Bede's brother-in-law told this story when I was in Ontario last week:
The daughter of the emperor was of a marriageable age, but her father wanted his daughter to marry a wise man. Two suitors appeared one day to ask to marry the emperor’s daughter. The emperor set before each suitor a steaming bowl of soup. “Whoever finishes this soup first may marry my daughter,” the emperor said. Why did he say this?
Answer: The foolish suitor would attempt to gulp down the soup and scald his tongue. He would not be able to drink any more soup. The wise suitor would wait until the soup had cooled, and then he could drink the broth easily.
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2 comments:
Hmm... that answer may indeed be possible, and yet one must acknowledge that tongues, whether left scalded or intact, are not altogether necessary for drinking soup.
Energizerbunny: I'm not sure how it's possible! I guess that if you tipped your head back all the way and someone poured soup down your throat, you could avoid it touching the tongue, but that would be a tricky manoeuver.
Wow, you're really in the archives here-- this was written over three years ago, soon after I'd started this blog. Thanks for commenting.
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