3 Brothers, 3 Boxes

Once, there was three brothers who loved baseball. They loved to play baseball. They loved to read about baseball. They loved to watch baseball. They even dreamed of playing baseball professionally.

These boys were different ages, with the oldest three years older than the middle, and the middle three years older than the youngest. Naturally, they were different heights, with the oldest brother being the tallest, the youngest being the shortest, and the middle being between the two in height, as he was in age.

One fine, summer day, with the sun hot and bright, and the sky blue as can be, the brothers decided to go to the ballpark in town to see the local team play a visiting club. When they arrived, they found that all the tickets had been sold and there were no seats available for them to get into the game.

Dejected, they began to walk away, when the lady behind the ticket window said they could watch the game for free. Excited, they asked how.

“Just go around to the outfield fence, where there are no seats,” she said. “There, you may watch the game as long as you like. You may even catch a home run ball!”

The brothers had new hope that they would be able to watch the game after all. They ran around to the outfield fence just in time to see the first pitch. But when they arrived, they discovered the fence was quite high, too high for all but the tallest brother to see over. While the oldest brother could see the game clearly, the younger two could only see the wooden planks of the fence.

The middle brother looked around and saw three wooden crates. “Why don’t we stand on these?” he said, hopeful that he’d be able to see the game.

“That’s a great idea!” said the youngest brother, also excited.

“And there is one crate for each of us,” said the older brother, “so it will be fair and equal to each of us.” He quickly arranged the crates in a row so each of them could stand on one.

With the crates arranged, each brother climbed atop his. The oldest brother found he had an even better view of the game, standing head and shoulders above the top of the fence. The middle brother wasn’t head and shoulders above the fence, but he could now see over it and watch the game.

The youngest brother, even standing atop his crate, was still too short and could not see over the top. “This isn’t fair!” he cried. “I still can’t see the game.”

“What are you talking about?” said the middle brother. “We each have an equal amount of crates to stand on.”

Pondering the situation, the oldest brother thought of a solution. “I have an idea,” he said. “When we got here, before we found the crates, I didn’t need one to see over the fence.”

Looking at the middle brother, he said, “When you stand on one crate, you can see over the fence and watch the game.” Turning to his youngest brother, he said, “But one crate is still not tall enough for you to see the game.

“Why don’t I give you my crate,” he said to the youngest brother, “and we can stack them up and you can stand on both of them?”

The oldest brother climbed off of his crate, and the youngest off of his. They stacked the two crates and the older brother helped his little brother get on top. Then, he went over to stand where he was before, on the ground, looking over the fence.

“Hey, I can see the game!” shouted the youngest brother.

“So can I!” shouted the middle brother.

“We all can!” shouted the oldest brother, and they enjoyed the rest of the game together.

When they divided the crates equally, there were was still someone who was unfortunate and unable to watch the game. But when they divided them equitably, they were all able to enjoy the game.