The Smooth Passage

Merchants who exported rice and wheat from Shankhapur to the neighboring kingdom of Champeswar had to pay a tax of one rupee per cartload. However, if a merchant had five carts, one cart could enjoy free passage.

Vishnu Gupta, a grain merchant, was traveling with four carts. There were many carts in the queue ahead of him, and he knew it would take a long time to cross the gate. His assistant, Vimal, suggested, “Sir, give me the money, and I will pay it quickly.”

“How can you?” replied Gupta. “There are numerous carts in front of us!”

“Let me try, Sir,” Vimal insisted, as he stepped forward with four rupees. After only twenty minutes, Vishnu Gupta noticed the carts moving. Vimal returned with a smile, handing back the four rupees he had taken. “There were twenty carts in front of us. I told them that if we paid together, we could all cross the gate promptly. They each gave me one rupee. Since I paid for twenty carts, our four carts can go free!”

Vishnu Gupta was amused by his assistant’s cleverness. Together, they had found a way to overcome a taxing obstacle, demonstrating the effectiveness of quick thinking and cooperation in the world of trade.