Fiction  |  Lewis Carroll  |  Bruno's Revenge  |  A Tangled Tale

Bruno's Revenge — A Tangled Tale (Part 24 of 43)

`Yet stay,' said the youth, as a gleam of inspiration lighted up the relaxing muscles of his quiescent features `Stay. Methinks it matters little when we reached that summit, the crown of our toil. For in the space of time wherein we clambered up one mile and bounded down the same on our return, we could have trudged the twain on the level. We have plodded, then, four-and-twenty miles in these six mortal hours; for never a moment did we stop for catching of fleeting breath or for gazing on the scene around!'

`Very good,' said the old man. `Twelve miles out and twelve miles in. And we reached the top sometime between six and seven of the clock. Now mark me! For every five minutes that had fled since six of the clock when we stood on yonder peak, so many miles had we toiled upwards on the dreary mountain- side!'

The youth moaned and rushed into the hostel.

BLITHE

The elder and the younger knight
   They sallied forth at three;
How far they went on level ground
   It matters not to me;
What time they reached the foot of hill,
   When they began to mount,
Are problems which I hold to be
   Of very small account.

The moment that each waved his hat
   Upon the topmost peak--
To trivial query such as this
   No answer will I seek.
Yet can I tell the distance well
   They must have travelled o'er:
On hill and plain, 'twixt three and nine,
   The miles were twenty-four.

Four miles an hour their steady pace
   Along the level track,
Three when they climbed--but six when they
   Came swiftly striding back
Adown the hill; and little skill
   It needs, methinks, to show,
Up hill and down together told,
   Four miles an hour they go.

For whether long or short the time
   Upon the hill they spent,
Two thirds were passed in going up,
   One third in the descent.
Two thirds at three, one third at six,
   If rightly reckoned o'er,
Will make one whole at four--the tale
  Is tangled now no more.

SIMPLE SUSAN
MONEY-SPINNER

ANSWERS TO KNOT TWO
1. The Dinner Party

Problem. The Governor of Kgovjni wants to give a very small dinner party, and invites his father's brother- in-law, his brother's father-in-law, his father-in-law's brother, and his brother-in-law's father. Find the number of guests.

Answer. One.

In this genealogy, males are denoted by capitals, and females by small letters.

The Governor is E and his guest is C.

Ten answers have been received. Of these, one is wrong, GALANTHUS NIVALIS MAJOR, who insists on inviting two guests, one being the Governor's wife's brother's father. If she had taken his sister's husband's father instead, she would have found it possible to reduce the guests to one.

Of the nine who send right answers, SEA-BREEZE is the very faintest breath that ever bore the name! She simply states that the Governor's uncle might fulfil all the conditions `by intermarriages'! `Wind of the western sea', you have had a very narrow escape! Be thankful to appear in the Class List at all! BOG-OAK and BRADSHAW OF THE FUTURE use genealogies which require 16 people instead of 14, by inviting the Governor's father's sister's husband instead of his father's wife's brother. I cannot think this so good a solution as one that requires only 14. CAIUS and VALENTINE deserve special mention as the only two who have supplied genealogies.

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