One of the disciples of Rebbe Elimelich came to the Master before Yom Kippur, asking for a more profound understanding of the “kapporos” ritual. “I cannot help you,” Rebbe Elimelich said, ”but if you will go to the inn in the nearby village, the innkeeper may be able to instruct you in the concept of ‘exchange.’
The disciple promptly left for the specified inn, and upon arriving, was taken aback by the appearance of the innkeeper. He had assumed that the Rebbe had sent him to a pious man of great learning, but what he found was a quite uncouth, ignorant person, who was serving drinks to his customers and indulging in idle gossip with them.
Certainly this man must be one of the secret tzaddikim, masquerading as an ignorant, unrefined person, the disciple thought. Yet in watching the innkeeper’s behavior, he could find no redeeming features nor any trace of acts of devotion to God.
That night, after all the customers had left and the inn was closed, the innkeeper asked his wife to bring him a huge ledger. He opened the book, and began to read off all of the transgressions he had committed during the past year. From time to time he would pause, heave a sigh of distress, shake his head in remorse, and go on with the litany.
After completing the long list of transgressions, he asked his wife for a second huge ledger. From this one, he began to read all of the misfortunes that God had visited upon him during the past year.
“Here is one where I bought a cask of wine, and it turned sour on me, and I lost a great deal of money. Then there was the storm that tore the roof off my house. Here a step went out from under me; and l fell and broke my arm.” And so on, and so on, until he completed a long list of grievances against God.
The innkeeper then put both ledgers together and turned his eyes upward.
“Listen, Ribono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe),
I know l have not done right by You, but on the other hand, You have really not done right by me either. Since we are approaching the day of forgiveness, let us make an even exchange. I will forgive You, You will forgive me, and we will begin the new year with a clean slate.”
A gmar Chasima Tova.
Ch@imK™
Uvacharta BaChaim 
Great story! Every time I’ve reread it, over the years, it helped me understand what kaporos truly mean…