Scotsman and his Chickens

Copyright (c) 1998
Royal Stuarts
All Rights Reserved

Once there was a Scotsman, about two hundred years ago, who had some chickens. Unfortunately a couple of these chickens had grown old and were no longer producing eggs for the Scotsman. Since they were so old they didn't have much in the way of meat on their bones either and so he decided he'd take them out to the forest where they could live their last days free in the wild.

Well along the way the Scotsman met his friend, the Englishman. "Well, hello Scotsman. Where are you bound to?"

"I've a few chickens that no longer give eggs and I thought I set them loose in the forest so their last days can be free in the wild."

"How much would you sell them for?"

"You don't want to buy these chickens, Englishman. They produce no more eggs and are so old there's hardly enough meat on their bones to keep them standing."

The Englishman suspected the Scotsman wasn't telling the true, for why would the Scotsman care if the Englishman purchased bad chickens or no. Perhaps they were prize chickens that laid extra large eggs, or their feathers made the softest down. Or maybe they were magic.

"Why won't you sell your chickens, Scotsman? Are they magic chickens?"

"No, they are not magic chickens. And it's not that I won't sell them, it's that you don't want to buy them."

This made the Englishman even more suspicious. The Englishman thought "He does plan to sell his chicken's, only he won't sell them to me. Well maybe I can trick the Scotsman into giving the chickens."

So the Englishman plied his wiles in an attempt to out smart the Scotsman. "If I guess how many chickens you have in you bag will you give them to me?"

The Scotsman, dumbfounded at the Englishman's persistence agreed to the test of wits. "Well, if you insist. If you guess how many chickens I have in this bag, I'll give you both of them."

"Five!"

"Close enough."