Secret of Life

There was once an old man who knew the answer to everything. When a young boy came to him seeking the secret of life, the man said, "Come, and I will show you." The old man then put two grains of rice on the first space of a chess board. He said, "Let these two grains of rice represent your first year of living. Forever onward, each year will have exactly two times of grains of rice as the year preceding it." After the man said this, he put four grains of rice on the second space, eight grains of rice on the third space, and so on, until he put eighteen quintillion, four hundred and forty-six quadrillion, seven hundred and forty-four trillion, seventy-three billion, seven hundred and nine million, five hundred and fifty-one thousand, and six hundred and sixteen grains of rice on the sixty-fourth space. The old man said, "The secret of life is to be selfless and kind. Your rewards will only grow if you are."

This story is inspired by the Ready Grade 6 Mathematics textbook, made by Curriculum Associates.