A Sack of Figs
On a starry night with a new moon, Ali climbed over the wall to the Sultan’s garden with a sack to steal some figs he planned to sell at the Kasbah market.
Ali nimbly climbed the fig trees one by one, filling the sack hurriedly so he would not be discovered. In the end, the sack turned out to be too heavy and bulky to climb back over the wall again, so Ali decided to take his chances and bluff his way by the guards out to the gate.
After some threats and lengthy haggling, the first guard, Abdullah, agreed to let Ali pass, but wanted half of the figs plus two for his monkey.
The second guard, Mustafa, put a knife to Ali’s throat, but then agreed to let Ali pass if he could have half of the figs plus two for his parrot.
The third guard, Mohammed, turned out to be a cousin, but he also wanted half of the figs plus two for his donkey.
The gatekeeper, Mafeesh, kept the gate locked until Ali agreed to give him half of the figs and one for his camel.
Ali was then left with only one fig, so he shrugged, ate the fig and walked away.
How many figs would you say were in the sack when it was full? And how many were given away on the way out?
Tags: stealing figs, the sultan's garden