someone was telling me this story a couple of hours ago:
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a far away land, there lived a poor elderly nomad. He lived a long and happy life, but the time came when he was about to die. The poor, old man had three sons, and he wanted to distribute his belongings to them before he died. Among his possessions were 17 camels.
As his death grew close, he gathered his three sons around him to tell them what their inheritance would be.
He told his eldest son he was to get ½ of the camels.
He told his middle son he was to get 1/3 of the camels.
He told his youngest son he was to get 1/9 of the camels.
Then he died. The three sons were saddened and perplexed. They sincerely wanted to honor their father’s wishes, and they all wanted all of their inheritance. But how, they wondered, could they possibly divide 17 camels in accordance with their father’s wishes? How do you divide 17 camels in half, or by one/third, or one/ninth? It was impossible!
Then the youngest son remembered that out in the desert there lived a wise old man in a cave. He suggested they take their problem to him and let him solve it for them.
So, the next day they packed up their 17 camels and went to the cave where the wise old man lived. When they arrived, the old man welcomed them with open arms. That evening they all sat around the camp fire and the three boys told the old man their problem. How, they asked him, could they possibly honor their father’s last wish and divide the 17 camels in accordance with his direction? It was impossible!
The wise old man thought about their problem for a while, and after a long silence concluded that he could not help them. He told them they would have to solve this problem for themselves. However, the old man said he had a camel that he no longer needed and that he would be happy to give his camel to the boys if they wanted him.
The boys were happy to accept the additional camel. As they were preparing to leave the next day the eldest brother realized that now that they had 18 camels they could honor their father’s wishes.
The eldest son could now have ½ of the 18 camels = 9
The middle son could now have 1/3 of the camels = 6
And the youngest son could now have 1/9 of the camels = 2
Imagine their surprise when they divided up their inheritance and discovered that it came to 17 camels. They now had one extra camel. So they gave the wise old man his camel back which he accepted with a twinkle in his eye...
http://laanimalservices.blogspot.com/2006/06/17-camels.htmlthe morale of the story is that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. yet, honestly speaking, i am still very puzzled by how the story can conclude like this, which of course fits in the point of ultimate sophistication; i'm honestly quite lost. i mean, it looks like very simple mathematics but until now, the whole story doesn't look logical to me at all. and i do wonder how am i going to survive eonometrics next sem.
yes, i agree, i do think too much. and that also explains how i'm still unable to really divide logic and emotions. and this is probably why i need to karaoke soon; i just need to sing my pseudo worries away!
smile :)
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anyway, thanks for the memories.
