Definition:Donkey and Mule Problem/Historical Note

Historical Note on Donkey and Mule Problem

The earliest known occurrence of a Donkey and Mule problem is in a piece of Greek verse attributed to Euclid.

Since then it has appeared in many places, and crops up regularly in puzzle anthologies.

The general form:

Let $\tuple {a, b, c, d}$ denote the general problem:

If I had $a$ from you I'd have $b$ times as many as you.

If I had $c$ from you I'd have $d$ times as much as you.

appears never to have been completely explored.