In any case, for
the time being, it appeals just what we have described, and would
be unlike itself if it behaved any otherwise in the case that
puzzles us.
34
Lastly, to close this chapter, let us remark that it is nearly
certain that the solution given by calculating children and
horses is not of a mathematical nature at all. They do not in any
way consider the problem or the sum to be worked. They simply
find the answer straight away to a riddle, the guessing of which
is made easy by the actual nature of figures which keep their
secrets badly. To any one in the requisite state of mind, it
becomes a question of a sort of elementary charade, which hides
its answer only from those who speak another language. It is
evident that every problem, however complex it may appear,
carries within its very enunciation its one, invariable solution,
scarce veiled by the indiscreet signs that contain or cover it.
It is there, under the numbers that have no other object than to
give it life, coming, stirring and ceaselessly proclaiming itself
a necessity. It is not surprising therefore that eyes sharper
than ours and ears open to other vibrations should see and hear
it without knowing what it represents, what it implies or from
what prodigious mass of figures and operations it merges. The
problem itself speaks; and the horse but repeats the sign which
he hears whispered in the mysterious life of numbers or deep down
in, the abyss where the eternal verities hold sway.
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