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Pleasant Questions in Arithmetic.
LET the party that thinketh, double the number on which he thought; which done, bid him multiply the sum of them both by five, and give you the product, which they will never refuse to do, it being so far above the number thought; from which, if you abate the last figure of the product, (which will always be a cypher or five) the number thought on will remain.
Example. Let the number thought be 55, which doubled make 110, and multiplied by 5, makes 550; then if you take away the cypher, which is the last place, there will remain 55, the number thought on.
A certain man having three daughters, to the eldest he gave twenty-two apples, to the second he gave sixteen apples, and to the third he gave ten apples, and sent them to the market to sell them, and gave them command to sell one as many for a penny as the other, (namely 7 a penny) and every one to bring him home as much money as the other, and neither to change their apples or monies one with another; how can that be?
This to some may seem impossible, but to arithmaticians very easy. For where the eldest had three penny-worth and one apple over, the second two penny-worth and three apples over, and the youngest had one penny-worth and three apples over; so that the youngest had so many single apples and one penny-worth as the eldest had penny-worths and one apple over, and consequently the second proportioned to them both. They made their market thus; a steward coming to buy fruit to his lady, bought all the apples they had at seven a penny, leaving the odd ones behind; then had the eldest threepence and one apple. The middle sister had twopence and two apples, and the youngest one penny and three apples. The stewart brought the fruit to his lady, she liked
