Some mathematical riddles from the Spanish Folklore

1. Folk
sums

2. Marksmanship
boaster

3. "Bad shotgun has been the bait
and the cause of my defeat
Boasting on his marksmanship but once adjusted the account
An audacious shooter you don’t owe me nor I owe you”
Found himself engaged
Into the following business
Standing in a fairground
At a cork shooting stall
He boasted on not to miss
Any shot with the shotgun.
The pitchman, taking the bet,
Offered to pay five coins
For every success and charge
Three coins for every failure.
After shooting sixteen times And everyone who has paid
the famed shooter missed some attention to this scheme
Finally, vexed, he said, Should be able to deduce
by the shots that he had failed How many shots the man missed

4. The flight of doves

5. A flock of pigeons was flying
and a hawk who met them said,
"Goodbye flock of a hundred doves."
But the pigeons responded:
"We are not one hundred but,
if you add the amount of us,
and again the same amount,
and the half of all of us,
and the half of such a half,
and then you,
then we would be 100”
So, how many doves were flying?

6. S p a r r o w s

7. A hundred sparrows
Are perched on a wire
Somebody shoots one
How many are left?

8. Apples

9. I climbed up an apple tree
Which had some apples on it.
Apples I did not eat
And apples I did not leave,
How many apples were there?

10. Hay stacks

11. A farmer has
Three stacks of hay in a meadow
And four in the barn.
If he puts them together,
How many will he have?

12. Cows

13. There was a herd of cows
Where two had one in front
And two had one behind
How many were there in all?

14. Rabbits

15. Two fathers and two sons
Went on a rabbit hunt
They shot three in all
And ended up with one each
How do you explain that?

16. Picnic

17. The chemist and his daughter,
The doctor and his wife,
Nine eggs did they eat
But three had they each

19. Solutions
Marksmanship boaster 10
Doves 36
Sparrows None!
Apples 2
Hay stacks One!
Cows Three
Rabbits A man, his father and his son
Picnic Two men and a woman