A long, long time ago in China, there was a very clever little boy named Cao Chong. Cao Chong's father was Cao Cao. Cao Cao had a great deal of territory and wealth, and there were all kinds of amazing things in his palace, including an elephant. This elephant was huge. Its body was like a thick wall, and its four legs were like sturdy pillars. Its long trunk swung back and forth, looking very majestic.
One day, Cao Cao wanted to know exactly how much this elephant weighed. So he asked his ministers, "Who among you has a way to weigh this elephant?" The ministers looked at each other, all feeling very troubled. Because the elephant was so large that at that time there was no scale big enough to weigh it directly.
At this time, Cao Chong, who was only six years old, stepped forward. He said to Cao Cao, "Father, I have a way to weigh the elephant." Cao Cao was very surprised and curious, and he asked Cao Chong, "What's your method?" Cao Chong replied, "We can drive the elephant onto a large boat and see how much the boat sinks. Then make a mark on the side of the boat. Next, lead the elephant off the boat and load stones onto the boat until the boat sinks to the marked place. Then weigh the stones on the boat. Wouldn't we then know the weight of the elephant?" Cao Cao thought this method was wonderful.
So everyone did as Cao Chong said. They found a large boat and drove the elephant onto it. Sure enough, the boat sank a little, and the ministers made a mark on the side of the boat. Then they led the elephant off the boat and brought many stones, loading them onto the boat one by one. Slowly, the boat sank again to the marked place.
Finally, the ministers weighed the stones on the boat one by one and added up the weights of all the stones. This total weight was the weight of the elephant. The ministers all praised Cao Chong as a little prodigy. Cao Cao was also very happy. He thought his son was very intelligent and full of wisdom. The story of Cao Chong weighing the elephant has been passed down in this way and has become a famous story of wisdom in Chinese history, making people realize that sometimes as long as one is good at thinking and uses ingenious methods, difficult problems can be easily solved.
