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A
The Elves and the Evil King
A cruel but clever king is irate because Santa has
never brought him a present.To show his displeasure,
he has kidnapped 13 of Santa’s elves and thrown
them into his dungeon. He tells them, “You may meet
today and plan a strategy. But after today, you will be
in isolated cells and will have no communication with
one another.
“In the castle there is a switch room which contains
two light switches labeled A and B, each of which
can be in either the ‘on’ or the ‘off’ position. BOTH
SWITCHES ARE INTHEIR OFF POSITIONS NOW. The
switches are not connected to anything.
“After today, from time to time whenever I feel so
inclined, I will select one of you at random and escort
him to the switch room. He will select one of the two
switches and reverse its position. He must move one,
but only one of the switches. He can’t move both but
he can’t move none either. Then he’ll be led back to
his cell.”
“No one else will enter the switch room until I lead
the next elf there, and he’ll be instructed to do the
same thing. I’m going to choose elves at random. I
may choose the same one three times in a row, or I
may jump around and come back.”
“But, given enough time, everyone will eventually
visit the switch room as many times as everyone else.
At any time any one of you may declare to me, ‘We
have all visited the switch room.’
“If it is true, then you will all be set free. If it is false,
and somebody has not yet visited the switch room,
you will be fed to the abominable snow monster. In
the meantime, you will spend your days making me
toys.” His evil laugh told them that he was certain that
they would be making toys for him forever.
How can the elves avoid a horrible death and return
safely to the North Pole, to make toys for GOOD little
girls and boys?
TEASER
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Winter 2015
28
