English Original
A rich farmer's son, who had been educated at the university, always came home at Christmas to visit his parents.
One evening, the three of them were at supper. When two fowls were served, the son declared that, using logic and arithmetic, he could prove those two chickens to be three.
"Well," said his father, "you ought to show us how that can be done."
"Why!" cried the scholar. "This is one, and that," he continued, "is two. One and two, you know, make three."
"Very clever indeed, and very funny," replied the father. "But you should also tell us how we are to divide these two fowls among the three of us. Perhaps you cannot manage that so easily, so I will assist you: your mother shall have the first fowl, I will have the second, and the third, you may keep for yourself, as a reward for your great learning."
中文翻译
一位富农的儿子在大学受过教育，每逢圣诞节总会回家探望父母。
一天晚上，三人共进晚餐。当两只鸡被端上桌时，儿子声称，运用逻辑和算术，他能证明这两只鸡其实是三只。
“好啊，”他父亲说，“那你应该演示给我们看看这是怎么办到的。”
“哎呀！”这位学者叫道。“这是一只，”他接着说，“那是第二只。一加二，你知道的，等于三。”
“确实非常聪明，也很有趣，”父亲回答道。“但你也应该告诉我们，我们三个人该如何分这两只鸡。也许你处理这个没那么容易，所以我来帮你：你妈妈吃第一只，我吃第二只，至于第三只，你可以留给自己，作为你学识渊博的奖励。”