Maximum capacity

An ancient and valuable fragile Chinese vase had been found by the villagers. There was an argument in the teahouse as to its exact capacity. During the wrangling, the Mulla entered. The people appealed to him for a ruling.

‘Simple,’ said Nasrudin. ‘Bring the vase here, together with some sand.’ He had the vase filled with layer after layer of fine sand, packing it down with a mallet. Ultimately it burst.

‘There you are,’-he turned to the company triumphantly-‘the maximum capacity has been reached. All you have to do now is to remove one grain of sand, and you will have the precise amount needed to fill a container like this.’

Mullah Nasudin