Long ago, the people of China had never seen an elephant.
One day, the Emperor of China received a real elephant as a gift. Everyone in the kingdom was curious to know the weight of the elephant.
But no scales in China were big enough to weigh the elephant. “Father,” the six-year-old prince stepped forward and said, “I know how to weigh it.”
The ministers thought that the little Prince was joking. But surprisingly, the Prince gave a brilliant idea!
The Prince led everyone to the river and let the people put the elephant in a big boat. He then asked one of them to draw a line on the boat where it sank.
Then, the Prince let the elephant come out of the boat. “Now, gather as many rocks as you can,” the prince ordered.
The Prince asked the people to put rocks in the boat till it sank to the same water level
as it would sink with the elephant in it.
Then, the people took the rocks out of the boat and weighed them, one by one The weight of the rocks was the weight of the elephant!
Everyone praised the little Prince and the Emperor was proud of him.
