Sir Isaac Newton and His Dinner

4.8

One day a gentleman wanted to see Sir Isaac Newton just before dinnertime. The servant told him that Sir Isaac was working in his study.

The visitor, who wished to speak to Newton about something important, asked for permission to wait till Newton went in to dinner, and so sat down in the dining room. After a few minutes, the servant brought in Newton’s dinner—a boiled chicken under a silver cover. An hour passed and Newton did not appear. The gentleman began to feel hungry. Soon he looked under the cover, saw the chicken and began to eat it. When only the bones remained he covered the dish and told the servant to boil another chicken. But before that was ready, Newton came down to dinner. When he found the gentleman in the dining-room, he said, “I beg your pardon, Sir, I am sorry you waited so long. But just allow me to take my short dinner first, for I am quite tired and hungry; I shall soon be at your service.”

After these words, he lifted the cover, but found that the dish was empty. He smiled and said, “See, Sir, what we learned people are! I quite forgot; it seems that I had my dinner earlier.”