• The Two Brothers And The Horses

    The time had come when the father of two sons was to decide who would receive his fortune.

    The father said, \”You will both race your horses to the nearest city. The owner of whichever horse arrives at the gates second will receive my fortune.\”

    Confused, both brothers rode their horses toward the city as slowly as they could.

    Outside the gates they loitered for a few days, neither wanting to be the first to enter the gates.

    As luck would have it, a great sage was passing by.

    Seeing him, the brothers pleaded for his wisdom. The great sage said two words, whereupon the brothers quickly mounted and raced as fast as they could through the gates of the city.

    What was the great sage’s advice?

    Spoiler

    The great sage told them to \”swap horses\”. It is the second horse, not the person, to reach the city gates that wins fortune for its owner. 🙂

  • Four People And The Bridge

    Four people must cross a rickety bridge at night.

    Unfortunately, they have only one torch and the bridge is too dangerous to cross without one.

    The bridge can only hold two of them at a time.

    The four people cross at different speeds: Times for each person: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 7 minutes and 10 minutes.

    What is the shortest time in which they can all cross?

    Spoiler

    1 and 2 minute-person cross first

    2 minute-person comes back

    7 and 10 minute-person go across the bridge

    1 minute-person comes back

    Finally, 1 and 2 minute-person cross the bridge (voilà)

    Total time (shortest) = 2 + 2 + 10 + 1 + 2 = 17 mins. 🙂

  • The Farmer, The Fox And The Chicken

    A farmer is standing on one bank of a river, with a fox, a chicken, and a bag of grain.

    He needs to get to the other side of the river, taking the fox, the chicken, and the grain with him.

    However, the boat used to cross the river is only large enough to carry the farmer and one of the things he needs to take with him, so he will need to make several trips in order to get everything across.

    In addition, he cannot leave the fox unattended with the chicken, or else the fox will eat the chicken; and he cannot leave the chicken unattended with the grain, or else the chicken will eat the grain.

    The fox is not particularly partial to grain and may be left alone with it.

    How can the farmer get everything across the river without anything being eaten?

    Spoiler

    1. The farmer takes the chicken across first, leaving the fox and grain together on the other side.

    2. He returns and gets the fox, but when he deposits the fox on the other side, he takes the chicken back across, so that the fox and chicken are not left alone together.

    3.He drops the chicken off, picks up the grain, and takes it across to deposit with the fox.

    4. Finally, he returns to retrieve the chicken and takes it to the other side. At no time are the fox and chicken left alone together, nor are the chicken and grain. 🙂

  • Life\’s Funny

    \”Life\’s funny\”, said an old friend when I bumped into him the other day.

    Listen to this, \”I was born in March, yet I celebrate my birthday in August, and last February I married my mother\”.

    How is this possible?

    Spoiler

    Simple! 🙂 He was born in August in a town called March, became a priest and married his widowed mother to her second husband in February. 😛

  • Life\’s Funny

    \”Life\’s funny\”, said an old friend when I bumped into him the other day.

    Listen to this, \”I was born in March, yet I celebrate my birthday in August, and last February I married my mother\”.

    How is this possible?

    Spoiler

    Simple! 🙂 He was born in August in a town called March, became a priest and married his widowed mother to her second husband in February. 😛