The King wants to test his 2 very smart advisors Sadin and Lena. In the courtyard he sets up 4 closed wooden boxes on a table. All are the exact same size. In front of each box there is a name plate.
The King announces: “ Sadin and Lena, see these 4 sandalwood boxes? Each one has a fruit inside. One has a Pomogranate, one has an Orange, One has a Pineapple and one has an Apple. The names on the name plates in front of these boxes are not exactly right. Only one box has the right fruit name in front of it. All the others are mislabeled. Your job is to put all the boxes in the right places so they are properly labeled. You can open as many boxes as you want. BUT, one who opens the least number of boxes shall win! So what do you say?”
Sadin thought about it. He said, “ It is obvious that you have to open 2 boxes to accomplish that His Majesty”
Lena smiled and said,” I can easily beat that His Majesty”
Sadin was shocked.”Show me!”
Lena went to the table. She started rearranging the boxes without opening them. When she was finished rearranging the boxes, she smiled and said,” Check them yourself Sadin. I did not open a single box”
Sadin checked all the boxes. All were now correctly labeled.
What happened? Both had no prior knowledge of this test.
Explain: 1 Why did Sadin say he must open 2 boxes?
2 Why did Lena say she could do better?
3 Why was Lena able to do it without opening a single box?