Turkish Idiom Stories -- Letter Y

The Rest of the Story about...

Yanlış hesap Bağdat'tan döner. (Lit. An unpaid bill [must] come back from Baghdad.) -- Idiomatic meaning: When you find that a mistake has been made, you should make every effort to correct it, no matter what the cost...

The story...In olden days, Ottoman trade was centered in Istanbul, and was carried out by caravans that traveled back and forth among far-flung cities like Damascus, Aleppo, and Baghdad.

One particular caravan driver (who traded in silk, jewelry, fruits and such) always had difficulty collecting his rightful payments and fees, from one trader in particular. And prior to almost every trip, the tricky trader would manage to short-change the caravan driver -- giving him less advance money than was due, for trip expenses and trade purposes. After many such short-change incidents, the caravan driver vowed to put an end to the trader's tricky practices.

As fate would have it, the next time the driver set out on a long trade mission to Baghdad, he checked the travel money given to him by the trader -- and, once again, found it to be well short of their agreement. So, he told his partner and his son to proceed onward toward Baghdad, but he returned to Istanbul.

As soon as he got back to the city, he visited the home of his large family and managed to enlist the help of his two older aunts -- who smiled slyly as he explained his plan to them.

The next morning, the two women entered the trader's store. Each carried a purse and each purse was brimming with valuable jewelry. The women explained to the trader that they were about to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and they wanted to leave their jewelry in the custody of the trader, who had a high reputation for trustworthiness. And, they said: "If we return safely, by the grace of God, then we'll come to you and retrieve our valuables. But if God wills otherwise, and we die traveling in those sacred lands, then so be it -- and you may keep it all." The trader was so overjoyed at the prospect of the two old hags dying somewhere along the road on such a rigorous journey, that he nearly did back-flips. He quickly agreed to their request and began, ingratiatingly, to serve them his most delicious and expensive refreshments.

At that very point, the caravan driver made his entrance. He 'explained' that he had started on his trip to Baghdad, but on the outskirts of town, had noticed that the trader had short-changed him -- so he had returned to collect the balance.

The trader, who wanted to impress the ladies with his trustworthiness (so they'd be sure to leave their jewelry with him) jumped up and said quickly: "Ah, my friend! Just after you left, I too noticed the mistake and I immediately put the money aside for your return. I hate wrong-doing of every kind," and with a flourish he handed over the gold payment that he'd originally held back.

The caravan driver took the gold, and as he readied himself to leave, the women got to their feet. Telling the trader that they had given up the idea of the pilgrimage, they quickly and quietly exited the store.

The trader immediately realized that he'd been flimflammed, and turned to the caravan driver to say, "You rascal...What about your trip to Baghdad? You've returned before you finished your mission."

The caravan driver replied softly, "An unpaid bill must come back from Baghdad."

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