Yakov Isidorovich Perelman riddles, tricks and entertainment. Yakov Perelman - Riddles, tricks and entertainment (collection) Perelman tricks entertainment

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Yakov Isidorovich Perelman
Science tricks and riddles

Riddles, questions, jokes

1. Riddles

He lay down with a mustache and stood up with a hunchback.

From left to right - standing; from right to left - he runs without legs.

III

It pours into it, pours out of it, and weaves itself along the ground.

He is under me, and I am under him. Who are we?

He came from heaven and went to earth.

When horses are bought, what kind are they?

VII 1
Riddles VII, VIII and IX are taken from the poems of H.A. Nekrasova.

...No matter how he flaps his wings,

Probably won't fly.

VIII

He is humble for the time being.

It flies - is silent, lies - is silent;

When he dies, then he roars.

...Loyal dog:

Doesn't bark, doesn't bite,

But he doesn’t let me into the house.

The closet is large, the doors are small; put in white, take out black.

2. What words?

I'll tell you about a very entertaining game in which a large number of players can participate. They choose a leader who comes up with a word - the name of any thing, but not a proper name. In the word he has in mind, he rearranges the letters in any order and offers it in this form to his comrades for guessing. For example, if the word “watermelon” is conceived, then after rearranging the letters they get “zarub” or “burza”. Using this “notch” or “burza” the other participants in the game must guess the intended word. Whoever guesses first gets one point and becomes a riddler himself. The game ends when one of the players scores 10 points: he is considered the winner of the competition.

Let's give a few examples. Guess the intended word using the combination “atalop”. It’s not difficult – a “shovel”. But here are more complicated combinations:

saripopa

Tremasint

Behind these strange combinations are hidden very ordinary words:

cigarette

centimeter

The fewer repeating letters in a word, the more difficult it is to guess. The word "ataman", for example, is easier to guess than "orange"; from “ataman” you can only make a combination like “ana-mat”, “amanate”, “natama”, from which it is not difficult to guess the original word. And from “orange” you can produce: “sawing”, “lanespy” and other intricate combinations in which the original word is hidden much more reliably.

Finally, try to guess a dozen words:

1. Rakalet

2. Kihenat

5. Vrigodan

7. Kochelev

8. Wine weirdo

9. Slyaratyuk

10. Tsilmane

11. Clavesort

12. Zuchits dogs.

3. Waiting for the horse-drawn horse

Returning from the theater, three brothers approached the horse-drawn rails to jump into the first carriage that came up. (A horse-drawn horse is not a tram; jumping into a horse-drawn carriage is not difficult.)

The carriage did not appear, and the elder brother suggested waiting.

“Rather than stand and wait,” answered the middle brother, “let’s go forward.” When the carriage catches up with us, then we’ll jump on; and in the meantime, part of the journey will already be behind us - we’ll get home sooner.

“If we’re going to go,” the younger one objected, “then not forward along the movement, but back: then we’ll be more likely to come across an oncoming car; We'll arrive home earlier.

Since the brothers could not convince each other, each acted in his own way: the eldest remained waiting in place, the middle one went forward, the youngest went back.

Which of the three arrived home first? Which of them acted more prudently?

4. Who counted more?

The two counted for an hour all the passers-by who passed them on the sidewalk. One of those counting stood at the gate of the house, the other walked back and forth along the sidewalk.

Who counted the most passers-by?

5. Where will the ball land?

We know that the Earth rotates non-stop from west to east. Is it possible to take advantage of this to quickly and cheaply travel to the east in this way, for example: to rise above the Earth in a balloon and wait there until the spinning Earth itself rolls up to the place where we want to go?

And as soon as this place is under the ball, then go down. This way you can travel anywhere to the east without moving. You just have to not miss the time when to go down, otherwise the desired place will rush to the west, and you will have to wait a whole day until it turns up again. What's wrong with this way of traveling?

6. Do they exist?

Do January heats and July frosts occur on Earth?

7. Out of three - four

Place three matches on the table and invite your friend, without adding a single match, to make four matches out of these three.

You can't break matches.

He is unlikely to guess what the unexpected solution to this problem is.

8. Three and two are eight

If you know how to solve the previous problem, then you can easily overcome this one:

There are three matches on the table. Add two more to them and you get... eight!

9. Pencil on a point

Is it possible to place a pencil on your finger so that it holds firmly on its sharpened end? “Stable” means for a long time and, moreover, in such a way that if you move the pencil to the side, it not only will not tip over, but will again take its previous position.

It would seem impossible to hold a pencil on your finger like that. But think: maybe you can figure out how to do it.

10. How many parties?

Three were playing checkers. A total of three games were played. How much did each person play?

Answers

1. Solving the riddles

I. Cat. When a cat gets up after sleeping, it arches its back into a hump.

III. River. Tributaries and rain flow into it; from it water flows into the sea or other bodies of water.

IV. Two people standing on opposite points of the globe. Each of them considers the other to be beneath him.

V. Rain. Having fallen from the clouds, it seeps into the ground.

VI. Wet (after swimming).

VII. Mill.

VIII. Snow. When a lot of snow melts (“dies”), stormy, roaring streams of water are formed.

IX. Lock.

X. Indoor oven. White firewood is placed in it, and black coals are taken out.

2. What words?

1. Plate

2. Technique

5. Grapes

7. Man

8. Dandelion

9. Saucepan

10. Mill

11. Medicine

12. Toothpick.

It is very interesting that those combinations that are easier to pronounce are more difficult to guess. For example, "noscel" (sun) or "wine-wizard" (dandelion) are not as easy to decipher as "kihenat" (technique) or "tzilmane" (mill).

3. Waiting for the horse-drawn horse

The younger brother, walking back along the traffic, saw a carriage coming towards him and jumped into it. When this carriage reached the place where the elder brother was waiting, he jumped into it. A little later, the same carriage caught up with the middle brother walking ahead and accepted him. All three found themselves in the same carriage - and, of course, arrived home at the same time.

The eldest brother acted most prudently: waiting calmly on the spot, he was less tired.

4. Who counted more?

Both counted the same number of passers-by. Although the one standing at the gate counted those passing in both directions, the one who walked saw twice as many people as he met.

5. Where will the ball land?

The described method of travel is completely impracticable. The earth does not rotate on its own, but together with the air that surrounds it. Therefore, the ball will be carried away by the rotation of the Earth, that is, it will always remain above the place from which it rose. Even if there were no air, all the things thrown up would continue to move by inertia, remaining just above those places on the globe from which they were thrown. This means that the balloon, no matter how long it hangs above the Earth, will descend to the same place from which it rose.

6. Do they exist?

January heat and July frosts occur in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth, on the other side of the equator. When it is winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, then it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

7. Out of three - four

This is a joke task.

Its secret is that from three matches you make not four matches, but simply “four” - the Roman numeral IV. It is, of course, very easy to make it from three matches (see picture). In the same simple way, you can make six (VI) from three matches, seven (VII) from four matches, etc.

8. Three and two are eight

Here is a simple solution to this joke problem:

i.e. 3 + 2 = 8.

9. Pencil on a point

To keep the pencil stable at the end of your finger, you need to insert the blade of a penknife into the side of the pencil, as shown in the figure. At first glance, it seems that it is even more difficult to hold a pencil vertically with such a load. But try it - you will see that the pencil is very stable.

10. How many batches?

The usual answer is: everyone played one game. At the same time, they forget that when the first two players have played one game, one of them must participate in the second game. This means that it is impossible for each of them to play only once.

Correct answer: everyone played two games.

Intricate designs

11. Where does the person lie?

- Look: the man is lying down!

- Where? I don't see anyone...

Do you see?

Look carefully: the picture actually shows a person lying down.

Find him!

12. Where is the tamer?

Where is this tiger tamer? His portrait is shown in the same drawing. Find it!

13. Which is wider and which is taller?

Which of these two figures is wider and which is taller? Give the answer without measuring the figures with a piece of paper, but directly by eye (as they say, “by the eye”).

14. How much higher?

Look at the drawing and compare the lengths of the three human figures by eye. Try to estimate by what proportion the figure of the person walking in front of everyone is longer than the figure of the person walking behind.

Once you have done this, take a strip of paper and measure the shapes. You will be amazed: all three figures are the same length! This is one of the optical illusions.

15. What is drawn here?

Try to say what the drawing represents. It's not easy to guess, although the drawing is done quite correctly.

The unusual twist gives the images of these objects a strange appearance, making it difficult to guess. Try, however, to figure out what these things are. I warn you: these are all familiar everyday items.

16. What is written here?

There is something written in this mug. Looking at it directly, of course, you won’t be able to make out anything. However, if you look at the circle skillfully, you can read two words. Which?

17. Could this be?

Before you is a sea view. Isn’t it true that the artist depicted the lunar crescent on it in a very strange way: instead of hanging in the sky, the crescent floats on the water like a boat. Could it be? Was the artist mistaken?

18. On which leg?

Which foot does the football player stand on - the right or the left?

Apparently he stands on his right leg; but with equal confidence we can say that he stands on his left leg. No matter how much you look at the drawing, you will not solve this issue. The artist covered up his tracks so skillfully that you would never be able to tell which leg the football player was lifting and which one he was leaning on - his right or his left.

You ask: “Which one, in the end?” I don't know myself. And the artist doesn’t know - he forgot. So this will remain forever an unsolved mystery.

19. It seems easy

Look closely at this pattern; try to remember it well so that you can draw it from memory later. Do you remember? Well then, start drawing. First, mark the four end points where the ends of the curved lines should connect. You will probably draw the first curved line quite confidently. Wonderful! Now print the second one.

But it was not there! A stubborn line just doesn't work out. What seemed like an easy task turned out to be much more difficult than you thought at first glance.

20. Is it impossible or possible?

Can you draw a square with two diagonals with one stroke without lifting the pen from the paper or drawing a single line twice?

I can say in advance that you will not succeed, no matter where you start drawing and no matter in what order you draw the lines.

But if you complicate the figure a little, as shown here, it will not be difficult for you to draw it with one stroke of the pen.

Try it, and you will soon see that a task that was previously completely impossible to solve has become easily doable.

Add two more arcs on the sides, and the problem will again become insoluble: no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to draw such a figure without lifting your pen.

What's the matter? How can you find out in advance, by looking at a figure, whether it can be drawn with one stroke or not?

If you think carefully, you will probably guess for yourself how such figures differ. Pay attention to those points of the figure where several lines converge or intersect. In order for a figure to be drawn with one stroke, you need to approach each intersection point with a pen and then move away; If you then approach the same point with a pen again, you must move away from it a second time, otherwise the drawing will end. This means that at each point of the figure two, four, six, in general, an even number of lines must converge. The exception is the starting and ending points, where, of course, an odd number of lines can converge.

Hence the conclusion: only those figures can be drawn with one stroke of the pen that enclose no more than two points with an odd number of converging lines; at all other points an even number of lines must converge.

Now look at our figures. In the first, three lines converge in the four corners of the square; there are four “odd” points - which means this figure cannot be drawn. In the second figure, an even number of lines converge at all intersection points, which means this figure can be drawn with one stroke. In the third we again have four points where an odd number of lines converge (five); It is clear that such a figure cannot be drawn with one stroke.

Armed with this knowledge, you will no longer waste time trying to find a way to draw with one stroke such figures that are impossible to draw.

By carefully looking at the figure, you will tell in advance which one can be drawn in this way and which one cannot.

If you understand what has been said well, then decide whether it is impossible or possible to draw with one stroke the figure that is shown here.

Answers

11. Where does the person lie?

Turn the book so that the lamppost turns from standing to lying down. Then near the top end of this post, between it and the fence post, you will see a man's head. His body borders on the black sky.

12. Where is the tamer?

The eye of the tiger serves at the same time as the eye of the tamer, whose face is turned in the opposite direction.

13. Which is wider and which is taller?

To the eye, it seems that the left figure is wider and lower than the right. After checking with a piece of paper, you will be convinced that your eyes deceived you: both figures are the same in width and length. This is an “optical illusion”.

15. What is drawn here?

All these are familiar things of our everyday life, visible from the side, from the edge. At the top are tailor's scissors; under them are ticks; even lower is a folded razor. In the bottom row, from left to right: a pitchfork, a pocket watch and a tablespoon.

Now that you know what these drawings represent, they will no longer seem as unusual to you as they seemed before.

16. What is written here?

Bring the circle to your eyes as shown in this picture. You will clearly read the word “state” first, and then, turning the circle, you will see another word - “publishing house”.

The letters are very elongated and jagged, making them difficult to read straight. But when your gaze slides along the letters, their length is reduced, but the width remains the same. This gives the letters a normal appearance, and what is written can be read without difficulty.

17. Could this be?

The artist depicted the sunset of the new month in the equatorial countries. There, the month at sunset may lie exactly as shown in the figure. If you have been to the Caucasus, you have probably noticed that the new moon there is inclined differently than in the north. And under the tropics at some times of the year it completely disappears. This means that the artist did not make a mistake, but painted what really happens.

20. Is it impossible or possible?

It is possible to draw this figure because four lines converge at all intersection points, i.e., there is an even number of them. How to draw is shown in the figure.

Cutting and placement

21. Of five pieces

From the five pieces that are drawn here, you need to make a figure in the shape of a cross.

How to do it?

Draw these five pieces separately on paper, cut them out with scissors and try to find a solution to the problem.

22. From the other five pieces

Now try to make a square from the other five pieces (see picture).

23. In four parts

This piece of land is made up of five square plots of equal size. Can you divide it not into five, but only into four identical sections?

Take a blank sheet of paper. Draw the area shown here on it and find the required solution.

24. Hammer and sickle

Have you heard of the "Chinese puzzle"? This is an ancient Chinese game, even more ancient than chess: it originated several thousand years ago. The essence of the game is that a square (wooden or cardboard) is cut into seven parts as shown in the figure, and different figures must be made from these parts. This is not at all as easy as it seems at first glance. If you mix up seven pieces of a Chinese puzzle and ask someone to put them back together into a square without looking at the picture, they won't be able to do it right away.

But here’s a task for yourself: from seven slices of a square, first make a sickle shape, and then from them a hammer shape. (Their outlines are shown in the figure.) You must remember that the parts of the “Chinese puzzle” should not overlap each other anywhere and that the hammer and sickle must include all seven parts. You can turn the pieces of the “puzzle” over to the left side.

25. Two strokes of scissors

With two strokes of scissors, cut this cross into four parts so that they can be formed into a solid square.

26. From an apple - a cockerel

The apple depicted here must be cut into four parts, from which the figure of a cockerel could be made. How to do it?

27. Make a circle

They brought two oblong boards of a rare type of wood to the carpenter and ordered him to put together a completely round board for the table, so that no scraps of expensive wood would remain. The whole tree, to the last piece, must be used. In the picture you see what they brought to the carpenter: both boards with holes in the middle.

The carpenter was a master, of which there are few, but the order was not an easy one. The carpenter racked his brains for a long time, wondering this way and that, and finally figured out how to fulfill the order.

Maybe you can guess it too?

28. Three Islands

There are three islands on the lake, which are marked in our drawing with numbers 1, 2 and 3. And on the shore there are three fishing villages: I, II and III.

The boat departs from village I, visits islands 1 and 2 and lands at village II. At the same time, another boat sails from village III and lands on island 3. The paths of both boats do not intersect.

Can you draw these paths?

29. Don’t cut down trees

In this drawing, the square represents the pond, and the four circles near the corners represent the trees. It is necessary to expand the pond to a size twice as large in area, but in such a way that the trees are not cut down.

Is it possible to do this?

30. Six kopecks

You need to arrange six kopeck coins in three straight rows so that each row contains three kopecks.

Do you think this is impossible? Three more coins missing? But look, they are located here in the picture.

You see here three rows of coins, three in each row. So the problem is solved. True, the rows intersect, but it was not forbidden to intersect them.

Now try to guess for yourself how you can solve the same problem in another way.

31. Nine coins

You need to arrange nine coins in ten rows of three coins in each row. Is it possible to do this?

32. Five rows

Ten coins must be placed in five straight rows so that each row contains four coins.

I will add that the rows, as in previous cases, can intersect.

33. Nine zeros

Nine zeros are arranged as shown in the figure:

The task is to cross out all the zeros by drawing only four straight lines.

Can you do it?

To make it easier for you to find a solution, I will also add that all nine zeros are crossed out with one stroke (that is, without lifting the pen from the paper).

34. Thirty-six zeros

As you can see, the cells of this lattice contain 36 zeros.

Twelve of them must be crossed out, but in such a way that after this there remains the same number of uncrossed zeros in each vertical and horizontal row.

What zeros should be crossed out?

35. Bridge

Fold two squares of matches one inside the other, as shown in the figure. Let the inner small square represent an island surrounded by a ditch. You need to make a bridge of two matches across this ditch. How to build such a bridge using only two matches?

36. From six matches

Here is a very old match problem, but it is so successful and instructive that it is useful for every puzzle lover to get acquainted with it.

Make four equilateral triangles from six matches.

It goes without saying that you cannot break matches.

The problem is interesting because at first glance it seems completely insoluble.

Yakov Isidorovich Perelman

Riddles, tricks and entertainment

Tricks and ENTERTAINMENT

Miracle of our century

I once swore not to reveal what is described in this book to anyone. I was a 12-year-old schoolboy when I was entrusted with this secret, and I gave the word to a boy of the same age.

For a number of years, I kept the oath. Why I now consider myself free from it, you will learn from the last chapter of my story. Now I'll start from the beginning.

I remember this “beginning” in the form of a huge colorful poster on one of the many fences of my hometown.

I was hurrying home from school, where Jules Verne’s half-read “Journey to the Center of the Earth” was waiting for me, when I saw a large red and green poster announcing completely extraordinary things.

The “miracle of our century” has arrived in the city and will be shown!

Here's what it consisted of:

- Swindle! – I heard a self-confident voice behind me.

I turned around: behind me, one of the students in our class was reading the same poster, a big repeater who called us all “small fry.”

- Deception and deception! - he repeated. - They will fool you for your money.

“Not everyone will allow themselves to be tricked,” I answered. “A smart person can’t be fooled.”

“They’ll fool you,” he snapped, not wanting to understand who I meant by an intelligent person.

Irritated by his contemptuous tone, I decided to definitely go to the performance, to be on my guard and keep my eyes open. If there are fools, I will not be one of them. No, you can’t fool a man out of his head!

Phenomenal memory

I rarely visited the city theater hall, and therefore I was unable to choose a good seat for myself for little money. I had to sit quite far from the stage. Although my eyes were keen at that time and I saw the scene quite well, I could not clearly distinguish the face of the phenomenal boy, “the miracle of our century.” It even seemed to me that I had seen this face somewhere before - although I understood, of course, that until now I could not know Felix.

The grown man, who appeared on stage at the same time as the boy, immediately began a “mnemonic session,” as he put it to the audience. The preparations were thorough. The magician (that's what I called him in my head) blindfolded the boy and sat him on a chair in the middle of the stage, with his back to the audience.

A few members of the audience were allowed on stage to ensure there was no deception.

The magician himself came down from the stage, walked between the chairs to the back rows and, holding an open folder with paper in his hands, invited the audience to write in the names of the intended objects - whatever they wanted.

“Please remember the serial numbers of your words,” he said, “Felix will call them!”

“Would you like, young man, to write in a few words?” – the magician turned to me.

Excited by the surprise, I couldn’t figure out what to write.

The girl sitting next to me hurried:

- Write, don’t delay! Don't know what? Well, write: knife, rain, fire...

I embarrassedly wrote these words against numbers 68, 69 and 70.

“Remember your numbers,” the magician told me and walked further along the rows of chairs, adding new words to the list.

- Number one hundred! That’s enough, thank you,” he finally announced loudly. - Attention please!

Now I will read the list out loud just once, and Felix will remember all the words from the first to the last so firmly that he can repeat them in any order: from beginning to end, from end to beginning, after one, after three, after five, and he can call any number in breakdown at the request of the public. I'm starting!

“Mirror, gun, scales, find, lamp, ticket, cab driver, binoculars, ladder, soap...” the magician said separately, without inserting a single comment.

The reading didn't take very long, but the list seemed endless to me. I couldn’t believe that it only had a hundred words. It was beyond human strength to remember it.

“A brooch, a dacha, candy, a window, a cigarette, snow, a chain, a knife, rain...” the magician read monotonously, not missing my words.

The boy on the stage listened without making any movements; he seemed to be sleeping. Will he really be able to repeat all these words without missing any words?

– Armchair, scissors, chandelier, neighbor, star, curtain, orange. It's over! - the magician announced. “Now I ask the public to elect inspectors to whom I will give this list so that they can check Felix’s answers and tell the whole public whether they are correct.”

Among the three controllers was, by the way, one of the senior students of our school - a smart, sensible fellow.

- Attention please! - the magician exclaimed when the “control commission” received a list of words and took its place in the hall. – Now Felix will repeat all one hundred words from the first to the last. I ask controllers to follow the list.

The hall fell silent, and amid the general silence, Felix’s ringing voice came from the stage:

- Mirror, gun, scales, find, lamp...

The words were pronounced confidently, slowly, but also without hesitation or delay, as if Felix was reading them from a book. In amazement, I looked from the boy sitting in the distance, with his back to us, to the three controllers standing on chairs in the hall. With every word the boy said, I expected an incriminating “wrong!” But they silently stared at the list, and their faces expressed only concentrated attention.

Felix continued the list of words, named my three words (I did not think to keep count from the very beginning and could not check whether they were really in 68th, 69th and 70th place) and listed further, without interruption, until uttered the last word: “orange.”

- Absolutely correct. Not a single mistake! – one of the controllers, a military artilleryman, announced to the public.

– Would the public like Felix to list the words in reverse order? Or after 3 words? In five? From one assigned number to another?

– In 7 words!.. All even... In three, in three!.. The first half in reverse order!.. From the 37th number to the end!.. All odd!.. Multiples of six!..

“It’s hard to hear, please, not everyone at once,” begged the magician, trying to shout above the noise.

“From number 73 to number 48,” the sailor sitting in front of me said loudly.

- Fine. Attention attention! Felix, name, starting from the 73rd, all the words up to the 48th inclusive. I ask controllers to follow the answers.

Felix immediately began to list and accurately named all the words as they should have been: from the 73rd back to the 48th.

– Would the public now want to demand that Felix directly indicate the number of some word from the list he read? - asked the magician.

We bring to your attention the next, fourth, book by the popular Russian scientist and teacher Ya. I. Perelman. It is composed of two now little-known works of the 20s of the last century: “Tricks and Amusements” and “Box of Riddles and Tricks.”

The author appears before us in an unusual capacity - a magician and sorcerer. He gives his reader the opportunity to see amazing tricks, then revealing their mathematical secrets. The amazed reader sees extraordinary and “wonderful” things, which, as it later turns out, are based on simple arithmetic calculations.

Ya. I. Perelman collected interesting experiments and tricks that amazed those around him, to perform which you will need the most ordinary objects that are always at hand. All this will certainly arouse your and your child’s interest in the exact sciences and brighten up your leisure time.

These tricks are “honest and conscientious,” and anyone can do them with intelligence and reasoning skills. You will learn something that others don't even know about. And by showing them to your friends and acquaintances, you can work wonders like a professional magician. You will capture the imagination of your viewers by turning into a mathematical genius before their eyes.

On our website you can download the book “Riddles, Tricks and Entertainment” by Perelman Yakov Isidorovich for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.

Miracle of our century

Poster

I once swore not to reveal what is described in this book to anyone. I was a 12-year-old schoolboy when I was entrusted with this secret, and I gave the word to a boy of the same age.

For a number of years, I kept the oath. Why I now consider myself free from it, you will learn from the last chapter of my story. Now I'll start from the beginning.

I remember this “beginning” in the form of a huge colorful poster on one of the many fences of my hometown.

The “miracle of our century” has arrived in the city and will be shown!

Here's what it consisted of:

- Swindle! – I heard a self-confident voice behind me.

I turned around: behind me, one of the students in our class was reading the same poster, a big repeater who called us all “small fry.”

- Deception and deception! - he repeated. - They will fool you for your money.

“Not everyone will allow themselves to be tricked,” I answered. “A smart person can’t be fooled.”

“They’ll fool you,” he snapped, not wanting to understand who I meant by an intelligent person.

Phenomenal memory

A few members of the audience were allowed on stage to ensure there was no deception.

“Please remember the serial numbers of your words,” he said, “Felix will call them!”

“Would you like, young man, to write in a few words?” – the magician turned to me.

Excited by the surprise, I couldn’t figure out what to write.

The girl sitting next to me hurried:

- Write, don’t delay! Don't know what? Well, write: knife, rain, fire...

I embarrassedly wrote these words against numbers 68, 69 and 70.

“Remember your numbers,” the magician told me and walked further along the rows of chairs, adding new words to the list.

- Number one hundred! That’s enough, thank you,” he finally announced loudly. - Attention please!

I'm starting!

“Mirror, gun, scales, find, lamp, ticket, cab driver, binoculars, ladder, soap...” the magician said separately, without inserting a single comment.

The reading didn't take very long, but the list seemed endless to me. I couldn’t believe that it only had a hundred words. It was beyond human strength to remember it.

“A brooch, a dacha, candy, a window, a cigarette, snow, a chain, a knife, rain...” the magician read monotonously, not missing my words.

The boy on the stage listened without making any movements; he seemed to be sleeping. Will he really be able to repeat all these words without missing any words?

Among the three controllers was, by the way, one of the senior students of our school - a smart, sensible fellow.

The hall fell silent, and amid the general silence, Felix’s ringing voice came from the stage:

- Mirror, gun, scales, find, lamp...

- Absolutely correct. Not a single mistake! – one of the controllers, a military artilleryman, announced to the public.

– Would the public like Felix to list the words in reverse order? Or after 3 words? In five? From one assigned number to another?

– In 7 words!.. All even... In three, in three!.. The first half in reverse order!.. From the 37th number to the end!.. All odd!.. Multiples of six!..

“It’s hard to hear, please, not everyone at once,” begged the magician, trying to shout above the noise.

“From number 73 to number 48,” the sailor sitting in front of me said loudly.

- Fine. Attention attention! Felix, name, starting from the 73rd, all the words up to the 48th inclusive. I ask controllers to follow the answers.

Felix immediately began to list and accurately named all the words as they should have been: from the 73rd back to the 48th.

– Would the public now want to demand that Felix directly indicate the number of some word from the list he read? - asked the magician.

I plucked up my courage and, blushing from ear to ear, shouted across the hall:

“68,” Felix answered immediately.

The word number was entered correctly!

Numerous questions poured in from different parts of the auditorium. Felix barely had time to give answers: - Umbrella 83... Candy 56... Gloves 47... Clock 34... Book 22... Snow 59...

When the magician announced that the first part was over, the whole audience clapped their hands for a long time and called Felix. The boy came out, smiled in all directions, and disappeared again.

Ventriloquism

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked around: standing next to me was the schoolboy who had been reading the poster with me the day before.

- Well? Cheated, small fry? Paid fifty dollars, but was fooled by a ruble?

- Aren’t you fooled? – I objected irritably.

- Me? Ha ha! I knew in advance that this would happen.

- Little did I know. Still fooled.

- Not at all. I know these things well.

- What do you know? You do not know anything.

- I know the whole secret. Ventriloquism! – he said meaningfully a word I didn’t understand.

– What kind of ventriloquism?

- He’s a ventriloquist, that guy. He can talk with his stomach. He asks out loud and with his own belly and answers. And the public imagines Felix. The boy doesn’t say a word: you know, he’s sitting and dozing in his chair. That's right, small fry! I know all these things well.

- Wait, how can you say this with your stomach? – I asked in bewilderment, but he had already turned away and did not hear the question.

I went out into the next hall, where spectators were walking during a break, and noticed a group of people who, gathered near our controllers, were animatedly talking about something. I stopped to listen.

“Firstly, ventriloquists do not speak with their stomachs, as many naively believe,” the artilleryman explained to the audience. “It just seems sometimes that the ventriloquist’s voice comes from the depths of his body. In fact, he speaks like you and me, that is, with his mouth, tongue, but not with his lips. His art lies in the fact that, while speaking, he does not make a single movement with his lips, does not move a single muscle of his face. When he says words, you can look at him and not notice what he is saying. Bring a candle to his mouth - the flame will not waver: he exhales air so weakly. And since at the same time he also changes his voice, you believe him, as if the words are coming from somewhere else - that a doll or something similar is speaking. This is the whole secret of ventriloquism.

“Not only that,” interjected an elderly man from the surrounding group. “The ventriloquist resorts to various tricks,” he continued. “He cunningly directs the audience’s attention to where the sounds seem to be coming from, and at the same time draws attention away from himself in order to more accurately and more conveniently hide the true culprit... Probably, the prophecies of ancient oracles and similar imaginary miracles are the tricks of ventriloquists. But tell me: do you think that our magician is a ventriloquist, and this explains the whole performance?

“On the contrary, I was precisely pointing out that nothing like that could happen here.” We talked about ventriloquism in passing, because many of the audience tend to see this as the solution to the session. I wanted to explain that this is a completely unreasonable guess.

- Yes, very simple. After all, the list of words was in our hands: the magician did not see it when Felix listed the words. How could a magician - even if he was a ventriloquist a hundred times over - how could he remember all the words himself? Let the boy have nothing to do with it, a silent doll, decoration, so be it. But what a devilish memory the magician himself must have then! Ventriloquism does not explain this riddle at all, it only transfers it to another place. And if so, then you will agree that it is quite indifferent to us whether our magician is a ventriloquist or not.

– How then is all this explained? It's not a miracle here, is it?

- Of course, not a miracle. But I’ll tell you frankly: I’m at a loss, I can’t think of any explanation...

The bell announced the start of the second part, and everyone headed into the auditorium to their seats.

Beyond the program

After the break, the magician began some strange preparations.

He brought to the middle of the stage a stand consisting of a bottom board and a stick fixed vertically in it, approximately the height of a man. He pulled a chair up to the stick and motioned for Felix to stand on it. Then he placed the elbow of the boy’s right hand on the upper end of the stick, took out another stick and placed it under his left hand.

Having finished with these preparations, which were incomprehensible to me, the magician began to make strange movements with his hands near the boy’s face, as if he was stroking him without touching him.

“It’s putting me to sleep,” said one of those sitting behind me.

- Hypnotizing! – my neighbor on the right corrected.

Felix actually fell asleep from these movements: he closed his eyes and stood completely still.

Then the most interesting and incomprehensible thing began. The magician carefully removed the chair from under the boy's feet, and he remained hanging, leaning his elbows on two sticks. The magician removed the stick from under his left arm - Felix was still hanging, although he was resting his elbow on only one stick. It was completely incomprehensible!

“Hypnotic sleep,” my neighbor explained and added: “now you can do anything with it.”

It seems she was right, because the magician moved Felix's body to a certain angle away from the stick - and it obediently maintained this inclined position, despite the force of gravity. Another turn - and the boy miraculously hung horizontally in the air, leaning on the end of the stick.

“Above the program,” said my neighbor on the left.

- Beyond what? – I asked.

- Beyond the program.

- How is he there beyond the program? I don't understand.

- It’s not beyond the program, but the number is like this. This was not announced in the poster, well, that means a number is given in addition to the program.

– But what does he rely on?

- I can’t say that. It hangs somehow. From here you can't see what it's on.

– I’m telling you: hypnotism! – the neighbor on the right intervened. “You can do whatever you want with it now.”

- Nonsense! – objected the left neighbor. – You can’t hang on to hypnotism. Some kind of focal strings, transparent ribbons, nothing else.

But Felix was positively not hanging from anything: the magician deliberately passed his hand several times over his body to show that there were no strings or ribbons hidden from the public. Then he ran his hand under Felix’s body in the same way. It became obvious that there could not be any transparent invisible supports below.

- See, see! “I said... Just a hypnotic state,” the neighbor triumphed.

“Very simple,” the neighbor answered irritably. - Focus, nothing more. You never know what magicians do! Everything is hypnotism, you say...

But Felix continued to remain in the air, as if he was dozing on an invisible bed.

The magician blindfolded the boy, walked to the edge of the stage and began to explain to the audience what would happen next.

Guessing thoughts

Anyone who wishes can make sure,” the magician began, “that Felix, remaining here on stage blindfolded, will guess the contents of your pockets, purses, and wallets. This is a mind reading session!

I will try to convey at least part of what has survived in my memory.

Having descended into the hall, the magician walked between the rows of the audience and, approaching one of the spectators, asked him to take something out of his pocket. He took out a cigarette case.

- Attention please! Felix, can you tell me who the man I'm standing next to is?

“Military,” Felix’s answer reached us.

- Right! What thing did he show me now?

- Cigarette case.

Even if Felix had not been hanging in the air on the stage blindfolded, he could not have seen what the military man, sitting so far from him and, moreover, in a dimly lit hall, showed the magician.

“That’s right,” continued the magician. – Guess what I see in his hand now?

- Matches.

- Fine. Now what?

It was true!

The magician left the military man and, walking between the rows with silent steps, stopped at the chair of a young schoolgirl.

- Tell me, who did I approach? – he asked, turning again to Felix.

- To the girl.

- Fine. Can you tell what I'm taking from her hands now?

- A comb.

- Perfect! Now what?

- A glove.

It is truth too!

– What kind of person is showing me the thing now? – asked the magician, silently moving to another chair.

- Statsky!

- Cleverly. What thing?

- Wallet.

Ventriloquism was out of the question: many were near the magician himself and vigilantly watched his behavior. There was no doubt that it was Felix who spoke and not anyone else. It seemed as if he was actually reading the thoughts in the magician's head.

– Guess what I take out of my wallet?

- Three rubles.

It was true!

Can you say what now?

- Ten rubles.

- Clever! Find out what I'm holding at the moment?

- Letter.

Now who did I approach?

- To a student.

- Perfect. Tell me, what did he eat for me?

- A newspaper.

- Right. Try to guess what I just received from him?

- A pin.

To admit that Felix could somehow see from the stage a pin in the hands of a magician would be completely absurd. But if this is not deception, then what is it? Supernatural ability? Clairvoyance? Mind reading? Is it possible to?

Such questions crowded into my head after the performance.

I thought about this on the way from the theater and continued to think about it all night: I could not sleep, excited by everything I had seen at this extraordinary performance.

Boy from the top floor

About two days later, while climbing the stairs to our apartment, I noticed in front of me a boy who had recently moved in with his older relative in the apartment above us. They lived separately, making no acquaintances with anyone, and I still never had to exchange a word with the boy next door; I didn’t even have a chance to look closely at his face.

The boy walked slowly up the stairs, carrying a tin of kerosene in one hand and a basket of vegetables in the other. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned in my direction, and - I was pinned to the spot with amazement... Felix!

So that's why the boy's face on stage seemed familiar to me!

I looked at him silently, not knowing how to start a conversation, and when I came to my senses, I began to randomly pour out words:

- Come to me... I’ll show you a collection of butterflies... day and night... with pupae... There is an electric machine... I made it myself... from a bottle... These are the sparks... Come, you’ll see...

– Do you know how to plan boats? With a sail? - he asked.

- There are no boats. Tritons in a jar... There are stamps, a whole album. Various rarities: Borneo, Iceland...

I never thought that I would hit the mark so accurately with this stamp collection. Felix turned out to be a diligent collector of them. His eyes lit up and he went down a few steps closer to me.

– Do you have any stamps? A lot of? “He came close to me.”

– Oh, the rarest ones: Nicaragua, Argentina, Transvaal, ancient Finnish ones... Come! Come today. We live here in this apartment. Ring the bell. I have my own room. There are almost no lessons assigned for tomorrow...

This is how our first acquaintance took place. Felix promised to come tomorrow and actually came the next day in the evening. I immediately took him to my room and began to show him the sights: a collection of 60 butterflies with pupae, which I collected over two summers; a homemade electric car made from a beer bottle - the subject of my pride and the general envy of my comrades; four newts in a glass jar, caught last summer; the fluffy cat Serko, who gave his paw like a dog; finally, an album of stamps, which no one in the class had. Felix was only interested in stamps. His collection did not have even a tenth of what he found in mine. He explained to me why it was so difficult for him to collect them. My uncle doesn’t give me money to buy in stores (the magician was his uncle; Felix was an orphan). There is no one to exchange with: no acquaintances. Letters from almost no one come: after all, they do not live, like other people, in one place, but constantly move from city to city, without having a permanent address.

- Why don’t you have any friends? – I asked.

- How should they be? As soon as you meet someone, we are already going to a new city, and the acquaintance stops. We don’t come to the same city twice. And my uncle doesn’t like me to make acquaintances. I came to you on the sly: my uncle doesn’t know, he’s not at home.

- Why doesn’t your uncle want you to make acquaintances?

– He’s afraid that I won’t reveal the secret to someone.

-What secret?

- Yes, tricks. Nobody will go to the show then. What kind of interest?

- So these were tricks?

Felix was silent.

- Tell me, were these tricks that you showed with your uncle? Yes? Still tricks? - I asked.

But it wasn't so easy to get Felix to talk about it. He did not turn his head in my direction and silently leafed through the album.

– Do you have Arabia? – he asked finally, looking at the album of stamps and as if not hearing my persistent questions.

I realized that it was useless to get an answer from him, and started showing off my rarities.

That evening I did not learn anything from Felix that could explain to me the riddle of the “miracle of our century.”

The secret of phenomenal memory

And yet I achieved my goal! On the second day, Felix revealed to me the secret of extraordinary memory. I won’t go into detail about how I managed to win him over to frankness. I had to part with a dozen of the rarest stamps, and Felix could not resist the temptation.

It was at Felix's apartment. I came as we had previously agreed, because Felix knew the day before that his uncle would be leaving for the nearest station.

Before revealing the secret, Felix made me swear long and solemnly that I would “never—to anyone—for anything” say a single word about it. After that, he wrote the following sign on a strip of paper:

I looked in bewilderment, first at the piece of paper, then at Felix, waiting for an explanation.

“You see,” he began, mysteriously lowering his voice, “you see, we replace numbers with letters.” We replace zero with the letter N, because the word “zero” begins with it, or with the letter M.

- Why M?

– Consonant with N. We replace the unit with the letter G, because the written G is similar to 1:

Where does the letter Z come from?

– Often G turns into F: run - run.

- Understood. The letter D answers 2, because “Two”, and T is consonant with D. But why is K three?

- Consists of three lines. And X is pronounced similar to K.

- Fine. Four – Ch or the consonant Shch. Five – P or the consonant B; six Sh. But why L?

- Just. You just need to remember: 6 - L. But seven - S or Z; eight - B or F; It's clear.

- Yes. But why 9 – R?

– In the mirror 9 looks like R.

- Ponytail, like a nine.

– The table is not difficult to remember. But I still don’t see what it’s about.

- Wait a minute. The tablet contains only consonant sounds. If you combine them with vowels - after all, vowels by themselves do not mean numbers - then you can create words that at the same time express numbers.

- For example?

– For example, “window” means 30, because K is 3, N is 0.

– And every word can mean a number?

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