While on my way 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, wives;

How many were going to St. Ives?

Preface: First of all, more information is needed to determine whether they are traveling the same direction or opposite directions (either could be true dependant on the means of transportation [ie you are more likely to be traveling the same direction as another person on your train]) Second, I think the real question is can a woman carry nearly 400 felines? And is having so many cats in a sack humane?

These are the possibilities I came up with depending on interpretation: 0, 1, 2, 2802, 2800

0: as I said before, the statement ends after the fifth line, then the question is: 'kits, cats, sacks, wives; how many were going to Saint Ives?' assuming that you are traveling in different directions.
1: assuming that you are traveling in different directions, then I'm the only one going to St. Ives
2: I met a man who was also going to St. Ives, he told me about his seven wives, etc. (but they were not joining him on his jorney)
2802: me, the other man, his seven wives, all the sacks, cats and kits
2800: assuming that everyone is headed the same direction, sticking to the actual question.

Posted by Hank on 2003-05-19 10:02:15