the-other-side-of-the-chessboard-2
Original: the-other-side-of-the-chessboard-2 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption): A king offered a wise man one wish.
Wise man: I want a single grain of rice on the first square of this chessboard, two on the next square, four on the third square, and so on.
Panel 2 (caption): The king happily consented.
King: Only a little rice? It shall be done!
Panel 3 (caption): By the 20th square the king had realized the trick.
King: Dammit, this is why nobody likes wise men.
Panel 4 (caption): The king's guards seized the wise man.
Wise man: What?! But I tricked a capricious monarch out of all his wealth! Everything should be going great for me!
Panel 5 (caption): The wise man was put to death in the most mathematically insulting way possible.
Guard/king: You will be cut into a random spiral, which we will say is a Fibonacci spiral.
Wise man: Noooooo!
Panel 6:
Off-panel voice: Professor, what's the moral of this story?
Professor: Stay away from applied mathematics.
Votey:
An angry face speaking: Or I will alter your topology.
Wise man: I want a single grain of rice on the first square of this chessboard, two on the next square, four on the third square, and so on.
Panel 2 (caption): The king happily consented.
King: Only a little rice? It shall be done!
Panel 3 (caption): By the 20th square the king had realized the trick.
King: Dammit, this is why nobody likes wise men.
Panel 4 (caption): The king's guards seized the wise man.
Wise man: What?! But I tricked a capricious monarch out of all his wealth! Everything should be going great for me!
Panel 5 (caption): The wise man was put to death in the most mathematically insulting way possible.
Guard/king: You will be cut into a random spiral, which we will say is a Fibonacci spiral.
Wise man: Noooooo!
Panel 6:
Off-panel voice: Professor, what's the moral of this story?
Professor: Stay away from applied mathematics.
Votey:
An angry face speaking: Or I will alter your topology.
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic. Captions tell a fable. Panel 1: a king offers a wise man one wish; the wise man asks for a single grain of rice on the first chessboard square, two on the next, four on the third, and so on. Panel 2: the king happily consents, saying 'Only a little rice? It shall be done!' Panel 3: by the 20th square the king realizes the doubling trick and grumbles 'Dammit, this is why nobody likes wise men.' Panel 4: the king's guards seize the wise man, who protests 'But I tricked a capricious monarch out of all his wealth! Everything should be going great for me!' Panel 5: the wise man is put to death 'in the most mathematically insulting way possible' as a guard declares 'You will be cut into a random spiral, which we will say is a Fibonacci spiral,' and the wise man screams 'Noooooo!' Panel 6: in a lecture hall, a student asks the professor the moral of the story; the professor answers 'Stay away from applied mathematics.' Votey: a close-up of a glaring, irritated face that says 'Or I will alter your topology.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.