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Traditional lyrics. Original music by Sockeye Media LLC © 2014. All rights reserved.
"Going to St. Ives" Lyrics:
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,
How many were going to St. Ives?
Historical Information
"Going to St. Ives" proposes a riddle. The answer depends on how the question is read; it is unclear whether the group the narrator met was going to St. Ives as well. They could be coming from St. Ives, going elsewhere or nowhere at all. If all groups are not going to St. Ives, the answer would then be one, the narrator himself. If one assumes all parties are indeed going to St. Ives, then the answer can be calculated mathematically: 2,403.
1
Here in Russia we have a poem alike
шел Кондрат в Ленинград
а навстречу 12 ребят
у каждого в руках лукошко
в каждом лукошке кошка
у каждой кошки по 3 котенка
у каждого котенка в по 3 мышонка
вопрос:
сколько кошек, котят и мышат
несли ребята в Ленинград?
Kondrat to St.Petersburg went
And suddenly 12 kids he met
Each one in hands a busket had
And in each busket one cat sat
Each cat had got 3 kittens
Each kitten had 3 mice
The question is
How many animals to St. Petrsburg
Carried those guys?
only1
omg, its just 1! the little kid! get ur facts right!
@jenelynolila Awww, thanks so much — we’re glad you like our rhymes!
392
hi .. you inspired my kids a lot every time i turn on my pc and start to download ur rhymes my 3 yr old boy and my 10 m0s bby start jumping nd i see a big smile in there Lips..so keep up the good work. (im in philippines)
This is awesome! love the animated trees in the beginning, and the people who grow from the ground!!
Great video!
This video is so cute!
Also, 357 is only accounting for the Kittens. The formula would be as follows
1[for the narrator] + 1 [for the man] + 7 [for the wives] + 7x7x7 [for the cats in the sacks carried by the wives] + 7x7x7x7 [for the kittens of the cats in the sacks carried by the wives] =
so 1[the narrator] + 1[the man] + 7[wives] + 343 [cats] + 2401 [kittens] = 2753 going to st. ives. or 9 people… But i’m sticking with my original answer. 1. the narrator. it only ever said he was going to st ives.
i believe it’s just one. He (the boy) was going to St. Ives — doesn’t say anything about the man and his wives and sacks and cats and kits. They may have been going nowhere at all, he just ran across them on the way.
357
2401
@hariniv99 Yes!
@s0361042 Thanks for answering!
@hiportugal Thanks for saying so!
Really does sound like it’s so many! The boy is very adorable. Thanks for the riddle!