The Right Price

When King Anoschirwan travelled through the land with his people, he came to a desolate area in the mountains where there weren’t even any pathetic little shepherd huts.

The King’s cook lamented, “Noble Sultan! I am here to please your palate. But in our canteen we don’t even have the littlest grain of salt. And without salt the food tastes terrible. Noble sultan, what should I do?”

Anoschirwan replied, “Go back to the nearest town. There you’ll find a merchant who has salt to sell. But be careful to pay the right price and not a bit more than is usual.”

“Noble sultan,” answered the cook, “In your chest you have more money than anyone else in the world. What difference would it make you if I pay a bit more for salt? That little bit won’t amount to much.”

The king looked at him seriously and answered, “It is precisely the little things that grow into the injustices of the world. Little things are like drops of water that eventually fill an entire lake. The great injustices of the world began as little things. So go and buy the salt at the right price.”

It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much all you lose is a little money that is all.

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.