A turn of the screw There was an industrialist whose production line inexplicably breaks down, costi ng him millions

per day. He finally tracks down an expert who takes out a screwd river, turns one screw, and then - as the factory cranks back to life - presents a bill for 10,000. Affronted, the factory owner demands an itemised version. The expert is happy to oblige: "For turning a screw: 1. For knowing which screw to turn: 9,999." Author: Oliver Burkeman in "The Guardian Weekend", 13 August 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Every bucket counts Once day, having learned that the King of Fez was hunting lions in the neighbour hood, they decided to invite him and his court, and killed a number of sheep in his honour. The sovereign had dinner and went to bed. Wishing to show their gene rosity, they placed a huge goatskin bottle before his door and agreed to fill it up with milk for the royal breakfast. The villagers all had to milk their goats and then each of them had to tip his b ucket into the container. Given its great size, each of them said to himself tha t he might just as well dilute his milk with a good quantity of water without an yone noticing. To the extent that, in the morning, such a thin liquid was poured out for the ki ng and his court that it had no taste than the taste of meanness and greed. Source: "Leo The African" by Amin Maalouf