Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Here there be Dragons

Good Morrow to ye all: <Woof!>
I shall now place before you a puzzle involving the huggable, loveable dragons, and an island I found while on a canoe ride the other day.


As I paddled (rather slowly, as dogs have trouble with the paddles), along, I saw an island in the distance. Hovering over the island were several strange winged beasts. As I  floated closer, I realized they were all dragons, each about the size of a kangaroo, and each with bright green eyes. Once I landed on the island, I was greeted enthusiastically by the entire community. For they had never seen a sheepdog before, and were fascinated by my fur. We talked for a while, and they let me stay. During my stay, I counted a total of 100 of the beasts.


They seem to be quite normal, as far as dragons go, but then I found out something rather odd. They have a rule on the island which states that if a dragon ever finds out that he/she has green eyes, then at precisely midnight on the day of this discovery, he/she must relinquish all dragon powers and transform into a long-tailed sparrow. However, I found no mirrors on the island, and they never talk about eye color, so the dragons have been living in blissful ignorance throughout the ages.
I stayed with them for quite some time, pondering this strange rule of theirs, but not wanting to be the cause of any trouble, never talked with them about it. Upon my departure, I made a statement to the dragons: I tell them all that at least one of them has green eyes.
Then I leave their island, never to return. My question to you dear readers, is this: Assuming that the dragons are (of course) infallibly logical, what happens? If something interesting does happen, what exactly is the new information that you gave the dragons?
This is a logic puzzle, pure and simple, and should keep your mind occupied for a while. :)
I will post a second one in a few days with the answer.

1 comment:

theskett said...

Given that they sound like very kind dragons, the logical answer is that out of consideration for their friends, they do not pursue the impossible puzzle any further.