Treasure Hunt
Translation details
Model:mistral-medium-2604.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”a) The treasure — a pocketknife, a matchbox, or similar object — is well hidden, and the patrol must find it by following a series of hidden clues, discovered one after another. The patrol is set on the trail by being given the first and only clue. For example: “Go north. After several hundred paces, you will reach a hill with three solitary pines. Stand beneath them, and you will see a white cottage. On one of its walls, there is an arrow. Follow the direction of the arrow for 50 paces, and you will find a stone beneath which lies the next clue.”
The patrol sets off. There may be several white cottages and many stones. Eventually, they find a note. It reads: “Stand by the southern wall of the cottage, and you will see a haystack with a pole stuck in the middle. Position yourself so that the pole exactly covers the western edge of the house. Walk in that direction until you reach a road, where you will find a pile of stones. Fifteen paces from it, in the fork of a tree marked with a cross, is another note with clues.” The next clue says: “Go northwest, and you will find a hut with hollyhocks in the garden. Stand on the woodpile near the hut (note: this is a trap, as there are two piles, but it is not specified which one), and you will see a tree stump (note: three stumps are visible). When you stand on it facing south, you will see spruces. One of them is tied with thread; near it, under a stone, is the third note.”
In this way, the patrol follows the trail from one hiding place to the next. In one, they may find an order to locate three trees marked with crosses, with the note hidden in the triangle they form. The trail to the next hiding place may be marked with shreds of yarn, etc., and they often encounter deliberately set traps, forcing them to think hard before finding the next hiding spot, until they finally reach the hidden treasure.
The more cleverly the hiding places are chosen and the more wittily they are described, the greater the scouts’ interest in this excellent exercise. When placing the notes, the patrol leader should start from the treasure and work backward, hiding the notes in reverse order, not the other way around. Otherwise, the patrol leader would have to return from the second hiding place to the first to place a note there, from the third to the second, from the fourth to the third, etc. This is because a note can only be written and hidden in the previous hiding place after familiarizing oneself with the terrain details around the next one.
This exercise can be turned into a competition between several patrols. In this case, patrols set off one after another every 15 minutes, and it will be clear which one reaches the treasure in the shortest time. The same can be done with a single patrol, dividing it into groups of two scouts each.
However, all groups can also be sent simultaneously if the scouts have already developed a certain self-control. In this case, whoever finds a note must remove it discreetly so that no one notices, read it, and then hide it again just as carefully, before disappearing with their companion to avoid leading others onto the trail.
In such competitions, it is especially important to order that each note be hidden again exactly as it was found and in the exact same place. The last patrol collects all the notes. Sometimes, the leader places the notes the day before the exercise. In that case, they should be wrapped in pieces of tinfoil to protect them from moisture.
Depending on the number of hiding places and whether the whole setup is very simple or intricate and full of traps, the game can be easy or very difficult, lasting half an hour or even four hours.
b) The treasure, containing cards with the names of all the patrol’s scouts, is not found by following a series of discovered clues, as before, but by following a more or less precise description of the route leading to it. This route must first be walked by the patrol leader, who then describes it based on direct observation. For example: “500 paces along the road, then cross the small forest northwest, along the boundary between oats and clover until the stream, follow the left bank of the stream to the hut, jump to the right bank, and march northwest until the forest, along the edge of the forest to the clearing, through the clearing, head toward the factory chimney, and upon reaching a solitary oak, 25 paces north, etc., until you reach the treasure.” Whoever finds it takes their card and brings it to the designated meeting point. This point is predetermined, easy to spot, and located near the treasure. Who will bring their card within the prescribed time?
Source scan: Polona / National Library of Poland, marked “Public Domain”. View scan — PDF pages 130–133.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Zygmunt Wyrobek, Harcerz w polu: zabawy i gry terenowe (1946)
- Printed pages: 124–127 / PDF 130–133
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 124
- Read the source text: hwp-057