Once in a tiny village in Gujarat a wealthy merchant. On his deathbed, he called upon the village head and asked him to distribute the 17 camels that he had owned amongst his three sons. He asked the head to distribute it like this:

1. The youngest child gets 1/2nd of the camels.
2. The middle one gets 1/3rd of the camels.
3. The eldest one gets 1/9th of the camels.

Just after making this will, he died. After his last rites were performed, it came time to pass on the inheritance. Now when the village head sat to give the children their due share, he realised that he can't divide 17 completely by 2, 3 or 9. He was dumbfounded. Eventually the entire village got to know about this and chaos ensued.

A mathematician in the village got to know about this. He called for a village meeting with the head, the children and the 17 camels. To the meeting the mathematician brought 1 camel of his own, now there were 18 camels in total. He then:

1. Gave 9 camels owned by the merchant to the youngest child. (1/2)
2. Gave 6 camels to the middle child. (1/3)
3. Gave 2 camels to the eldest child. (1/9)

He then took his camel and left.