"The Seventeen Camels"

A man dies, leaving 17 camels to his sons.  His will states that the oldest son gets one half of the camels, the middle son gets on third of the camels, and the youngest son gets one ninth of the camels.  The sons realize that this would leave each of them with a fraction of a camel, which is unacceptable, and they start to fight. 

After weeks of fighting, they go to the local wise woman and ask for her advice.  She considers the problem for a while, then says, "I am not sure how you can solve your problem, but you may have my camel."  The brothers, surprised, agree. 

With eighteen camels, the brothers carry out their father's will - the oldest son gets half the camels, leaving him with nine; the middle brother gets one third of the camels, leaving him with six; the youngest brother gets one ninth of the camels, leaving him with two.  One camel is left over (9 + 6 + 2 = 17), which they give to the wise woman. 

THE MORAL: When faced with a problem, if you only look at the facts before you, you might miss the answer to your problem.