Weighing an Elephant

Sham S.Misri

Long ago, there was a king He had an elephant. The king loved the elephant very much. One day some of his servants were criticizing one minister of the king. They claimed that he only sat around and did not do any work. The king reminded them that to become a minister needs skill and intelligence. The king declared that he would give a test to everyone, including the minister to find out their intelligence. Whoever could pass the test could become the next minister.  

The king said, "Take this big elephant, weigh him and let me know the exact weight."  The ordinary men were baffled. Those days there were no big weighing scales available. How could they weigh  an elephant?  They could not do anything.  They came back to the king with no information.  Then the king turned to his minister and asked, "Will you kindly weigh this elephant?"  So in six minutes he came back and reported, "It is twenty mounds [1,920]."  The other men were standing open-mouthed in surprise.  "How is that?" they asked.  "Within six minutes he came back and he gave the exact weight!"  The king asked, "How did you weigh him?  Did you get some very big scale?"  "No sir," replied the minister.  "It is not possible to weigh the elephant on a scale.  It is very difficult."  "Then how did you weigh it?"  "I took it on a boat.  When I got him on the boat then I saw the watermark and I marked it.  Then, after getting the elephant off the boat, I added weight onto the boat, and when it came to the same watermark, and then I understood."  So the king addressed the servants and cautioned them, "Now you see the difference?"  They agreed, "Yes."