Four Less One Is Three

"Counting is good," said Ronnie, "but are we not forgetting what we came out here for. I am starving. Where's my apple?" And, with this words, he tossed the apple into his mouth.

"Wait!" squeeked MeeMee, "Wait!" But it was too late. "Mmm," Ronnie closed his eyes enjoying the juicy fruit.

"Hey, you, glutton. Couldn't you wait a second. I wanted so much to count our snacks once more. Just one more time," MeeMee said with tears in his voice. "What am I going to do now?"

Ronnie swallowed the remains of his apple. "Why? You can count what is still here. Of course you can. Look ..."

"No, no, wait," cried MeeMee. "Let me do that."

And MeeMee began to count as before: "The sandwich is one, the apple is not here, banana is three, and orange is four… That's four snacks!"

"How can that be," intervened Gerri. "From where I am there are only three snacks. Ronnie has gobbled his apple. Four less one is three. Only three snacks remain. Sandwich, banana and orange."

MeeMee was startled. "Oops. Did I do anything wrong?" And he began at great speed, "The sandwich is one, the apple is not here, banana is three, and orange is four… That's four snacks! Isn't that so?"

Jerri sighed, "Of course, not! I am telling you: there are only three snacks."

"But, when we counted them before, banana was number three and the orange number four. All I did was repeating my last count."

"Ah," said Jerri, "I see. You are simply confused. Count them in a different order. Don't you remember what we learned before: it does not matter how you count."

"Remember we once counted differently?" She scratched her head. "Banana is one, orange is two, apple is three, and the sandwich is four."

"We could also make apple the last. See: banana is one, orange two, the sandwich three, and the apple four."

"And what happens after Ronnie eats his apple? Banana is one, orange two, the sandwich three, and there nothing else to count. There are just three snacks, you see?"

"I certainly do," said MeeMee peevishly. "But what is wrong with my first count? The sandwich is one, the apple is not here, banana is three, and orange is four… That's four snacks!"

Ronnie listened to the debate thoughtfully. Now he broke his silence. "I'll tell you what is wrong with your first count, MeeMee. In fact, two things are wrong there," he smiled to himself.

"First, you know, you can start anywhere. One time it was orange that was one and then it was sandwich. One is where you point first. It could be anything: apple, banana, orange, or sandwich. One is not like a label or a name, it's simply the first thing to count."

"Four," he continued, "is the last thing to count, if there are four things of course. And when there are four, any one of them can be the last."

"Ah," said MeeMee, "I see. Now I know what else went wrong. I counted the apple as if it was there. It was number two before. But, after Ronnie chewed it up, I had to point the count two to some other snack. This way I would have only counted the snacks that were there."

"Oh, boy! That business of counting can sure make one hungry. Would you mind letting me have my sandwich. The apple was good. Truth be told, I could use a few more. We now know that numbers are not quite as names or labels, but a lunch is a lunch. Let's please move on."

Remember: Numbers are not quite as names or labels.

Everyone thought Ronnie was being very wise. Gerri picked her orange, MeeMee began to peel his banana, and Ronnie - Ronnie almost choked on his sandwich so hungry he was.

The friends snoozed after the lunch; MeeMee dreamed of dancing snacks. They danced in pairs and all four together in a circle. From time to time, they would line up one after another. Sometimes the apple was first and sometimes the orange but the order kept changing. He was awaken by a fly on his nose just when the sandwich managed to get first in the line.