The Three Kingdoms

There's a far-off country that consists of a perfectly triangular lake surrounded by land, with three kingdoms on the three sides of the lake. The First Kingdom is rich and powerful, filled with wealthy, prosperous people. The Second Kingdom is more humble, but has its fair share of wealth and power, as well. The Third Kingdom, however, is struggling and poor, and barely has any army to speak of.

All three kingdoms eventually go to war over control of the lake, as it's a valuable resource to have. The First Kingdom sends 100 of their finest knights, clad in the best armor, each with their own personal squire. The Second Kingdom sends 50 of their knights, with fine leather armor and a few dozen squires of their own. The Third Kingdom sends their one and only knight, an elderly warrior who has long since passed his prime, with one humble squire.

The night before the big battle, the knights in the First Kingdom drink and make merry, partying into the wee hours of the morning. The knights of the Second Kingdom aren't quite as well off, but have their own supply of grog, and also drink well into the night.

In the third camp, the faithful squire gets a rope, ties it into a noose, and slings it over the branch of a tall tree. From this, he hangs a pot and fills it with stew. He and the elderly knight then have a humble dinner together.

The next morning, the knights in the first two kingdoms are completely hung over, and unable to fight, while the knight from the Third Kingdom, being at such an advanced age, is unable to get up from his bed. 

In their place, the squires from all three kingdoms go out to meet each other on the field of battle. The combat rages all day and into the night, and by the time all the dust has settled, only one person was left standing - the squire from the Third Kingdom.

This all goes to show that the squire of the high pot and noose is equal to the sum of the squires of the other two sides.