

The next day, Gareeb brought his five gold coins to the court.

Birbal said, "Okay, Bawarchi, tell me what happened."

Bawarchi explained, "I've been making all these cakes and pastries with beautiful smells. I spend money on spices and put them in my bakery, and he's been smelling them for free! He's always happy, and I'm always miserable. He's happy because of all the smell I give him for free."

Then Birbal turned to Gareeb. "Tell me your side."

"I never asked for the smell," Gareeb said. "The smell just comes my way naturally."

"But does the smell make you happy?" Birbal asked.

"Yes," Gareeb admitted. "The smell makes me happy. Every morning I smell it, and it makes me happy for the whole day."

Birbal thought for a moment, then said, "Listen, Gareeb. Bawarchi is producing the smell, and you have been enjoying it all these years. So you have to pay for it."

Everyone was shocked. How could Birbal give such an unfair judgment? Birbal was known to be a very fair person. This seemed so wrong!

"Now take out the five gold coins," Birbal said.

Gareeb's heart sank. He thought Birbal was going to make him give the coins to Bawarchi.

But then Birbal said, "Now take the five gold coins and start shaking them."

Gareeb shook the coins, and they clinked and clanked against each other, making a beautiful jingling sound.

Bawarchi's eyes lit up. He started salivating as he heard the sound of the money clinking. The sound of gold made him very happy.

"Stop," Birbal said.

Then he turned to Bawarchi. "Did the sound of those coins banging against each other make you happy?"

"Yes, yes, Birbal!" Bawarchi said eagerly. "It made me very happy! The sound of the money—oh, wow!"

Birbal smiled. "Now the case is settled. He smelled your bakery. You heard the sound of his money. He can keep his money, and you can both go back. That is the end of the case."

Everyone cheered and clapped. That is how Birbal was fair to both parties with his wisdom and cleverness.

And that's the story.