Saying, “Why are you asking for them at my hands? If there are none the boys will have eaten them,” the Gama-Mahagē pushed against the Gamarāla.
Then the Gamarāla said, “Now I shall not remind you again. You do not make and give me the food I tell you about.” Having said, “It is good,” and thinking, “Having pounded and taken about half a quart of rice, and given it at a place outside, and got the cakes fried, I must eat them,” pounding the rice he took it away.
As he was going he saw a poor house. Having seen it the Gamarāla thought, “Should I give it at this house, these persons because they are poor will take the rice, and I shall not be able to eat cakes properly.” So having gone to a tiled house near it, and given a little rice, he said, “Make and give me five cakes out of this, please.”
The people of the house replied, “It is good,” and taking a little of the rice fried some cakes. The woman who fried them then looked into the account. “For the trouble of pounding the rice and grinding it into flour, I want ten cakes,” she said. “Also for the oil and coconuts I want ten cakes, and for going for firewood, and for the trouble of frying the cakes, I want ten cakes.” So that on the whole account for cooking the cakes it was made out that the Gamarāla must give five cakes.
Next day the Gamarāla, having eaten nothing at home, came to eat the cakes. Having sat down, “Where are the cakes?” he asked.
Then the woman who fried the cakes said, “Gamarāla, from the whole of the rice I fried twenty-five cakes. For pounding the rice and grinding it into flour I took ten cakes. For the oil and coconuts I took ten cakes. For going for firewood, and for the trouble of frying the cakes ten more having gone, still the Gamarāla must bring and give me five cakes.”
Then the Gamarāla thought, “Aḍā! What a cake eating is this that has happened to me!”
After thinking thus, having gone outside and walked along, and come to that poor house, he sat down. As he was thinking about it that poor man asked, “What is it, Gamarāla, that you are thinking about in that way?”
The Gamarāla said, “The manner in which they fried and gave me cakes at that house,” and he told him about it.
Then the man of that poor house said to the Gamarāla, “Since we are poor you did not give the rice to us. If he had given it to us wouldn’t the Gamarāla have been well able to eat cakes? The Gamarāla having given us the rice would have had cakes to eat, and still five cakes to give for that debt.