Ho Chin wisdom was well known over the Province of the Far North. People would come long distances for him to judge their quarrels. One day there came to him two people. One owned an inn, the other was a poor man whose family lived in a room above the inn. The family very poor - all they could afford to eat was a bowl of rice each day. The family knew a trick to make things seem better. In order to make their meal more appetising they sat by a window above the inn's kitchen (where the smell of the cooking was strongest) and they would pretend that their meagre bowl of rice was whatever was being cooked that day.
After some little time the innkeeper found out what they was doing and demanded that the man pay him for his dinners. "You only pay for rice but eat like Exarchs!" The man refused since he still had no money, and in any case only ate rice whatever it seemed like at the time.
Eventually they brought their dispute to Ho Chin. After some deliberation Ho Chin found in favour of the innkeeper and ordered the man to pay him. The man searched his pockets and brought out all his wealth, which amounted to but two clacks. Ho Chin ordered the man to shake the coins in his hands. Everybody listened to this sound. Ho Chin then explained that the debt had been paid in full.
Graeme
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