Fair Share

A merchant had two sons. The elder boy was clever and resourceful, while the younger one was a simpleton. The merchant feared he might not live long, and he did not want the younger boy to be cheated when it came to sharing his wealth. Therefore, he put all his wealth into two sacks and called his sons. “These two sacks contain all my wealth. I’ve divided it equally between you two. Once I am dead and gone, you may take one sack each and make a living.”

Unfortunately, the merchant died the very next day. That night, the elder son stealthily opened the two sacks to examine their contents. In one sack, there were silver coins on top and some clay balls at the bottom. In the other sack, the clay balls were at the top, while the bottom had silver coins. He collected all the silver coins into one sack and pushed all the clay balls into the other.

In the morning, he called his brother and said, “You take that sack, and I shall take this one.” Of course, he had carefully identified the sack with the silver coins, which he now took with him.

The younger brother opened the sack and saw the clay balls. He began breaking them open, and to his surprise, each ball yielded a gold coin.