Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/89

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Libussa.
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called Prince Wladomir, the knight Mizislas, and squire Primislas, to her, and said—

“Ye brave companions, prepare yourselves to solve a riddle of mine, that I may see which of you is the cleverest and wisest. I have designed for each of you a present from this little basket, which contains plums which I have gathered in my garden. One of you shall have half of them and one over; another shall have half of the remainder and one over; and the third shall have half of those still remaining and three over. As this will make the basket empty, now tell me how many plums there are at present in the basket.

The hasty knight Mizislas measured the fruit-basket with his eyes, instead of considering the meaning of the problem with his intellect, and said, “I do not mind to solve anything that can be solved by the sword; but thy riddles, gracious princess, are too finely woven for me. I will however, to satisfy thy request, try my luck in guessing. I think that three-score of plums well-packed and counted are in that basket.”

“Thou hast made a mistake, my dear knight,” answered the princess. “For if you add as many more to them as there are in the basket, besides half as many and one third of the