Of Squires and Sums

[blueeowyn]

There were three Medieval kingdoms on the shores of a lake. There was an island in the middle of the lake, which the kingdoms had been fighting over for years. Finally, the three kings decided that they would send their knights out to do battle, and the winner would take the island.

The night before the battle, the knights and their squires pitched camp and readied themselves for the fight. The first kingdom had 12 knights and each knight had 5 squires, all of whom were busily polishing armor, brushing horses and cooking food. The second kingdom had 20 knights and each knight had 10 squires. Everyone at that camp was also busy preparing for battle. At the camp of the third kingdom, there was only one knight, with his squire. This squire took a large pot and hung it from a looped rope in a tall tree. He busied himself preparing the meal, while the knight polished his own armor.

When the hour of the battle came, the three kingdoms sent their squires out to fight (this was too trivial a matter for the knights
to join in). The battle raged and when the dust cleared, the only person left was the lone squire from the third kingdom, having
defeated the squires from the other two kingdoms. Thus proving that the squire of the high pot and noose is equal to the sum of the
squires of the other two sides.

OK, so I was stretching the period a bit

One of the follow-up comments
So there was this math teacher, who put a potted plant on top of a tall bookshelf. When asked what it was, he replied, "It is a high pot in use...