A Fairy Tale

A Fairy Tale
by Oliver Butterick

Once upon a time, in a castle near the sea, there was a queen who ruled over the entire land. Unfortunately, because her intellect was greatly superior to her subjects, they had no idea that she, in fact, was their queen. Her intellect was nearly endless, and it was surpassed only by her beauty. She was wise beyond her years, yet she appeared eternally young.

This queen had many suitors, however none met her approval. “This one is too stupid.” “That one is too fat.” “Oh, not this one! He has more hair on his back than on his head!” Alone she ruled over her oblivious subjects. Then, one day, a knight rode up to her castle. She discovered that he was the fastest rider in all of the land. His diminutive stature played a large role in this status. Upon dismounting, he rasied his visor, revealing eyes as blue as a jay, rivaled in beauty only by the eyes of her highness. The queen continued to inspect this young knight's physical attributes and found them acceptable, yet she was not convinced that this suitor would match her intellect.

The queen invited the knight to take a test of intellect. Just then, a handmaiden arrived with a tray that contained three overturned goblets: a red one, a blue one, and a green one. The queen then said, “Under one of these goblets rests the key to my heart. You will be allowed to pick one goblet. Then, I will remove one of the other two goblets, one that does not contain the key, and you will be given the option to change your selection, if you like.”

The knight selected the green goblet, and the queen removed the red one. The knight sat and contemplated, staring into the queen's eyes, as if he were trying to see into her soul and find the answer. Should he stay with the green goblet, or switch his choice to the blue one? The queen became somewhat uneasy at the knight's stare. While she hoped that he would pass this test of intellect, she did not want to unwittingly reveal the answer, on the chance that the knight was truly an idiot. Little did she know that the knight knew the answer all the while, and was merely indulging in her beauty.

Finally, the knight responded. “The answer is quite clear. I shall change my choice to blue because it is twice as likely that the key rests under it.” “Twice as likely? There are two goblets. Shouldn't there should be an equal chance that the key is under either one?” the Queen asked, continuing to test the knight.

“Surely you jest, my lady. There were three at the beginning. When I selected the green goblet, my chance of being correct was one in three, and that remains the case, even though you have removed the red goblet. Let us say that the key had been under the red goblet. If I selected the red one, you would have removed either of the others, correct? And if I switched my answer, then I would have been incorrect. However, if I selected blue, you would have removed the green goblet, and switching would have been correct. Likewise, had I chosen green, the blue would be removed, and changing my choice would have been correct. So, there is a two-thirds chance that the key is under the blue
goblet, and so I will change my choice to that one.”

“Very well, then,” said the queen, “pick up the blue goblet, and see if the key rests under it.”

The knight did just that, only to reveal that the key was not there. The queen dismissed the knight from her court, and he sulked as he walked slowly back to his steed. Angry that although he had made the logical choice, he had still failed, he reflected on the injustice that such matters should be left to chance.

Against all notions of chivalry, the knight turned around and barged back into the queen's court. Her eyes widened, but she did not speak. He walked up to the queen and did not apologize for his behavior. He professed his love for her and begged that he be given another chance to prove his intellect to her.

The queen smiled and looked down at the green goblet, which remained overturned in front of her. She reached for the goblet, lifting it and revealing that it too was empty. She said, “You passed the test of intellect by changing your choice after I removed the red goblet. However, no man had ever made it that far, so no one knew that there was one more test. It was a test of your love and devotion for me. By returning to my court, you have passed this final test.” She reached to her neck, and lifted a chain that had a golden key attached to it—the key to her heart. She placed it around the neck of the knight, inviting him to share her throne, and they lived happily ever after.

Oliver can be reached at oliver@babblog.com.