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. 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.
“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!”
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.
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.”
“Well, how much does your fried fish cost?” the judge asked the woman.
“Twenty-five cents a plate,” she replied.
“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.”
从前，有个穷游客在大树下面歇脚，吃着随身带来的熟米饭。几米之外，路边有个小商店，里面有个女人在炸鱼，卖给买得起的游客吃。这个女人盯上了穷游客，他刚吃完米饭，起身要走，女人就大喊：“你吃了我的炸鱼还没给钱呢！”
“我可没吃一口炸鱼！”他说。
“可大家都看见了，你是就着我炸鱼的香味儿吃的米饭。”女人说，“要不是闻到我这鱼香，你的饭能吃得那么香？”
很快，人们围拢上来，尽管大家支持穷游客，可他们不能否认风是从商店里刮到他吃饭的地方的，风确实有把炸鱼味儿刮到他鼻子里。
最后，女人带穷游客去见法官，法官说：“这女人说游客是就着炸鱼味儿吃的饭。游客也同意说风是从商店里刮到他吃米饭的地方的，吃饭的时候，风是有把炸鱼味儿刮到他鼻子里的。所以，游客必须付钱。”
“那么，你的炸鱼卖多少钱？”法官问。
“二十五美分一盘儿。”女人回答。
“走，我们一起到外面去。”法官说，“游客要举起一枚二十五美分的硬币，让影子落到这女人的手上。炸鱼味儿就值二十五美分的影子。”
炸鱼和薯条(Fish and chips)是如今风靡全球快餐店的美食。它起源于英国。该食品选用土豆和鱼这两种英国最便宜的食材，炸好之后装在纸质包装里，可边走边吃，非常适合生活节奏快的上班族，因而大受欢迎。英国该行业甚至有一个公会叫作“National Federation of Fish Fries”(全国炸鱼联合会)。之后，炸鱼和薯条被推广至英联邦国家，如今在全美也大行其道。