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Dailies: The 18th Camel

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Le Brun - Dromedaries

While working in the workshop my mind wanders leisurely all over the place. Today I remembered a story that I have heard for the first time many years ago.

There once was an old father who had 3 sons and 17 camels.

When the old man died, he left ½ of the camels to his eldest son, ⅓ of the camels to the middle son, and 1/9 of the camels to the youngest son. They realized that you can't divide 17 by ½, ⅓, or 1/9, so the began arguing and tension started to rise.

Frustrated they asked the advice of a wise old neighbour. After listening to them he thought for a while and then said, “I’ll give you my camel.” 

So the three brothers took the neighbour’s camel and now had 18 camels. The first son took ½ of the camels (which is 9), the second son took ⅓ of the camels (which is 6), and the third son took 1/9 of the camels (which is 2) and everybody was happy.

But now they had an extra camel. They gave the 18th camel back to their wise old friend. He smiled and went home.

My conclusion? Happy is the man with someone in his life who knows mathematics and then some.

George

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