Just for fun

Here's a puzzle I found in a recently bought second-hand book. Post your answer(s) in the comments box and I'll reveal all in a week (unless everyone gets it right).

A man is looking at a portrait. Someone asks him who it is of and he replies "Brothers and sisters I have none. This man's father is my father's son."
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Will said…
Brave of you to be the first reply but sadly you're not right. I should say that when I tried this out with J she said the same as you and even after I explained the real answer it took about 45 minutes before she would accept it. Apparently this is one of those puzzles that causes strife!
11:10 am
Will said…
Actually Moose is spot on. It's interesting how we tend to hear (or see) 'this man is my father's son' when it is really 'this man's "father" is my father's son.' If we accept that 'may father's son' could be expressed as me (sorry about the sexism) then it becomes 'this man's father is me' which is much clearer. I've spent the whole week torturing myself with these things.
2:51 pm
fjl said…
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6:15 pm
Will said…
It comes from a book called 'What is the name of this book?' by (can't remember his first name) Smullyan. It was published in 1980 and I found a copy in a second hand shop. It's a wonderful book (literally) and can still be found on Amazon. It'll cause trouble though.
12:03 pm
Will said…
You're right. Even in the book I got it from the author comments on how long its been around.
8:29 pm
fjl said…
Thanks Will.

Sorry I deleted my earlier post making an enquiry about where Will got this fun puzzle by accident.
11:01 am
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