The Trader's Deceptive Scales

A foreign trader who had set up shop in the capital's market grew wealthy remarkably quickly, and several local merchants complained privately to the court that his goods always seemed to weigh out slightly favorably to him whenever he made a sale, though no one could point to any obvious tampering when they examined his scales directly.

Tenali Raman visited the market himself, watching the trader complete several transactions without comment. He noticed that the trader always personally placed the goods on one side of the scale himself, while customers placed their payment weights on the other side — and that his hand lingered just a moment too long on the scale's central beam each time before stepping back.

Raman, purchasing a small item himself, asked to place the goods on the scale personally instead of letting the trader do it, citing simple curiosity about the process. The trader hesitated visibly before agreeing, and this time, without his practiced touch subtly tilting the beam, the scale read honestly — revealing a noticeably smaller quantity of goods than customers had been receiving under his own hand. Raman announced the discovery loudly enough for the gathering crowd to hear, and the trader, caught in front of his own customers, was made to refund every buyer who came forward that same afternoon. A trick that depends on a specific person's touch reveals itself the instant someone else's hand does the same simple task.