The cheesemonger places sixteen cheeses on the floor in a straight row and then makes them into four piles, with four cheeses in every pile, by always passing a cheese over four others. 
If you use sixteen counters and number them in order from 1 to 16, then you may place 1 on 6, 11 on 1, 7 on 4, and so on, until there are four in every pile. 
It will be seen that it does not matter whether the four passed over are standing alone or piled; they count just the same, and you can always carry a cheese in either direction. 
There are a great many different ways of doing it in twelve moves, so it makes a good game of "patience" to try to solve it so that the four piles shall be left in different stipulated places. 
For example, try to leave the piles at the extreme ends of the row, on Nos. 1, 2, 15 and 16; this is quite easy. 
Then try to leave three piles together, on Nos. 13, 14, and 15. 
Then again play so that they shall be left on Nos. 3, 5, 12, and 14.