THE MERRY MONKS OF RIDDLEWELL
41.—
The Riddle of the Fishpond.
Number the fish baskets in the illustration from 1 to 12 in the
direction that Brother Jonathan is seen to be going. Starting from
1, proceed as follows, where "1 to 4" means take the fish from
basket No. 1 and transfer it to basket No. 4 :—
1 to 4, 5 to 8, 9 to 12, 3 to 6, 7 to 10, 11 to 2, and complete
the last revolution to 1, making three revolutions in all. Or you can
proceed this way :—
4 to 7, 8 to 11, 12 to 3, 2 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 1.
It is easy to solve in four revolutions, but the solutions in three are
more difficult to discover.
42.—
The Riddle of the Pilgrims.
If it were not for the Abbot's conditions that the number of guests
in any room may not exceed three, and that every room must be
occupied, it would have been possible to accommodate either 24, 27,
30, 33, 36, 39, or 42 pilgrims. But to accommodate 24 pilgrims,
so that there shall be twice as many sleeping on the upper floor as
on the lower floor, and eleven persons on each side of the building,
it will be found necessary to leave some of the rooms empty. If, on
the other hand, we try to put up 33, 36, 39 or 42 pilgrims, we shall
find that, in every case, we are obliged to place more than three
persons in some of the rooms. Thus we know that the number of
pilgrims originally announced (whom, it will be remembered, it was
possible to accommodate under the conditions of the Abbot) must
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