From: <ATLCK@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Farmhands last Chicken - An Allegory

Once upon a time, many generations ago (local time), a Frenchman named
Pierre de Farmhand pondered his flock of chickens. Why, he mused, are
none of my chickens blue? I shall try to create a blue chicken! He
tried and tried, breeding every which way by twos and threes and all
manner of combinations. Then one day, while he was filling in his
diary, it came to him in a flash of insight -- Of course! I see why!!
Suddenly I understand why it is impossible for two or more chickens to
breed and make a blue chicken!! I must explain this to the world, but
for the moment I will make a notation in the margin of my diary as
there is not enough room to explain it here. It is truly a wonderful
and clever bit of reasoning, no wonder I missed it for so long.

Pierre announced to all his friends who he had interested in trying to
make a blue chicken that he now know it was impossible, but,
unfortunately, things being so busy as they were on the farm, Pierre
never got around to explaining how he know this. But everyone
believed him anyway, because they had not seen or been able to breed
any blue chickens either.

After Pierre passed on to his reward, his fame grew and grew because
nobody could produce a blue chicken, and, even more perplexing, not
even the brightest and best could see what Pierre had discovered which
convinced him that blue chickens were impossible. The puzzle came to be
known as "Farmhands last Chicken".

Who could anticipate that one day a man named Lostwig Pestonium of
Hangover, while washing in his dishwater, would shout "EUREKA!!!"
After all, Lostwig was not even a farmer! He dashed out the door and ran
screaming down the information superhighway - "Atom-ca-dabra!!! I
have it!!! Farmhands last chicken is FALSE! No wonder none of you
fools could prove it!!! Are you guys lucky I showed up! You have all
been wasting your time. Here is one of my 36 proofs - try to understand
it if you can:

Chickens can fly. Birds can fly. Birds are generalized chickens. Your
definition of chicken includes birds. And everybody knows birds can
be blue, otherwise how could there be a bluebird of happiness?
THEREFORE CHICKENS CAN BE BLUE AND FARMHANDS LAST CHICKEN IS FALSE!!!"

And, forsooth and by golly, Lostwig's insight and methods of reasoning
led him also to multiple solutions of the twin chicken problem, the
four color chicken problem, the infinitude of chickens, and the remnant
chicken hypothesis.

And everybody was left awestruck, but not speechless.