The poor family moved to the city because of a sudden flood due to a Philippine Typhoon.

They had the

rich family as their neighbors……

As the maids of the rich family cooked young chicken breasts and tasty legs of lambs, the poor family
hung outside their windows and inhaled the heavenly aroma of the foods….

The rich family became very sick and blamed the poor family for it. They said that the poor family had
been stealing the spirit of their wealth and food…

The rich family filed a complaint against the poor family. After many moments they found themselves in
the court……

A court scene happened. The lawyer of the rich family started asking question and the poor father
defended their side. After all the questioning, the poor father finds a way to end the scenario. After the
court scene the poor family and the judge had a good laugh.

The story is set in a city in the Philippines. The young narrator begins by describing his large family.
Though they are poor they are full of mischief and laughter. The children are all strong and healthy even
they often go hungry. In contrast, their rich neighbor’s children are thin and sickly although they are
given plenty of good food, which their impoverished neighbors enjoy smelling over the fence.

Consequently, the rich man brings a charge against the narrator’s family for stealing the spirit of his
family’s food. The absurd case goes to court, the narrator’s father agrees to pay back the rich neighbor.
He does this by collecting coins from all his friends present in his hat, then shaking the hat full of coins.

Being charged to pay for the spirit of food which his family supposedly got from its smell, he maintains
that the jingling of the coins is a fair equivalent. The judge rules in the poor father’s favor, and the rich
man is forced to depart with no other payment than the “spirit” of the money the poor man collected.