Tale 82: The Farmhand's Riddle (Misty)

(real tale: The Tiller and the Monk)

"There was once a young farmhand that was traveling home from town one night, and decided to rest at the inn for the night." Misty begins. "He befriended a miko, or priestess, that was on a great journey while he was there. While at first, he enjoyed listening to the miko's deep wisdom, but as the night wore on, he started to tire of the miko's constant talking about anything and everything."

Giggles fill the air at this. "The miko also noticed the farmhand was getting bored, and proposed a challenge of wits." Misty continues. "The farmhand initially refused--he was tired, and wanted to go to bed." More laughter goes up as Misty feigns a yawn. "But the miko kept offering more and more gold as a prize until he finally relented. They agreed that the miko would give the farmhand fifty coins if she were stumped by a question of his, and he would give her five coins if he were stumped by a question of hers."

Piqued murmurs race through the crowd as they speculate on what questions will be asked. "The miko's first question was 'How do you measure the volume of an irregularly shaped object?'" Misty glances around the tent for any volunteers brave enough to answer.

"Don't you put the object in water?" Ash muses.

"Then you measure how much the water level rises and subtract that from how much water you started with." Brock explains. "The answer you get from that is the volume of the object."

"Professor Brock saves the day again." Melody smiles.

Misty's voice quiets the chatter. "The farmhand thought for an hour or two, but couldn't come up with an answer, and so he gave the miko five coins."

Laughter goes up as Misty pantomimes giving Ash five coins. "He then asked the miko 'What has the heart of a Raikou, the wisdom of an Braviary, and the strength of a Tauros?'"

The tent falls silent at the question. "The miko was stunned by the question--she spent the rest of the night contemplating an answer." Misty continues. "Finally, when morning came, she gave the farmhand fifty pieces as she promised, amazed at the farmhand's wisdom."

She concludes "As for the answer to the farmhand's riddle? The Pokemon Master has the heart of a Raikou, the wisdom of a Braviary, and the strength of a Tauros."

"Ash's Braviary needs some work, but he does have the Raikou and the Tauros, at least." Melody notes as she applauds.