The old man answered, “Excuse me, Sir, ( اعذرني سيدي / Affedersiniz efendim ), but you are wrong. My store is full of the most wonderful things of all. I sell words and I have many words. Would you like to buy some?”
The stranger said, “If they are good words, of course I want to buy them. But if they are not good words, I will not pay you!”
The old man said, “I only sell good words. If you are not happy, you do not have to pay me. But if the words help you, you must pay me $100 for what I tell you.”
“Then tell me some good words,” answered the stranger. “My life is hard. I need good words! But I will not pay you if your words are not good.”
The old man said, “Fine. For you, I have these words: Wisdom is better than riches.” ( الحكمة خير من الغنى / Bilgelik, zenginlikten daha iyidir.)
The stranger was shocked ( صدمت / şok ) and quickly left the store without paying the old man.
Maybe you think the stranger was shocked because the old man wanted $100 for 5 words? But that is not so. The stranger was shocked because he was very rich, but his life was truly hard ( صعب جدا / zor ). His life was hard because he was always worried ( قلق / endişelenmek) about his riches. Every day he worried that robbers ( لصوص / soyguncular) would come and steal ( لسرقة / çalmak ) his things. He worried that a fire would burn down ( احرقوا المنزل / kül olmak ) his house. He worried that drought ( جفاف / kuraklık ) would kill his animals. He had no joy ( مرح / sevinç ), just worry ( يقلق / endişelenmek).
On the way home, the stranger saw a poor man with a beautiful, big smile. The stranger said to the poor man, “How can you be so happy? You have nothing!”
The poor man said, “You are right. I do not have lots of things ( أشياء / bir şeyler), but I have many ideas ( الأفكار / fikirler ) and so I have all I need ( كل ما احتاجه / ihtiyaç duymak ). If my shirt gets a hole
( الفجوة / delik ) in it, I know how to sew ( لخياطة / dikmek) it. If someone steals my shoes, I know how to make new ones from banana leaves ( اوراق الموز /muz yaprağı ). If I need money for food, I know how to help others and they pay me for my help. I am very happy. I have all I need.”
The stranger gave the poor man $100 and said, “Thank you. Your wisdom has helped me.”
Then, quickly, the stranger went back to the word seller and gladly paid him $100 too.