In 1794 a poor French refugee, forced to flee from his homeland to escape the tyranny of the French Revolution, was staying in the village of Westphalia, Germany. It was in the depth of winter, and a most severe one. He was in desperate need of firewood and happened to meet an individual in the street with a load of such wood. Shivering, the refugee earnestly asked the man for how much would he sell his wood. The townsman, however, did not answer him at once. Eyeing him carefully, he quickly deduced that this potential customer was clearly a stranger, and one who had obviously fallen into hard times which were all the more difficult from the bitter cold. Understanding all of this, and far from having any feelings of charity or even of plain decency, the cruel man took advantage of the stranger’s position. He put an enormous price on the wood, demanding three pounds (which is about sixty francs, although the wood was worth no more than eight or ten). The poor Frenchman had no choice and the purchased the goods.

The deal thus made and the wood delivered, the townsman went to enjoy his breakfast at an inn. Quite pleased with himself, he boastfully spoke of his ‘bargain’ with the miserable stranger, selling something to him for six times its true worth.

“It was all fair!” he added, laughing, “the wood belonged to me. I can charge what I like.”

When he finished with his breakfast, the gleeful man asked the innkeeper for his bill.

The innkeeper, though, had been listening with disgust to the thieving man’s tale. Calm and cool, the innkeeper told his customer that he owed him three pounds for the breakfast. The wood-seller was stunned.

“What!?” he cried, “Three pounds for a piece of bread and cheese, and two glasses of beer?”

“Yes, sir,” the innkeeper replied firmly, “what you took was my property, and I have a right to put what price I please upon it.” He held back an amused smile at the wood-seller’s irate face. “So,” he continued calmly, “if you are not willing to pay my demand, then let us go before a magistrate.”

“That is just what I want!” the angry man responded. “Let us go at once.”

When the magistrate had heard the two stories, he did not hesitate to rule in favor of the innkeeper, and he ordered the hard-hearted wood-seller to pay the sixty francs demanded.

As soon as the good innkeeper received the money, he kept for himself eight francs which paid for the breakfast. Then, with the other fifty-two francs, the kind man sought out the Frenchman who had been the victim of the shameful bargain, and returned to him his stolen money.