A side corridor of the Palace of Lords was spectacular and filled withcolorful booths of all kinds: games, eateries, and exotic creatures. This alley was crowded with folk of all ages, some on their knees, a few crawling, and most brashly walking upright.

 

Jonathan approached a booth with a big sign overhead that read, “Council of Lords Refreshments: You Can Count on Us!” Tacked to the side was a little poster, “Pints of cider—always a reliably fixed price!”

 

That sounds delicious, he thought, strutting up to the bench. A waiter bade him sit down and asked what he’d like. “I’d like some cider, please,” declared Jonathan. “How much is a pint?”

 

“A pint?” laughed the waiter as he placed a large mug in front of him. “One pint? Really? One pint is just one kayn, always has been and always will be. And we’ve got hearty loaves of bread to go with it, if you’re hungry.”

 

Fingering his pocketful of kayns, Jonathan asked, “And how much is a loaf of bread?”

 

“One footlong loaf for one kayn, always has been and always will be,” replied the waiter.

 

Jonathan was delighted. A pint of cider and a footlong loaf for just two kayns! He could certainly afford that. “I’ll have one of each,” expressed Jonathan.“

 

"You’re serious?” mocked the waiter. “Just one? That’ll hardly wet your whistle!”

 

Feeling famished, and a bit flush with funds, Jonathan relinquished and said, “Well, okay, I’ll have two…two of each,” carefully counting out four kayns and handing them over.

 

The waiter sniffed while pocketing the money, picked up a pitcher of cider and turned to Jonathan pouring a trickle into his mug. The cider barely covered the bottom of his mug. The waiter then grabbed a knife and clipped a small bite-sized portion from the end of the loaf.

 

Jonathan gaped at the mere drops of cider and crumbs of bread placed in front of him. “I thought you said a ‘pint’ of cider. I bought two.”

 

“Sure enough,” snickered the waiter. “Two pints are all you get.”

 

Looking glumly at the bottom of his mug Jonathan complained, “But a pint is surely more than that!”

 

“Yeah, last week was twice as much. But this is now,” said the waiter nonchalantly.

 

“What? A pint is half as much this week?” exclaimed Jonathan. Pointing to the poster, Jonathan continued, “But your sign says, “Pints of cider—always a reliably fixed price!”

 

“And so it is!” rebuked the waiter. “The price of one pint of cider is always one kayn. People wouldn’t stand for rising prices in the Palace of Lords! The Lords have determined just and fixed prices for everything! Prices are fixed and unchanging.”

 

“But the pint is smaller,” frowned Jonathan.

 

“So it is. It is illegal to increase the number of kayns for each pint. But all other measures are…well…adjustable.”

 

“I suppose that explains the bite-sized loaf of bread as well?” intoned Jonathan.

 

“Indeed, a footlong loaf is now half as long as last week.” Grasping the table between them, the waiter instructed Jonathan further. “Get with it, kid! Take this table for instance. I can offer it to you for 50 kayns…a price fixed forever in law by the Lords. As you can see, the table top is now big enough to cover a full acre of land and it weighs almost a ton.”

 

Jonathan protested, “But that’s no acre of land underneath the table! And the table doesn’t weigh a ton! An acre is more like a quarter of this whole palace and a ton is a quarter of the stone columns out front!”

 

“Ha!” chortled the waiter. “You’re so last year! Gotta keep up with the times, kid. Measures of areas and weights, volume and lengths change, get smaller every day. But the price always remains the same. One kayn per pint. One kayn per foot. Fifty kayns per acre. Fifty kayns per ton. That’s the law.”“

 

Why is the number of kayns always the same?” asked Jonathan.

 

“Gotta have fixed measures of money or else how could anyone plan, save, or invest? Changing the prices would ruin all calculations! No, no…money is too important to change. Instead, every measure changes, but not the money. But prices are stable and untampered! Always have been and always will be the same.”