Columbus and the Egg

Most people have heard the many references to the story of Columbus and the egg.   So how I missed it.  So here is the story as handed down from Columbus.

After Columbus returned from his voyage many of the couriers were jealous of him.   Many were mocking him, saying  “anybody could have done what you did just by sailing steadily westward.”

“To be sure,” said the Columbus, “but I’ll show you something you can’t do.” Calling for a hard boiled egg, he asked them to make it stand steady on its smallest end.   They all tried, but with no luck.

Then Columbus took a knife, and with a stroke flattened the end so that the egg stood firmly on the table.

 “Oh,” cried the courtiers, “we did not know you meant us to do it that way. That’s easy.”

“Anything is easy if you know how,” answered Columbus; “so it is with the discovery of the new world.”