As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks.
Each sack had seven cats.
Each cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
The answer will be posted here in the comments tomorrow. Meanwhile, see if you can answer the riddle. Correct answers will be run through a hopper for a modest prize.
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character meets another character who has what appears to be entirely too many animals.
MA
Calra
February 14, 2013 at 1:12amInteresting riddle. Has anyone answered it yet? I know curiousity kills the cat but hey, I’m no cat. Tell us! What’s the answer.
Marian Allen
February 14, 2013 at 8:08amI answered it in the comments. 🙂
Emilia
February 13, 2013 at 11:28pmI suck at riddles. I’m hoping someone gets the answer soon and posts it here so I don’t have to keep on refreshing the screen.
Marian Allen
February 14, 2013 at 8:08amI posted the answer in the comments. 🙂
Joy
February 13, 2013 at 6:35pmYou got my mind in knots! I can’t stop thinking about what the answer might be.
Marian Allen
February 13, 2013 at 6:53pmThe answer is in one of the comments, Joy. ~grin~ Nobody got it. It’s a very old riddle.
Veronica
February 12, 2013 at 3:20am58? I started with the seven cats with seven kittens each. That would be 49. Plus the man, his seven wives, and the narrator of the riddle. 58 are going to St. Ives! I hope I got the correct answer. That was actually fun!
Marian Allen
February 12, 2013 at 9:02amThank you so much for joining the fun, Veronica! It’s a tricky riddle, isn’t it? 😉
Marian Allen
February 11, 2013 at 9:45pmAnd the answer is:
ONE
“As I was going to St. Ives …. How many were going to St. Ives?” I was. One.
Marian Allen
February 11, 2013 at 9:49pmAnd the correct answer is: One! Now I’m going to put all of the correct guesses into a hat and stir them around…. I’ll have a disinterested person draw out a name…. Katya, come here and draw a name. You can’t get more disinterested than a cat…. And the winner is … MARIAN ALLEN!
Congratulations, myself! Your prize is: All my worldly possessions! ~sound of wild cheering~
Thanks, folks! Thanks for playing! I’ll have another giveaway real soon, now! Love ya!
Sarah Park
February 10, 2013 at 9:39amI’ll just wait for the answer. I’m not good with riddles.