Consider two equilateral triangles $ABC$ and $MNP$ with the property that $AB \parallel MN, BC \parallel NP$ and $CA \parallel PM$ , so that the surfaces of the triangles intersect after a convex hexagon. The distances between the three pairs of parallel lines are at most equal to $1$. Show that at least one of the two triangles has the side at most equal to $\sqrt {3}$ .