SHREWDEST MAN IN THE WORLD

One day, a group of clever, educated men came to John’s village in search of an intelligent man who could answer their questions. They had traveler the whole world in search of answers and had heard of John great wit, so they had resolved to go his village. When they arrived they asked, “We have heard that John is the most intelligent man in this village. Where can we find him?” Of course the people of the village knew John well, so they led the three men directly to John house. The men sat down and began to ask three questions. “Our first question," said one of the men, “Where is the point said to be the centre of the earth?” John noticed a buffalo outside the window so he pointed to the buffalo and said, “Where the front legs of the buffalo are, that is the point said to be the center of the earth.” “How can you be so sure?” asked one of the men. “Well, if you don't believe me, I suggest you measure it,” John replied. Measuring did not seem like a good idea to the three men, so they proceeded with their next question. “How many stars are there in the sky?” Without any hesitation, John replied, “As many as the hairs on that buffalo.” The three men burst out laughing. “Well, if you don't believe me perhaps you should count them,” said John. The three foreigners realized that they would not be able to trump John. One of them suddenly had a bright idea. “Can you say how many hairs are on that buffalo's coat?” “Certainly!” exclaimed John. “There is exactly the same number of hairs on that buffalo's coat as there are in your beard. Now don’t tell me you don’t believe me because I can prove it by pulling the hairs from your beard and from that buffalo's coat. When I have pulled every hair from your beard and every hair from that buffalo's coat, you will observe at the end that the numbers are the same.” The three men subsequently returned to their country and told everyone that the shrewdest man in the world lived in a village in Malaysia.