Wolf, Goat and Cabbage

The Wolf, Goat and Cabbage is a river-crossing logic puzzle in which a farmer must transport a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage across a river using a boat that can carry only the farmer and one item. The constraint is that the wolf cannot be left alone with the goat, and the goat cannot be left alone with the cabbage.

The key solution involves taking the goat across first, returning alone, then taking either the wolf or cabbage across. On that trip, the farmer brings the goat back, then takes the remaining item across, and finally returns alone to fetch the goat.

The puzzle dates back to at least the 8th century. It appears in Alcuin of York's "Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes" (Problems to Sharpen the Young), a collection of mathematical and logical puzzles from around 800 AD.

The puzzle is attributed to Alcuin of York, an English scholar who served at the court of Charlemagne. His manuscript "Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes" is one of the earliest known collections of recreational mathematics in medieval Europe.