As I was going to St Ives I actually DID meet a man

[jack]

Today I actually DID meet someone going to St Ives.

Presumably not the St Ives originally eponymously gone to in the infamous "puzzle" poem, as opposed to the Cornwall St Ives. Although I supposed it could be the Cambridge St Ives.

And presumably they didn't think I have seven wives. Although I suppose I do have friends with at least seven concurrent relationships, just not legally sanctioned (or necessarily eternal) ones.

But the thing that stood out for me, as I've ranted on many occasions before, is that when I met someone going to St Ives WE WERE GOING IN THE SAME DIRECTION!

Comments

[leora]

On a side note, the wives in the riddle must be extremely strong. I hadn't really thought about it, but each wife has seven sacks, and each sack has seven cats. Each cat has seven kits. Well... 7 sacks of 7 cats alone would be really heavy, even without the 49 kittens per sack. A kitten is pretty light, but 49 of them ~per sack~. Strong women!

But cruel... carrying cats and kits in sacks like that, and cramming so many in per sack.

[jack]

It's also ambiguous whether all the wives, cats, etc were actually THERE. You would say I "had" a wife or a cat if I was married to her or owned it but she/it wasn't physically present. Although from context, the way the narrator says it, it seems to imply he SAW the man had seven wives, etc, which would suggest they were there.

And yes, it doesn't sound physically plausible, if one were hoping it to be :) I mean, that's two and a half thousand kittens, weighing over two tonnes altogether. That would physically fit in a cart, perhaps, but not easily! :)