Re: Puzzler of the week

[Don & Tonie]

Great answer Jo. Here is another approach, Since each of the Bedouins gave up a 100% of their food and the stranger paid a coin for each loaf(100%), when it come time to decide compensation, the magistrate ordered the Bedouin with the 5 loaves shall receive 5 coins and the other should receive 3 coins. A one hundred percent compensation rate. Their acceptance of payment for the bread constitutes a contract. The value of the contract was established by the acceptance of the value of one coin for each loaf of bread. (100%) They simply exchanged coins for bread.  Two of the three people involved were satisfied with the arrangement, thus a majority decision was established  setting a precedent. How's that for a B.S. answer????  ha.  Donnie. ----- Original Message ----- From: Jo & John MacLean To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 8:16 AM Subject: Re: Puzzler of the week Since they divided the loaves equally, each would get 2  2/3 loaves.  The one who had 5 loaves would give up 2 1/3 loaves.  The one who had 3 loaves would give up only 1/3 of a loaf.  Therefore the first one should get 7 coins, one for each 1/3 loaf, the other should get one coin for the 1/3 he gave up.  Hopefully the magistrate could do the calculations :-)))) Jo At 07:51 AM 06/04/2002, Scott MacLean wrote: This week's puzzler: Two Bedouins were traveling across the desert to a distant village. In the middle of the day, they sat down to eat the loaves of bread that they had brought with them for lunch.  One of them had five loaves and the other had three. Just as they were ready to eat, a stranger comes along and asks if he might share their meal. He said he had plenty of money but no food.  The two agreed to divide their loaves equally among the three of them. After the meal was finished, the stranger laid down eight coins of equal value for what he had eaten and he went away.  The traveler who had five loaves took up five coins and left three for the other guy. But the other guy disputed it, saying, "We shared the bread, we should each get four coins."  Since they could not agree, they called in a magistrate. The magistrate listened to the story and then figured out who should get what. The question is, who's right? Or, is neither of them right? --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.365 / Virus Database: 202 - Release Date: 24-05-02