Story:
Camels
A rich merchant died and left to his three sons his prize stud camels. As was
traditional in his society, each son received camels according to his age. So,
the will stipulated the eldest son should receive half the camels, the middle
son a quarter of them and the youngest a sixth.
Unfortunately, the rich merchant had died
owning eleven prize stud camels. The brothers were in torments of despair as to
how to divide the animals: half of eleven is 5½, and half a camel is of no
value to anyone.
Time passed until, one day, a visiting wise man arrived in town riding his own,
somewhat disreputable camel. In desperation, the sons of the rich merchant
pressed themselves on him. How could he resolve their problem?
The wise man thought (or, maybe, pretended to). He then led his own somewhat disreputable
camel into the enclosure containing the prize stud camels. To the puzzlement of
the sons, he addressed himself to the first son: “Please select your half of
the camels in front of you”. The son duly chose the best six of the twelve in
front of him.
The wise man addressed the second son: “Please choose your quarter of the
camels”. This son duly chose three fine beasts. Finally, there were three
camels left. The wise man addressed the youngest son: “Now it is your turn to
choose a sixth of the total number of animals”, and so he selected two, still
fine creatures, as camels go.
And so the wise man walked up to the single remaining camel - his own somewhat
disreputable beast – greeted it, and led it away.
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