One more puzzle

[Sahir Shibley]

Once upon a time there was an aged merchant of Baghdad who had three sons, and it was a rule of his life to treat them all exactly alike. One day he fell sick and died, bequeathing all his possessions to his three sons in equal shares.
The only difficulty that arose was over the stock of honey. There were exactly twenty-one barrels. The old man had left instructions that not only should every son receive an equal quantity of honey, but should receive exactly the same number of barrels, and that no honey should be transferred from barrel to barrel on account of the waste involved. Now, as seven of these barrels were full of honey, seven were half full, and seven were empty, this was found to be quite a puzzle, especially as each brother objected to taking more than four barrels of the same description - full, half full, or empty.
Can you show how they succeeded in making a correct division of the property?

[Greg Harris]

sahir,
my answer is hidden below... highlight the area to see what i came up with.

the first brother gets:

• 3 full
  
• 1 half
  
• 3 empty

the second brother gets:



• 2 full
  
• 3 half
  
• 2 empty

the third brother gets: (same as 2nd)



• 2 full
  
• 3 half
  
• 2 empty

[This message has been edited by Greg Harris (edited May 28, 2001).]

[Sahir Shibley]

Yes. That is right.