Somebody remined me of this ancient puzzle - can you solve it?

Question

The Wolf, Goat, and Cabbage

(This problem can be found in eighth-century writings.)

A man has to take a wolf, a goat, and some cabbage across a river. His rowboat has enough room for the man plus either the wolf or the goat or the cabbage. If he takes the cabbage with him, the wolf will eat the goat. If he takes the wolf, the goat will eat the cabbage. Only when the man is present are the goat and the cabbage safe from their enemies. All the same, the man carries wolf, goat, and cabbage across the river.

How?

Links:

http://illuminations.nctm.org/BrainTeasers.aspx?id=4992

http://lechemindel-un.over-blog.com/2015/01/la-lecon-spirituelle-derriere-l-histoire-du-loup-de-la-chevre-et-du-chou.html

Answer 1

1. Man takes goat across.

2. Man rows back.

3. Man takes cabbage across.

4. Man brings goat back.

5 Man takes wolf across.

6. Man rows back.

7. Man takes goat across.

(steps 3 and 5 can be interchanged)

I once saw a very politically incorrect puzzle of this sort, probably dating back to the colonial era:

Three missionaries and three cannibals are on an island, and all wish to get to the mainland, but their boat can only carry two people at a time.  The cannibals are willing to cooperate in paddling the boat back and forth, but there is one problem for the missionaries. At NO TIME can the cannibals outnumber the missionaries, either on the island or the mainland, or else the cannibals (who are hungry) will eat the outnumbered missionary or missionaries.   Question:  how can everyone get to the mainland safely?

OMG if the Committee on Political Correctness hears of this post, I'll be sent to a re-education camp for sure, so PLEASE, everyone, you are sworn to secrecy.   :-O

Comments

Excellent answer - and yes, I heard about the missionaries and the cannibals.

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You heard of it too?  We might become cellmates in the re-education camp!   :-)

There is yet another version, called "The Jealous Husbands".  The setup is the same as the missionaries and cannibals, except there are now 3 husband-and-wife couples and a boat that can carry only two people at a time.

This time, the constraint is that at no time can any of the women be in the presence of a man or men not her husband, unless her husband is also present.  How do they get across without a scandal?

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Yes, indeed, and there are some others, one with a worm, a centipede and a grasshopper, there's another one with 4 adventurers and a torch, etc., but my sources are in French - lol.

Answer 2

He puts the 3 in the boat and swims across pulling the rowboat

(Or he walks them across the bridge)

Comments

Lol - a good joke, but there is no bridge and the boat has not enough room for three.
You certainly know the solution.

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he and the wolf eat the goat and the cabbage and then they take the boat (though it can hardly be considered a boat if it's that small)

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That is not quite the idea - lol.

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May not be the answer they were looking for, but it answers the question.

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There are many answers indeed ...
The answer is above.

Answer 3

Like the woman who ate the fly,  then the spider,  then the bird, then the cat, then the dog, bull and horse (Which she croaked after of course) have the goat eat the cabbage, then the wolf eat  the goat.  Then, they're all packaged up and you can take them all across.  3 for 1.

Comments

Lol - an interesting idea, but that was not the aim.
See the answer above.