One rabbit sees six elephants while going towards the river. Every elephant sees two monkeys going towards the river, and every monkey carries one tortoise. How many animals are actually going towards the river?

Introduction / Context:
This is a tricky logic puzzle that plays with wording and assumptions. The story mentions several animals: a rabbit, six elephants, some monkeys and tortoises. At first glance, you may be tempted to add all of them, but the question is more specific. It asks how many animals are going towards the river, not how many animals are mentioned. The puzzle tests careful reading and the ability to distinguish between animals that are moving and animals that are only observing.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• One rabbit is going towards the river and sees six elephants.
• The statement does not say that the six elephants are going towards the river; they are only seen by the rabbit.
• Every elephant sees two monkeys going towards the river. The wording suggests the same two monkeys, not different monkeys for every elephant.
• Every monkey holds one tortoise in its hands.
• We assume there are exactly two monkeys, and therefore two tortoises, going towards the river.

Concept / Approach:
The most important idea is to separate animals that are clearly described as going towards the river from those that are only part of the scenery. The rabbit is explicitly said to be going towards the river. The monkeys are also described as going towards the river, but nothing states that the elephants are moving in that direction. Once we count only the moving animals and include the tortoises that the monkeys carry, we get a much smaller total than a naive sum of all mentioned animals.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Start with the rabbit. The puzzle clearly states that this rabbit is going towards the river, so that is one animal. Step 2: Consider the six elephants. The sentence says the rabbit saw six elephants while going towards the river. It does not say the elephants are also going towards the river, so we do not yet count them as travelling animals. Step 3: Every elephant saw two monkeys going towards the river. The most reasonable reading is that all the elephants see the same two monkeys on the path, not that each elephant sees a different pair. So we count two monkeys going towards the river. Step 4: Every monkey holds one tortoise. If there are two monkeys going towards the river, each carrying a tortoise, then there are two tortoises also going towards the river. Step 5: Add up the animals that are clearly moving towards the river: 1 rabbit + 2 monkeys + 2 tortoises = 5 animals.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, ask whether including the elephants as travellers is justified. The sentence structure only uses them as observers: the rabbit sees them, and they in turn see the monkeys going towards the river. Nothing suggests they are walking with the group. If the puzzle wanted to count the elephants, it would state that they too were going towards the river. Also, if each elephant saw two different monkeys, we would have 12 monkeys, which would be unnecessarily complicated and not hinted at by the text.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
• 14: This likely comes from adding 1 rabbit + 6 elephants + 2 monkeys + 2 tortoises and perhaps miscounting, but it wrongly assumes all animals are walking to the river.
• 11: Some may include 1 rabbit + 6 elephants + 2 monkeys + 2 tortoises, ignoring the wording about direction of travel.
• 8: This could be 1 rabbit + 2 monkeys + 2 tortoises + 3 elephants by some guesswork, but again the elephants are not described as going to the river.

Common Pitfalls:
The main mistake is to treat all animals mentioned as travellers. Another common error is over interpreting every elephant saw two monkeys as twelve different monkeys instead of a single pair. Logic puzzles often hide the trick in small phrases like going towards the river, so reading carefully is essential. Always distinguish between who is moving, who is watching and how many unique animals are actually being described.

Final Answer:
Only the rabbit, two monkeys and two tortoises are clearly going towards the river, so the correct total is 5 animals.