Modul 2: Story 24 A very simple question

A very simple question

Mr Barrow is a famous mathematician. He is very intelligent. He’s won the *Nobel Prize in Mathematics (*called the ‘Abel Prize’). After he had won the prize, he went on a speaking tour all over Europe. He travelled from university to university, talking about maths.

He gave the same speech four times in London. On the last day, Mr Barrow and his driver, Mr Davis, were having lunch. The driver said, “I’ve heard your speech so many times that I think I could give the speech for you.”

Mr Barrow laughed. “That is a wonderful idea!” he said.

So, for the next speech, Mr Barrow and his driver switched places. Mr Davis dressed like Mr Barrow and went up on the stage. Mr Barrow wore a driver’s uniform and sat at the back of the room.

The driver was wonderful! He gave the speech with the exact words Mr Barrow used. At the end, the driver asked the crowd, “Are there any questions?” There were usually not any questions.

But this time, one of the students at the university stood up. Now, this student thought very highly of himself. He thought he was the most intelligent student at the university. He wanted to ask a very difficult question. He thought he was more intelligent than Mr Barrow, the famous mathematician.

The question was very long. The student spoke for ten minutes without stopping. At the end of the question, the driver laughed and said, “That question is so simple my driver could answer it. Mr Davis, please come to the stage and answer this simple question.”