MISCELLANEOUS PUZZLES
76.—The Perplexed Cellarman.
Here is a little puzzle culled from the traditions of an old
monastery in the West of England. Abbot Francis, it seems, was a
very worthy man ; and his methods of equity extended to those
little acts of charity for which he was noted for miles round.
The Abbot, moreover, had a fine taste in wines. On one
occasion he sent for the cellarman, and complained that a particular
bottling was not to his palate.
" Pray tell me, Brother John, how much of this wine thou didst
bottle withal."
" A fair dozen in large bottles, my lord abbot, and the like
in the small," replied the cellarman, " whereof five of each have
been drunk in the refectory."
"So be it. There be three varlets waiting at the gate. Let the
two dozen bottles be given unto them, both full and empty, and see
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