Late Late Night Ramblings...
"Why," said Mr. Sato, "It is almost as entertaining as Rexelplax's conundrum."
Martha looked confused. "Who is this Rexelplax, and what is his...or her...conundrum?"
"Ah, Rexelplax was a brilliantly insane mathematician whose work basically made time travel possible. And as far as his famous conundrum is concerned, there isn't a good English translation of his problem."
"Try me."
"Well, if you insist." Mr. Sato cleared his throat. "If I have two pigs and you have two pigs, who has the lemon?" He crossed his arms and smiled.
"What? Is that all?"
"Err, yes? Should there be more?"
"It's just that, well, I thought there would be some big mathematical or philosophical problem to the whole thing, but it sounds like a simple riddle."
"Are you mad? This problem is one of the keys to understanding time travel...at least in its original language. How can you call this a 'simple riddle'? If someone understood the answer to this problem the universe itself would collapse and something even more random and bizarre would spring forth from the ashes!"
"Easy. Rexelplax has the lemon."
Mr. Sato looked confused. "No, he said that he had two pigs. There are thousands of years of writings on this problem, and they all agree that Rexelplax has two pigs."
"Not when you speak the problem. When you tell me the conundrum you say that you have two pigs and I have two pigs. Since Rexelplax isn't speaking the problem himself but the question of who owns the lemon is still up in the air, it is obvious that Rexelplax has the lemon. He's had the lemon all this time, Mr. Sato, and nobody knew it."
He opened his mouth several times to refute the answer, only to close it every time. "Well, then that makes this the most strange and bizarre place in the world." Mr. Sato stood at attention. "Good day, madame! I'm off to...well, I don't know what I'm off to, but I'm sure to stay away from lemon trees from now on!"
Martha looked confused. "Who is this Rexelplax, and what is his...or her...conundrum?"
"Ah, Rexelplax was a brilliantly insane mathematician whose work basically made time travel possible. And as far as his famous conundrum is concerned, there isn't a good English translation of his problem."
"Try me."
"Well, if you insist." Mr. Sato cleared his throat. "If I have two pigs and you have two pigs, who has the lemon?" He crossed his arms and smiled.
"What? Is that all?"
"Err, yes? Should there be more?"
"It's just that, well, I thought there would be some big mathematical or philosophical problem to the whole thing, but it sounds like a simple riddle."
"Are you mad? This problem is one of the keys to understanding time travel...at least in its original language. How can you call this a 'simple riddle'? If someone understood the answer to this problem the universe itself would collapse and something even more random and bizarre would spring forth from the ashes!"
"Easy. Rexelplax has the lemon."
Mr. Sato looked confused. "No, he said that he had two pigs. There are thousands of years of writings on this problem, and they all agree that Rexelplax has two pigs."
"Not when you speak the problem. When you tell me the conundrum you say that you have two pigs and I have two pigs. Since Rexelplax isn't speaking the problem himself but the question of who owns the lemon is still up in the air, it is obvious that Rexelplax has the lemon. He's had the lemon all this time, Mr. Sato, and nobody knew it."
He opened his mouth several times to refute the answer, only to close it every time. "Well, then that makes this the most strange and bizarre place in the world." Mr. Sato stood at attention. "Good day, madame! I'm off to...well, I don't know what I'm off to, but I'm sure to stay away from lemon trees from now on!"