It happened once upon a time that the good people of Chelm – whom as they themselves will admit have been endowed by the Creator with truly astonishing wisdom – found themselves faced with a certain problem. The village of Chelm was built on a hill of lofty and noble aspect, but the source of water was a pond down in the valley below. This meant that every day the villagers had to carry buckets down to the pond, and then, heavily laden, trudge back up the hill. One day after prayers they began to discuss this matter.

“The problem is,” said one, “that the pond is very far away from the village.” The others nodded in agreement.

“It is,” said another, “no less than two versts* from the tree at the north-east corner of the house of the rabbi to the pond. That means a return journey of four versts!”

“Far too far,” the others said. “We must shorten the distance.”

All recognised at once it was the obvious solution. Therefore, after some more discussion, it was decided by common agreement that the distance would be reduced to merely one verst. But one young man objected. “Why one whole verst?” he said. “Why not make it just half a verst?”

Then one of the elders of the village said, “That shows the foolishness of youth. Young one, you don’t realise that if the pond was so close to the village, the damp air would be a danger to the health! When your own joints get old, may God forbid, you will know what I mean!”

*An old measure of distance, approximately equal to a kilometre.