Long long ago, there was a poor boy living in a small village.Every afternoon, he walked around the village selling his cooking oil to make money.He put the oil in a small wooden basin (盆).
After he sold out his oil, he was very tired.He thought that he would take a rest.
He left his wooden basin on a stone, put the money in it and fell asleep.About two hours later, he woke up.He looked into the basin and found that his money was gone.
He went to see a judge (法官) at once.The judge listened to the boy's story very carefully.She thought for a while and then said to the man in her office, "Go and get all the villagers here."
When all the villagers came, the judge said that everyone should put a coin into a pail (桶) of water.About half of the people put their coins into the water before a young man came up.He also put his coin into the water."Wait a minute," the judge said, "You stole the boy's money, didn't you?" The young man's face turned red."I'm sorry," he said, "But how did you know that?" The judge explained, "You see, after you put your coin into the water, some oil came up to the top.Your money must come from the oil basin.Am I right?"