The Undiscovered Chekhov

QUESTIONS

POSED

BY A

MAD

MATHEMATICIAN

1. I was chased by 30 dogs, 7 of which were white, 8 gray, and the rest black. Which of my legs was bitten, the right or the left?

2. Ptolemy was born in the year 223 A.D. and died after reaching the age of eighty-four. Half his life he spent traveling, and a third, having fun. What is the price of a pound of nails, and was Ptolemy married?

3. On New Year’s Eve, 200 people were thrown out of the Bolshoi Theaters costume ball for brawling. If the brawlers numbered 200, then what was the number of guests who were drunk, slighdy drunk, swearing, and those trying but not managing to brawl?

4. What is the sum of the following numbers?

5. Twenty chests of tea were purchased. Each chest contained 5 poods of tea, each pood comprising 40 pounds. Two of the horses transporting the tea collapsed on the way, one of the carters fell ill, and 18 pounds of tea were spilled. One pound contains 96 zolotniks of tea. What is the difference between pickle brine and bewilderment?

6. There are 137,856,738 words in the English language, and 0.7 more in the French language. The English and the French came together and united their two languages. What is the cost of the third parrot, and how much time was necessary to subjugate these nations?

7. Wednesday, June 17, 1881, a train had to leave station A at 3 A.M. in order to reach station B at 11 P.M.; just as the train was about to depart, however, an order came that the train had to reach station B by 7 P.M. Who is capable of loving longer, a man or a woman?

8. My mother-in-law is 75, and my wife 42. What time is it?