Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1890-01-07
RIDDLES AND PROVERBS.
GREAT IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO
THEM IN EARLY TIMES.

Kings San With the Witch and In the
Den of 1IurGcrers.
Riddles are an old, old story in human
history, and proverbs apparently began
with the very beginning of human life.
Originally the riddle was considered as
the authoritative test of q mans intelh-
gence and ability; therefore the man
who could ask q question that another
man could not answer was considered rs
far the ADLER of the two, and men like
xEsop, when they could not answer the
apparently simple riddle, were so cha
glined that they even committed suicide.
The high value thus attached to rid
ding did not stand very long before the
logical arguments Of the schools; but
among the common people the riddle has
lived on. and is still 4 stock amusement
for q larger portion of the human race
thanauv other device. This is especially
rue OF the various riddles that are
woven into the tales of folk lore, partic-
ularly those that are common to the diff
fer5ut nationalitieS.
Often the construction is so simple as
TO show q remarkable want of ingenuity,
and generally the wit is scanty, and Of
ton the phrase vulgar, but. such rs it is,
ii has set and still sets gray boards wag-
gi0g, and thick heads nodding delight
in many lands 6y the myriad home fires
Of the pe,ls;4ntry' of the world.
In like manner many OF the proverbs
thai now seem meaningless had an origi-
nal connection with some old word tale
Thar has been lost or obscured while the
EXPRESSION has lived on. Take, for in
stance. the proyerhial phrase, the nine
lives of 4 cat Il comes from IN old Hin
dco storv. of The Cat That Could Not
Sc Killed.:
The dog bt her tail in half, the ele
phant seized her with his trunk and
threw her !oas distance, then he put
his foot or !.er, then the leopard was
cheated by !,eg, man stuck his knife
into her and i bear clawed her, but they
didn't Kill thecat. and al of them wished
they had let her alone.
The German tale Of The Riddle is 4
fair sample Of 4 large class of the folk
tales in which riddles play prominent
part Here !; Is:
ihe'c WIS o,'0t = Nii's So'1 " ''g ~, rs
Selz, y" ~, : ',.e % 90, q ~ G''t' VIC
Mos-a' any '.,> ~ one WIN 1,,n ~.
l'Ili' u SCI ''''''. o-.e p'' nc e'sno ~
Srea' lo.17'-. '''t " e'' ''' ni'esS ., (, 'ooA
moi here to pass the night. Then he
81" gas We W. =o'Il LOW 'i.. 4 s'.l''i u.
house. @uo when ne came nearer ne saw
THAT tie 'ialden was young ana oeauu-
fUi. He SPOKE 70 her and S;ld; Dear
chill. can and my servant ind shelter
ioy t&c nish.: on, yes, SAID the GIRL
in q sal voice; that yoa certainly can;
but Go MOI advise YOU to venture It,
Do act 50 -. v l'y not; asked he.
The maiden sisacti aati sad; MY step,
mothe. practices wicked arts, She Is Iii
disposed TO stG.saSer5.
Then lie saw very well that he had
come to the house Of witch, but as 1t
was dark and he co;ild not 80 farther,
and also Was moi afraid, he entered. Ihe
old woman was sitting In an arm char
by the fire, and looked at the stranger
with her red eyes Good evening,
growled she. aad pretended to be quite
friendly. Take seat and rest your
self, She blew up the fire, on which
she was cooking something IN small
pot. The daughter warned the two to
be prudent to eat and drink nothing, Tor
II