A Rhyming Riddle
Set to Music
A Riddle that Invites a Solution
| As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks; Each sack had seven cats; Each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks and wives: How many were going to St Ives? |
| Solution |
| One man, plus |
| Seven wives = 1 + 7, with |
| Seven sacks = 1 + 7 + (7 × 7)—or 7 squared—with |
| Seven cats = 1 + 7 + (7 squared) + (7 × 7 × 7)—or 7 cubed—with |
| Seven kits. = 1 + 7 + (7 squared) + (7 cubed) + (7 × 7 × 7 × 7)—or 7 to the fourth power—EQUALS |
| One. “I” was going “to” St. Ives. “They” were coming “from” St. Ives. |
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https://1000-good-songs.org/p/1099