A man dies and leaves his camels to his 3 sons - The eldest gets half, the middle gets a third, and the youngest gets 1/9th. The man has 17 camels.

The three sons try to divide the 17 camels, but are unable to do so. 17 does not divide by 2, 3 or 9.

They go to a wise woman for help on settling the estate. She says that she cannot help them but says she will give them her camel.

Now the three sons have 18 camels. The eldest takes 9. The middle takes 6, and the youngest takes 2 camels.

There is one camel left over and the three sons give that camel back to the wise woman.