Four wishes are even #1
The Wizard of Even was famous in the land of Pome. He was the wizard to visit if you wanted wishes to come true. Hawlore, who was from the village of Odden, wanted four wishes. One day in early spring he made the long journey to the Wizard's castle. Hawlore knocked twice on the door (knocking three times would have been an insult) and was invited in. The wizard looked hard at Hawlore and asked, "What do you desire?"
Hawlore replied, "Will you grant me four wishes so that I can help my village become prosperous?" "Certainly", answered the wizard, "but first you must solve two even problems." Hawlore happily agreed.
The wizard continued, "For my birthday, my mother-in-law gave me a board that has a 5 x 5 grid carved on it. Each square of the grid has one stone on it. I dislike uneven things. Not only are there 25 stones on the grid but each row, column, and diagonal has five stones on it. Yet, I like the present. I have been trying to fix it by removing exactly five stones from the board so that each row, column, and diagonal of the grid has an even number of stones on it. I can’t do it. This is your first problem. Solve it for me if you want your wishes."
The wizard continued, "For my birthday, my mother-in-law gave me a board that has a 5 x 5 grid carved on it. Each square of the grid has one stone on it. I dislike uneven things. Not only are there 25 stones on the grid but each row, column, and diagonal has five stones on it. Yet, I like the present. I have been trying to fix it by removing exactly five stones from the board so that each row, column, and diagonal of the grid has an even number of stones on it. I can’t do it. This is your first problem. Solve it for me if you want your wishes."
Hawlore whistled as he picked up some stones and began to think.
