The old man looked bemusedly at the heaped pile of mattresses that had been placed all too precariously upon the bed frame. He stood, considering his options of, either climbing to the top, or removing them from the bottom level one by one until a sensible number remained. That number ‘being’ one.
He added another option, option three, to the mix; this was to climb to the top, like that princess, and attempting to slumber at a height.
The old man chose option three – who’d have thought it?
After an expedition, which would would have been made easier by the assistance of a Sherpa Tensing character, the old man reached the summit, and lay down upon the toppermost mattress.
But, the old man, he just couldn’t get comfortable. Whether it was the altitude, or the softness or firmness of the mattress wasn’t something he could work out, but by removing a mattress and trying the next sleeping surface – which each time proved to be no better – the old man gradually brought the column of mattresses down, one by one.
until, at last, all the mattresses had been cast aside to reveal…
“A pea!” exclaimed the old man, who then proceeded to eat it.
Well, what else did you expect?
Graeme Sandford 