What’s all this about camels?

Well, that's quite a story. So here goes:

A long time ago, in a far off land, the Sultan heard petitions from his beloved people.

One young man asked the Sultan to help solve a problem caused by the death of his Father. "You see", he said. "My father left 17 camels in his will, one half for my eldest brother, one third for my younger brother, and one ninth for me. The problem is that we will have to kill some of the camels in order to abide by our late fathers wishes, and there is no point in doing that."

The Sultan thought for a moment, and proceeded to order his Vizier to give the three brothers one of the camels from the Royal Stable.

"That is very generous of you, your Eminence, but how does your gift help us?", the young man asked.

"You now have 18 camels", said the Sultan. "Give your eldest brother half of them, that is 9 camels. Your younger brother shall have one third of them, which is 6, and you shall have one ninth, which is 2 camels. Your father's wishes will thus be granted."

"But that is only 17 camels in total", said the young man. "What shall we do with the 18th one?"

The Sultan replied, "By the grace of all that is great, you may return the one that is left to the Vizier to place once more in my stable."

What you seek may not be as difficult as you imagine - you just need an 18th camel.