"In a secret temple near Hanoi are three sacred poles, or towers. Threaded onto one pole are 64 sacred golden disks, decreasing in size from bottom to top. The temple monks have a divine mission. They must move all the disks from one pole to another, one by one. The divine rules are that they must not place a smaller disk on top of a larger one, and never move a disk anywhere but onto a sacred pole. When the task is completed, so the prophecy says, the temple will crumble to dust and the world will end."