Recovering a small

A merchant lent another person half a string of cash. But a long time went by, and his debtor had still not paid back the loan. So he went to collect his debt. On the way, he had to cross a river, and to ferry across, he had to pay two strings of cash. However, when he got to the aion kina debtor’s house, the man wasn’t in. On the return trip, he had to pay the boatman another two strings of cash.

To spend four aion kinah strings of cash in order to get back half a string, not to mention the weariness of the long journey, is to spend much for little. No wonder everyone jeered at his foolishness.