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One day, when the
monks were seated at their
repast, the Abbot
announced
that a messenger had that morning brought news that a number of
pilgrims
were on the road and would require their hospitality.
"You will put
them," he said, "in the square
dormitory that
has two
floors with eight rooms on each floor.
There must be eleven persons
sleeping on each side of the building, and twice as many on the upper
floor as on the lower floor.
Of course every room must be occupied, and
you know my rule that not more than three persons may occupy the same
room."
I give a plan of
the two floors, from which it
will be seen
that the
sixteen rooms are approached by a well staircase in the centre. After
the
monks had solved this little problem and arranged for the
accommodation,
the pilgrims arrived, when it was found that they were three more in
number than was at first stated.
This necessitated a reconsideration of
the question, but the wily monks succeeded in getting over the new
difficulty without breaking the Abbot's rules.
The curious point of
this
puzzle is to discover the total number of pilgrims.
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