One Pair Out of Ten
A very mean king
went to a nearby village. He wanted some more slaves to serve him at his royal
palace. He decided that if any family in the village had more than five
children, he would take them. A cobbler and his wife had ten children. When the
king came to take them, the cobbler and his wife begged and begged. Finally the
king said, "I see that you have ten pairs of shoes in a box. If you can
give each of your children a pair and still leave one pair out of ten in the
box, you can keep your children. The cobbler and his wife began to smile at
each other. How did they keep all of their children?
See
below for the answer.
Answer:
The cobbler and his wife gave each of his nine children a
pair of shoes. That left one pair in the box. They then gave this tenth child
the box.