ins_ampm@jhunix.UUCP (Michael P McKenna) (02/22/86)
I've only been reading this group for a short time so I don't
know if this has ever been posted. Please forgive me if it has.
Anyway this is Puzzles From Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.
(I suppose it's safe to assume that almost everyone here has
read Alice in Wonderland, but not this?)
The book I got this from did not have a copyright notice so I can
actually post this legally. It consists of seven seperate puzzles.
Please do NOT post answers, as I will post Carroll's poetic answers
in about a week or so.
I
Dreaming of apples on a wall,
And dreaming often dear,
I dreamed that, if I counted all,
--How many would appear?
II
A stick I found that weighed two pound;
I sawed it up one day
In pieces eight of equal weight!
How much did each piece weigh?
(Everybody says "a quarter of a point," which is wrong)
III
John gave his brother James a box;
About it there were many locks.
James woke and said it game him pain;
So gave it back to John again.
The box was not with lid supplied,
Yet caused two lids to open wide;
And all these locks had never a key--
What kind of box, then, could it be?
IV
What is most like a bee in May?
"Well, let me think: perhaps--" you say.
Bravo! You're guessing well today!
V
Three sisters at breakfast were feeding the cat,
The first gave it sole--Puss was grateful for that;
The next gave it salmon--which Puss thought a treat;
The third gave it herring--which Puss wouldn't eat.
(Explain the conduct of the cat.)
VI
Said the Moon to the Sun,
"Is the daylight begun?"
Said the Sun to the Moon,
"Not a minute too soon."
"You're a Full Moon," said he.
She replied with a frown,
"Well! I never did see
So uncivil a clown!"
(Query: Why was the moon so angry?)
VII
When the King found that his money was nearly all gone, and that
he really MUST live more economically, he decided on sending away
most of his Wise Men. There were some hundreds of them--very fine old
men, and magnicifently dressed in green velvet gowns with gold buttons;
if the HAD a fault, it was that they always contradicted one another
when he asked for their advice--and they certainly ate and drank
enormously. So, on the whole, he was rather glad to get rid of them.
But there was an old law, which he did not dare to disobey, which said
that there must always be
"Seven blind of both eyes:
Two blink of one eye:
Four that see with both eyes:
Nine that see with one eye."
(Query. How many did he keep?)
That's it, solutions next week.
Dwight S. Wilson
"WARNING: Above contents contain LETTERS and WORDS. USE WITH CARE!
Improper use may lead to THOUGHTS and IDEAS. If you find
yourself forming OPINIONS, contact your physician immediately."