The Scientist and the Farmer

There was a scientist who met a farmer, and that scientist thought maybe he had some sort of advantage over the farmer, so he proposed they play a little game. He said to the farmer, “I tell you what, I’ll ask you a question, and if you don’t know the answer, you give me $1, and you can ask me a question, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll give you $10.” “Alright,” said the farmer. “You can go first,” said the scientist cordially. The farmer thought a moment, and then said, “What has three legs and takes 10 seconds to go up a palm tree, but takes 10 minutes to come down?” The scientist sat and he pondered and he thought and he pondered, but could not puzzle out the riddle. Finally, he pulled out his wallet and took out a ten dollar bill, and, handing it to the farmer, said, “I don’t know, what does have three legs and takes 10 seconds to climb up a palm tree but 10 minutes to come down?” The farmer pulled out a one dollar bill, handed it to him, and said, “I don’t know.”

As told to me by Bob Browder, 2/19/08