Four men had been traveling in the same caravan all day long but had not spoken a word to one another. When their convoy stopped for the evening, the four men made a fire together and warmed themselves as they gathered around it.
The men were from four different countries, and none spoke the others' languages. They were Persian, Arab, and Turkish, and the fourth man, a Greek speaker, was from the Sultanate of Rûm. They were laborers in tattered clothes who looked destitute. As they sat huddled together, shaking like leaves in the chill air, one of their fellow travelers, who was better off, took pity and offered them a small sum of money so they could buy something to eat.
The Persian was quick to suggest: “Let's spend our money on grapes.”
“What a creep! I don't want what he wants, I want grapes,” said the Arab defiantly.
“No, my dear fellows,” complained the Turk, “I don't like what you've suggested; I prefer grapes.”
“Come on guys, don't argue. It's best if we all agree to buy grapes,” concluded the man from Rûm in Greek.
Not understanding each other, the men began fighting, throwing punches and cursing in their own respective tongues. As the men fought among each other, a wise and holy man saw them from afar and quickly approached them. Succeeding in separating them, he managed to find out what their problem was, as he was fluent in all four languages. Thanks to the wisdom of the sage, the grapes were soon acquired, relieving the four unwitting men from the burden of their rage.