Theme: Honesty
The cheese’s case
Once, in a city in the countryside, which had few stores
and almost everyone knew each other, the grocery store
owner went look after the police chief to file a
complaint against the cheese seller:
– He sold me a cheese saying that the cheese weighed 1
kg. I paid and went home. Arriving there, I weighed the
cheese and to my surprise it weighed less than 1 kg. The
cheese seller cheated and charged more than he should
have! He harmed me and it can't stay that way! - Said
the grocer angrily.
The sheriff then went to the cheese seller's small shop
and told him what had happened and the need to
investigate his shop and the way he weighed the cheeses.
The owner of the cheese shop was surprised by the
accusation and went on to explain:
– My electronic scale broke and I took it in for repair.
As I couldn't do without a scale and the technician said
it would take a few days to fix it, he himself lent me
this old manual scale, which I've been using for two
days.
The balance has two pans. In one of them I put a weight
of 1 kg and in the other I put my cheese. If the plates
are balanced, that is, if none of the plates are up or
down, I know my cheese weighs 1 kg too. As I was not
used to using this scale, I did not have a weight of 1
kg. So, I went to the grocery store and bought a kilo of
rice and I've been using that as a measure to gauge the
weight of the cheeses.
The agent observed the scale and the small bag
containing the grains of rice, which had the grocery
store label and the weight of 1 kg.
Leaving the cheese store, the officer already suspected
what had happened and, to be sure, he went to the
grocery store, which was a much bigger store than the
cheese store, where various types of food were sold,
such as rice, beans, flour, cornmeal, corn, as well as
fruits, vegetables and even meats. All these products
were weighed according to the order quantity and
delivered to the customer.
The grocery store owner greeted the sheriff with a
smile, thinking he was going to get some money back, due
to having paid more for the cheese he bought. But soon
he realized that the situation had been reversed and the
deputy came to investigate his store and the way he
weighed his products.
The grocery store had not one, but three electronic
scales. The delegate apprehended the three and ordered
the store to be closed until the case was clarified.
The scales were taken to be evaluated and it was proven
that the three machines were tampered with and, even
weighing smaller amounts, always showed a greater
weight. Consequently, the cheese seller bought 1 kg of
rice, but received less than that. And so, the cheeses
sold by him were also less than 1 kg.
The sheriff gave a warning to the cheese retailer. He
said that he would have to be more careful going forward
and that he should also return money to all the
customers who had bought cheese in those two days. The
grocer received a huge fine. And he stayed several days
with his trade closed, until the scales were fixed to
show the real weight of the food.
All the customers, when they found out what the grocer
was doing, were angry and many didn't even want to buy
anything else there. The owner of the market suffered a
huge financial loss. Perhaps he lost even more money
than he had made deceiving customers. Also, he felt very
embarrassed when he met the cheese seller.
It was a very annoying event for everyone, especially to
the grocer, who wanted to accuse the cheese seller, when
he himself was the culprit. But since God always brings
good out of evil, the grocer learned a good lesson. He
never changed the weight of the scales again, nor did he
do anything to deceive his customers. On the contrary,
he became honest and even kind to his customers. And,
little by little, he regained everyone's friendship and
trust.
It is true that it took a few years for this to happen,
but the important thing is that it ended well.
(Adapted from a popular story.)
Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com
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