Sometimes I describe what we do in dispute resolution as “Looking for the 18th camel” – here's why:
Abdul, a camel herder, died leaving a herd of 17 camels and 3 sons. His sons opened the will to find that it said...
"To my oldest son Jamal who has helped me with my camels I leave 1/2 of my camels.
To my middle son Malik who has goats too, I leave 1/3rd of my camels
To my youngest son Ramiz, who I have sent to school and can better make his own way in the world, I leave 1/9th of my camels."
It was not possible to divide 17 camels by 2 or 3 or 9 and the three sons started to fight with each other about how the herd should be divided. So, the three sons decided to go to a wise man.
The wise man read the will patiently. After giving due thought, he brought one of his own camels and put it in the pen with Abdul's camels, leaving 18 camels in the pen.
As Abduls' will said he gave Jamal half (9) of the camels. He gave Malik one third (6) of them and Ramiz one ninth (2) camels. Having given the sons 9 + 6 + 2 (17) camels there was one left in the pen which the wise man took back (a slightly better camel than the one he had added – for his trouble).
Abdul, a camel herder, died leaving a herd of 17 camels and 3 sons. His sons opened the will to find that it said...
"To my oldest son Jamal who has helped me with my camels I leave 1/2 of my camels.
To my middle son Malik who has goats too, I leave 1/3rd of my camels
To my youngest son Ramiz, who I have sent to school and can better make his own way in the world, I leave 1/9th of my camels."
It was not possible to divide 17 camels by 2 or 3 or 9 and the three sons started to fight with each other about how the herd should be divided. So, the three sons decided to go to a wise man.
The wise man read the will patiently. After giving due thought, he brought one of his own camels and put it in the pen with Abdul's camels, leaving 18 camels in the pen.
As Abduls' will said he gave Jamal half (9) of the camels. He gave Malik one third (6) of them and Ramiz one ninth (2) camels. Having given the sons 9 + 6 + 2 (17) camels there was one left in the pen which the wise man took back (a slightly better camel than the one he had added – for his trouble).
