Okay; he wound up dead. Obviously, he guessed wrong. However, to my way of thinking, here's Vizzini's reasoning in a nutshell:William Goldman wrote: VIZZINI
Let me put it this way: have you
ever heard of Plato, Aristotle,
Socrates?
MAN IN BLACK
Yes.
VIZZINI
Morons.
...
MAN IN BLACK
All right: where is the poison?
The battle of wits has begun. It
ends when you decide and we both
drink, and find out who is right
and who is dead.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIZZINI
But it's so simple. All I have to
do is divine from what I know of
you. Are you the sort of man who
would put the poison into his own
goblet, or his enemy's?
He studies the Man In Black now.
VIZZINI
Now, a clever man would put the
poison into his own goblet,
because he would know that only a
great fool would reach for what
he was given. I'm not a great
fool, so I can clearly not choose
the wine in front of you. But you
must have known I was not a great
fool; you would have counted on
it, so I can clearly not choose
the wine in front of me.
MAN IN BLACK
(And now there's a
trace of nervousness beginning)
You've made your decision then7
VIZZINI
Not remotely. Because iocane
comes from Australia, as everyone
knows. And Australia is entirely
peopled with criminals. And
criminals are used to having
people not trust them, as you are
not trusted by me. So I can
clearly not choose the wine in
front of you.
MAN IN BLACK
Truly, you have a dizzying
intellect.
VIZZINI
Wait till I get going! Where was I?
MAN IN BLACK
Australia.
VIZZINI
Yes -- Australia, and you must
have suspected I would have known
the powder's origin, so I can
clearly not choose the wine in
front of me.
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MAN IN BLACK
(very nervous)
You're just stalling now.
VIZZINI
(cackling)
You'd like to think that, wouldn't
you?
(stares at the Man in Black)
You've beaten my giant, which
means you're exceptionally strong.
So, you could have put the poison
in your own goblet, trusting on
your strength to save you. So I
can clearly not choose the wine
in front of you. But, you've also
bested my Spaniard which means
you must have studied. And in
studying, you must have learned
that man is mortal so you would
have put the poison as far from
yourself as possible, so I can
clearly not choose the wine in
front of me.
As Vizzini's pleasure has been growing throughout, the Man
In Black's has been fast disappearing.
MAN IN BLACK
You're trying to trick me into
giving away something -- it won't
work --
VIZZINI
(triumphant)
It has worked -- you've given
everything away -- I know where
the poison is.
MAN IN BLACK
(fool's courage)
Then make your choice.
VIZZINI
I will. And I choose --
And suddenly he stops, points at something behind the Man In
Black.
VIZZINI
-- what in the world can that be?
...
VIZZINI
watching him.
VIZZINI
You fell victim to one of the
classic blunders. The most famous
is "Never get involved in a land
war in Asia." But only slightly
less well known is this: "Never
go in against a Sicilian when
death is on the line."
He laughs and roars and cackles and whoops and is in all
ways quite cheery until he falls over dead.
(Either one cup or the other is poisoned.) Because he beat the Spaniard, it clearly cannot be the cup in front of him; because he beat the Turk, it clearly cannot be the cup in front of me. Therefore, we have reached a contradiction.
At this point (assuming, for an instant, that his logic regarding placement of the cup is correct), shouldn't he have realized that the contradiction means that one of his premises is incorrect, and deduced that either both cups were poisoned or neither cup was poisoned?
