The King, suspecting that the queen was cheating on him, executed her and swore by his beard to marry the most beautiful girl every night, and the next morning to hand her over to the executioner. This unprecedented inhumanity spread terror throughout the realm.
However, the daughter of the Grand Vizier, Scheherazade - an exceptionally intelligent woman who would be envied even by the most important logicians of the time - skillfully handled the situation: she married the king, and from the very first night, she put her plan into action. 'Dawn is breaking. Get up and go hang yourself!' commands the king. 'Whatever pleases Your Majesty; I just pity your fate.'
'And why do you pity my fate?' 'I intended to tell you riddles to entertain you,' replied Scheherazade. 'Riddles? I love riddles! If I postpone your execution, will you tell me some tonight?' 'I will tell you one every night,' replied Scheherazade.
And so, the riddles began; they continued for many nights, at the end of which lies the most astonishing part of the story! Raymond Smullyan has the gift of transforming abstract and obscure topics of mathematics and logic into appealing puzzles with particular educational value.
'The Riddle of Scheherazade' includes 225 riddles of increasing difficulty, original brainteasers, 'tricks' of logic, and 'games' with numbers. Enjoy!
