THE ENZYME STORY
Long ago, in a faraway land there was an old man who had three sons. In this land, a
person’s wealth was measured in the number of camels one has in a herd. This man was of
modest wealth—he had 17 camels.
Now, the old man knew his days on this Earth were numbered, so he drew his three sons
near. “My sons,” he said, “my time here will soon come to a close, so I want to tell you how to
divide my fortune.”
He drew his first born son to his side and said “To you, my eldest son I bequeath one half
of my wealth. You have helped me very much.” His son thought to himself “One half of 17
camels…how do we manage that?”, but being an obedient young man, he said only “Thank-you,
Father.”
The father then called the middle son to his side. “You have also been a good son, my
second born, and I want you to have a portion of my wealth. To you I give one third of my
fortune.” This son, also polite and obedient, said “Thank-you, Father.” All the while thinking
“How in the world do I get 1/3 of 17 camels?”
The third son then went to his father’s side and his father said to him, “You, my youngest
son, have also been a great help and comfort to me in your few short years as a young adult. I
want you to have some portion of my fortune. You are to have one ninth of my camels.” Once
again wondering how 17 camels could be divided this way, the obedient son said only “Thank-you
Father.”
Before he dismissed his sons, the father added, “If you should have trouble dividing my
fortune, call in my old friend Ahab. He is a wise man and he should be able to help you.
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Well, sure enough, a few months passed and the old man died. After the cremation and
mourning, the sons began the task of dividing the fortune. The eldest son began. “Half of 17 is
8 1/2 , so I shall take 9 camels.” “Wait a minute,” said the middle son “17 divided by 3 is 5 2/3,
almost 6, so you take 8 and I shall take 6 camels.” “Hold on,” said the youngest son, “one ninth
of 17 is 1 8/9 and since I get the fewest anyway, I should get 2 camels.” “Well,” said the oldest, if
you take 2, then I’ll take 9, it’s only fair!”… and the arguing began in earnest.
The sons argued for 3 days and 3 nights, barely taking time for food or sleep. At one point
they were ready to kill a camel and cut it into pieces. Finally the youngest son thought of
something. “Remember father’s last words: if we have trouble, we should send for Ahab.”
Ahab was sent for and came within a day, riding his favorite camel, Enzyme. “I hear you
boys are having problems dividing your father’s fortune. He told me this could happen. I tell you
what I’ll do…I will let you use my favorite camel, Enzyme. Add him to your herd, divide your
camels, then give me back Enzyme unharmed.”
“Let me get this right,” said the eldest son. “You will give us Enzyme, we divide all the
camels, and then you get Enzyme back?”
“Precisely,” said Ahab.
They added Enzyme to the herd, making it 18 and began dividing the herd as their father
instructed.
The first born son got 1/2, so he took…9 camels.
The second born son got 1/3, so he took…6 camels.
The third born son got 1/9, so he took…2 camels.
“We all got what we wanted, Ahab, but now, how do we give back your camel?” “Add the
total number of camels,” said Ahab. “Why, it adds up to 17!” said the surprised boys together.
“Yes,” said Ahab, as he mounted Enzyme to ride home.
What is an ENZYME? What does it do?
REVIEW
The sons could not divide the camels equally. An enzyme was added, aiding the division of
camels, but the enzyme was not changed or used up in the process!!!!