The Twelve Shields
Friday, July 8th, 2016Twelve captured soldiers were presented to Tamerlane, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, in his palace.
“I feel generous today as it is the birthday of my favorite concubine, Lalila, and we have killed enough people this week and built sufficient skull pyramids. You all fought bravely against your capture.”
“Each of you will be blindfolded and ordered to throw your round shield onto the extensive checkered floor. If your shield does not fall completely into a square you will be offered a position in my army, otherwise you will be thrown to the lions,” Tamerlane said with a generous smile.
“By the way,” Tamerlane grinned, “to facilitate your considerations, my court mathematician has measured that precisely four of your round shields can be placed side by side to make up the length of three squares of the checker pattern on the floor. I will give you some moments to think about this, brave soldiers,” he added cheerfully.
The soldiers quickly got busy discussing their fate, one talking about mind over matter.
About how many soldiers would you bet even money on not winding up in the lion pits?