The Maze on the Crooked Table
Chapter 1Six Good Runs
Nachum's marble maze had six turns and one small tunnel.
He had made the walls from strips of cardboard glued to a flat board. When he lifted the board's edges gently, the marble rolled along the route into a square marked FINISH.
At home, he had guided it through six times without getting stuck.
Now it stood on a table at the boys' project exhibition.
Nachum put the marble at START.
Before he could lift an edge, it rolled sideways and stopped against the first wall.
"It wasn't supposed to do that," he said.
His friend Yossi leaned closer.
The marble seemed to disagree.
Chapter 2A Wider Turn
Nachum tried again. He lifted the left edge, but the marble rolled back toward the same wall when he lowered it.
"The passage is too narrow," he said.
He reached toward a cardboard strip.
Yossi held out his hand, without touching the maze.
"If you pull that off, won't the tunnel come off too?"
The tunnel rested on that strip.
Nachum sat back. He had spent a long time fitting its roof.
"Maybe I'll make it a straight path."
"You liked the six turns."
Nachum looked at the FINISH square. Nobody had reached it here.
Chapter 3Before the Start
Mr. Adler, the teacher supervising the exhibition, came over.
Nachum explained that the maze had worked at home.
"Show me what happens before you steer it," Mr. Adler said.
Nachum set the marble down and kept both hands away.
It rolled toward the left wall.
Yossi tried it near the other end. It rolled left there too.
"It isn't only the narrow turn," he said.
Nachum put his fingers under the board's left edge and raised it slightly.
The marble stopped rolling left.
He lowered the edge, and it moved again.
Chapter 4Underneath
Nachum checked the bottom of the maze board. No cardboard lump was stuck beneath it.
Mr. Adler asked the boys to lift the project onto the empty table beside them.
There, the marble stayed at START until Nachum moved the board.
"Same maze," Yossi said.
"Different table," Nachum answered.
Mr. Adler looked under the first table. One foot stood on a thick folded cleaning cloth.
The table did not wobble. The cloth was wedged tightly beneath its foot, holding that corner higher than the others.
"I thought a steady table had to be level," Nachum said.
Chapter 5The Table Job
Mr. Adler asked the boys to stand clear. He moved the table safely and removed the cloth.
Then he checked all four feet on the floor before returning the maze.
Nachum put the marble in several places on the board.
It no longer rolled left by itself.
"Now try the route," Mr. Adler said.
Nachum tilted the board carefully. The marble passed the first turn, the second, and the third.
He tilted too far at the fourth.
The marble stuck in a corner.
Nachum frowned, then laughed a little.
"That one was me."
Chapter 6Keeping the Turns
On the next try, Nachum used smaller movements.
The marble entered the tunnel and came out into the last passage. A final gentle tilt carried it into FINISH.
Yossi tried too. He got stuck once, then completed the route.
Nachum left the cardboard walls where they were.
He made a small instruction card: START WITH THE BOARD RESTING FLAT. LIFT THE EDGES GENTLY TO GUIDE THE MARBLE.
Mr. Adler read the card and checked that the table remained steady.
"Let the visitors try," he said.
Chapter 7An Honest Demonstration
The first visitor stopped at the tunnel.
"It's hard!"
Nachum nodded.
"That turn needs a small tilt. It took me more than one try too."
He did not promise that everybody would finish on the first run.
The boy tried again and reached the square.
Yossi grinned at Nachum from the other side of the table.
"Good thing you didn't tear it apart."
Nachum put the marble back at START.
"Good thing you asked about the tunnel."
He waited. The marble stayed still until the next pair of hands began to steer it.
