It had been six weeks since the late king was buried . As custom demanded, the elders had convened at the palace to decide who the next king will be.The Onowu of the kingdom started the meeting . "The reality of things is that the King is dead and the mantle then falls on us to select the next king. The king's two wives gave birth to male children simultaneously, so that rules out age as a criterion. I was with the King in the last moments of his life and he told me how the next king should be determined." The elders nodded their heads as the Onowu concluded. Prince Ebube and Prince Ebuka was summoned to hear the test.
When the two princes arrived, the Onowu began." According to the king, there are 3 princesses in Isiagwu village , one is young, one is a little older and one is old. Each of them will be given a tag so that they can be differentiated from one another . One of the princesses always tells the truth, one never tells the truth and one sometimes tells the truth and sometimes not.
The late king wanted the next king to marry a princess whom he can trust. Therefore it must be the princess that always tells the truth or the princess that never tells the truth (he can just negate her answers for the rest of their marriage). Before he chooses the princess he wish to marry, he can ask one and only one princess a single question. She must only answer the question by yes or no. The king also said that neither of you could ask the question 'who is more truthful', the first one to get the answer wins. You only have one try, meaning if one of you tries first and fails, the other person automatically becomes king. He instructed me to be acting king till one of you wins."
Prince Ebuka went to meet his friends for advice and they told him that the riddle was impossible to answer. They advised him to wait and let Prince Ebube try and fail. Ebube on the other hand was courageous and decided to visit an old wise man that stays in the forbidden forest Ebube went to the forbidden forest and after different ordeals he met the old man. The old man was pleased at his display of courage and told him how to solve the riddle. "Ask the middle one if the youngest is more truthful than the eldest. If the answer is "no" then marry the youngest, otherwise marry the eldest. That way, if the middle one is the liar, you are guaranteed to marry the most truthful of the remaining two. If the middle one is the truthful one, then you are guaranteed to marry the least truthful of the remaining two. If the middle one sometimes tells the truth and sometimes lies then it doesn't matter which of the other two you marry.
#ANSACHILDRENLITERATURECONTEST
ANENE EBUBECHUKWU ANTHONY
