Birbal, the wise one among Emperor Akbar’s courtiers, is known to have solved
several taxing conundrums to the satisfaction of everyone concerned. The sons
of a well-known merchant once approached Birbal with a peculiar problem
which they could not resolve among themselves. Their old man had bequeathed
his stable of 17 camels to his heirs. He had also stipulated the manner in
which this estate of livestock was to be divided among the legatees. Half of the
lot was to be given to the eldest son, a third to the younger one, and a ninth to
the youngest of them all. One half of 17 is 8.5. The same was true of the
legacies of all the brothers. The intended number was always a fraction.
Obviously the camels could not be cut into pieces. So Birbal thought for a while
49
5
54
28
37
23
and asked the young men if they would have any objection to getting a little
more than what was due to them. Of course, none of them had any qualms
about that. Birbal then went ahead to implement his solution in such an
elegant manner that everyone was happy and applauded Birbal’s genius. Can
you find out what Birbal did? Here is a hint: Birbal said that everyone would
get a little more than his share. Think along those lines and you mght be able
to get into Birbal’s head.