A facetious individual who was taking a long walk in the country came
upon a yokel sitting on a stile. As the gentleman was not quite sure of
his road, he thought he would make inquiries of the local inhabitant;
but at the first glance he jumped too hastily to the conclusion that he
had dropped on the village idiot. He therefore decided to test the
fellow's intelligence by first putting to him the simplest question he
could think of, which was, "What day of the week is this, my good man?"
The following is the smart answer that he received:--
"When the day after to-morrow is yesterday, to-day will be as far from
Sunday as to-day was from Sunday when the day before yesterday was
to-morrow."
Can the reader say what day of the week it was? It is pretty evident
that the countryman was not such a fool as he looked. The gentleman went
on his road a puzzled but a wiser man.
LOCOMOTION AND SPEED PUZZLES.
"The race is not to the swift."--_Ecclesiastes_ ix. II.
67.--AVERAGE SPEED.
In a recent motor ride it was found that we had gone at the rate of ten
miles an hour, but we did the return journey over the same route, owing
to the roads being more clear of traffic, at fifteen miles an hour. What
was our average speed? Do not be too hasty in your answer to this simple
little question, or it is pretty certain that you will be wrong.
68.--THE TWO TRAINS.
I put this little question to a stationmaster, and his correct answer
was so prompt that I am convinced there is no necessity to seek talented
railway officials in America or elsewhere.
Two trains start at the same time, one from London to Liverpool, the
other from Liverpool to London. If they arrive at their destinations one
hour and four hours respectively after passing one another, how much
faster is one train running than the other?
69.--THE THREE VILLAGES.
I set out the other day to ride in a motor-car from Acrefield to
Butterford, but by mistake I took the road going _via_ Cheesebury, which
is nearer Acrefield than Butterford, and is twelve miles to the left of
the direct road I should have travelled. After arriving at Butterford I
found that I had gone thirty-five miles. What are the three distances
between these villages, each being a whole number of miles? I may
mention that the three roads are quite straight.
70.--DRAWING HER PENSION.
"Speaking of odd figures," said a gentleman who occupies some post in a
Government office, "one of the queerest characters I know is an old lame
widow who climbs up a hill every week to draw her pension at the village
post office. She crawls up at the rate of a mile and a half an hour and
comes down at the rate of four and a half miles an hour, so that it
takes her just six hours to make the double journey. Can any of you tell
me how far it is from the bottom of the hill to the top?"
[Illustration]
71.--SIR EDWYN DE TUDOR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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