How many were going to St Ives? (give two different solutions)?

Question

As i was going to St Ives

I met a man with seven wives

Every wife had seven sacks

Every sack had seven cats

Every cat had seven kits

kits, cats, sacks and wives

Answer 1

you go to my uni ..

your cheating

im dobbing

Answer 2

One! Just you.

I guess if you wanted to work it out though:

Man: 1

wives: 7

sacks: 7^2

cats: 7^3

kits: 7^4

1 + 7 + 7^2 + 7^3 + 7^4 = 2794

Answer 3

Only 1 person going to St. Ives as the poem states. UNLESS the person he met was already walking to St. Ives and the one speaking in the poem was walking with him.

Answer 4

I can give you four possible solutions:

The first suggests that "I met a man with 7 wives".  That could imply that he met the man only, and there is no suggestion that the man himself was goin to St. Ives.  So the first solution would be that only the author was going to St. Ives, or one person.

Secondly, the author might have met a man on the road who was also going to St. Ives, and even though that man had 7 wives, there was no suggestion that those wives were traveling with him.  So it might be that the author and the man were going to St. Ives, or two people.

Thirdly, the author may have meant that he met a man going to St. Ives WITH his 7 wives.  In that case, the author, the man, and 7 wives were all going to St. Ives, and that would be nine people.

Finally, you could stretch it to include the cats, since you didn't say how many people were going to St. Ives.  Ignore the sacks, which no one would consider to be beings.  You have the author, the man, his seven wives, their 49 cats (7 each) and their 343 kits (7 kits per cat), or kittens.  That would be 401 beings going to St. Ives.

Answer 5

There is only one solution.  The poem says and I was going to St. Ives.  There is only one person going to St. Ives.  Sorry, there is no other solution.