正文
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.
從前，有個窮遊客在大樹下面歇腳，吃著隨身帶來的熟米飯。幾米之外，路邊有個小商店，裡面有個女人在炸魚，賣給買得起的遊客吃。
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.
這個女人盯上了窮遊客，他剛吃完米飯，起身要走，女人就大喊你吃了我的炸魚還沒給錢呢！” “我可沒吃一口炸魚！”他說。
“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!”
“可大家都看見了，你是就著我炸魚的香味兒吃的米飯。”女人說，“要不是聞到我這魚香，你的飯能吃得那麼香？”
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.
很快，人們圍攏上來，儘管大家支持窮遊客，可他們不能否認風是從商店裡刮到他吃飯的地方的，風確實有把炸魚味兒刮到他鼻子裡。
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 that it carried the smell of her fried fish to his nose while he was eating, so he must pay for it.”
最後，女人帶窮遊客去見法官，法官說：“這女人說遊客是就著炸魚味兒吃的飯。遊客也同意說風是從商店裡刮到他吃米飯的地方的，吃飯的時候，風是有把炸魚味兒刮到他鼻子裡的。所以，遊客必須付錢。”
“Well, how much does your fried fish cost?” the judge asked the woman. “Twenty-five cents a plate,” she replied.
“那麼，你的炸魚賣多少錢？”法官問。 “二十五美分一盤兒。”女人回答。
“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.”
“走，我們一起到外面去。”法官說，“遊客要舉起一枚二十五美分的硬幣，讓影子落到這女人的手上。炸魚味兒就值二十五美分的影子。”
炸魚和薯條(Fish and chips)是如今風靡全球快餐店的美食。它起源於英國。該食品選用土豆和魚這兩種英國最便宜的食材，炸好之後裝在紙質包裝裡，可邊走邊吃，非常適合生活節奏快的上班族，因而大受歡迎。英國該行業甚至有一個公會叫作“National Federation of Fish Fries”(全國炸魚聯合會)。之後，炸魚和薯條被推廣至英聯邦國家，如今在全美也大行其道。
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