Question: Here is a curious question that is more perplexing than it looks at first sight. Abraham, an infirm old man, undertook to dig a ditch for two dollars. He engaged Benjamin, an able-bodied fellow, to assist him and share the money fairly according to their capacities. Abraham could dig as fast as Benjamin could shovel out the dirt, and Benjamin could dig four times as fast as Abraham could do the shoveling.
How should they divide the money? Of course, we must assume their relative abilities for work to be the same in digging or shoveling.
Answer: A. should receive one-third of two dollars, and B. two-thirds. Say B. can dig all in 2 hours and shovel all in 4 hours; then A. can dig all in 4 hours and shovel all in 8 hours. That is, their ratio of digging is as 2 to 4 and their ratio of shovelling as 4 to 8 (the same ratio), and A. can dig in the same time that B. can shovel (4 hours), while B. can dig in a quarter of the time that A. can shovel. Any other figures will do that fill these conditions and give two similar ratios for their working ability. Therefore, A. takes one-third and B. twice as much-two-thirds.
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