Elephant Weighing
Long ago, no one had ever seen an elephant in China, but people there were aware that a weird, amazing animal by the name of an elephant resided in a distant region.  A king once visited the Chinese Emperor.  A genuine, living elephant was the gift he brought!
Nobody had ever seen anything like that in China.  Everyone at court could not stop talking about it as soon as the royal guest left.  
One mandarin exclaimed, "This elephant is bigger than a water buffalo!"

Another responded, "Are you kidding?"  It is larger than a rhinoceros.

A third remarked, "You've got to be kidding. This elephant dwarfs TWO rhinos in size.
The Emperor once asked his mandarins how much weight this incredible elephant had. Who can explain how to weigh it for me?

The first mandarin, a former merchant, exclaimed, "I can!"  "All we have to do is put it on a scale."

"Not likely," the Emperor answered.  The weight of an elephant cannot be measured on any scale without it breaking.

The second mandarin, who had previously been a tailor, exclaimed, "I can tell you!"  We'll measure the elephant, he declared.

"No," the Emperor sighed.  "Even if you measured the weight of an elephant in all its parts, you wouldn't know how heavy it is."
The third mandarin, a former baker, exclaimed, "I can tell you!"  "We'll prepare the elephant by cutting it up.  Then we will be aware.

The Emperor yelled, "We will DEFINITELY NOT do that!" Is there nobody I can ask to explain how to weigh an elephant?

A tiny voice then said, "I can."
Each one looked at the voice.  The Emperor's son was there!
The Emperor exclaimed, "Son!" You ought to be in bed.

But I know how," the boy responded.  We won't have to cook it first, though.
With a smile, the Emperor responded, "Very well.  "Explain how to weigh an elephant for me."

The young boy gave instructions.
The boy said the following. "You load the elephant into a large boat, and you set the boat sailing. At the watermark, where the boat's side touches the water, draw a line.  After that, return the boat to land and remove the elephant. One by one, add rocks to the boat. Bring the boat back to shore once it has sunk to the same watermark line it had when the elephant was inside. Remove the rocks and weigh each one individually. You may calculate the elephant's weight in this way.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" everyone exclaimed.

The first mandarin exclaimed, "It will work!"  

"What a clever plan!" exclaimed the second.  

The third responded, "Who knew this child would know?"  

And word of the Emperor's son's fame spread far and wide.

THE END