Two brothers inherited a plot of land and could not divide it. Each of them wanted to get a more fertile part, and no one wanted to give in.
Then they went to a wise man for advice. He listened to them and asked the elder brother to draw a line on the land that would fairly divide it into two equal plots. The elder brother was delighted and drew a line which divided the land into two pieces, one bigger and fatter, and the second much smaller and less fertile.
“Did you divide fairly, as a true brother?” the wise man asked.
“Yes,” the elder brother answered.
Then the wise man turned to the younger brother and ask him to choose a plot of these two. Of course, the younger brother chose the better one. Then the older brother regretted that he had cheated, and asked the wise man to give him the opportunity to divide the land once more.
The wise man agreed.
The elder brother thought for a long time, he kept reshaping the land, and finally drew the line in a different way. After that, no one doubted that the plot was divided fairly, since the elder brother knew that it isn’t for him to choose.
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