A young man was walking along the road and saw two people having a snack, sitting under a tree. One had three cakes, and the other five. They saw the young man and invited him to eat with them. The young man happily agreed. When they had eaten all the cakes, the young man thanked these people, gave them eight rupees and left.
People started dividing money here, but they just couldn’t divide it. One says:
“I am owed five rupees because I gave five cakes.”
- No! - the second one answers. – Everything must be divided equally.
They argued and argued and argued so much that they went to the judge. He listened to them and said:
“You take five rupees for yourself, and you take three.”
– I don’t agree! - objected the one who had three cakes. - Let him take four rupees, and I will take four.
“And if so,” the judge got angry, “then you are entitled to one rupee.”
- Why?
- There were three of you? Three. Eight flatbreads? Eight. If you divide the cakes, you will get twenty-four portions, and each person will have eight portions. Three of your scones made nine servings. You ate eight of them yourself. So, I only gave one away. And his five flatbreads yielded fifteen servings. He ate eight himself, which means he gave away seven. So it turns out that he should receive seven rupees, and you - only one!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru