Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-04-29
RIDDLES AND PROVERBS.
GREAT IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO
THEN IN EARLY TINES.

NNtW wv NSNGE ltWNo
vsb,. Tale. 10 wh,sh Ola fiaiiss Pisy
. rr.miasss rsr-Aa,s.ssr.s .f ,hs
ki.s'. s.a viii NJ witch ssa In ,As
D.. .f w.rieses~
Riddles are an old. old story In human
history. and proverbs apparently began
VIII the very beginning % human life.
Originally the riddle was considered ~
the authoritative test of q mans intelli-
gcnce AMI ability; therefore the man
Who could AL a question that another
man could not answer was considered No
far the abler ~ the two. and men like
E-op. when they could not answer the
apparently simple riddle. were ~ cha.
grincd that they even committed suicide.
Tie high value thus attached to rid.
ding did 40, stand very long before the
logiral arguments % the schools. bat
among the common I-ople the riddle has
livel on. aud l. s,ill stock amusement
for larger portion % the human race
than any other device. This IL especially
true II .the various riddles that are
woven into the tales % folk lore. partic-
ularly those that are common 30 the dif.
fcfsnt nationalities
Often the construction Ia ~ simple AZ
io show a remarkable want u Ingenuity.
aud generally the vii l. scanty. and of.
ten the phra.s vulgar. bat. such as u 10.
Il has II anil It'll -rt- gray bsaris wag.
ging. and thick heads noiding delight
| In many land. 10y the myriad home fires
~ tie p-casantry ~ the world.
In like manner many Of the proverbs
that now scm meaningless had an orig.
nal connection with some oh word tale
that ha. bccn bet or ob.curcd while the
expression has lived on. Take. foe In
stance. the proyerbial phrase, the nine
live of cat Il oome- from an oil Hin.
,Iop story - The Cat That Could Not
H. Killed.
The dog bit her tail In half. the ele-
plant ssis.d her with bis trunk and
threw her a long distance. then he put
hi. foot On her. then the leopard Was
CHEATED by her, a man stuck his knife
into her and ieaI clawcd her. bat they
didn't LII the cat. and all % them wished
they liai 1t her alone.
Ia. German tale 20 The Riddle" l. .
fair sample % large class of the folk
tale. In which riddles play prominen,
part. Here Il l.;
There was once kings son who was
.eiEsd With "a dcsir. 10 travel around the
~ofli. and took no one with him but q
faithful servant. One day he came 30 q
great forest. and when darkness overlook
him b. could lind no shelter and knew
not whsrr "a pas the night. Then he
saw a girl Who wa, going toward small
hOuse. and when he came nearer be saw
that the maiden was young aud bsauti'
ful. lie spoke % her aud saidi "Dvar
clsId. can and my servant find shelter
for the nishtf' "Oh. yes, aid the girl.
In AL voice. that you certainly can;
bat I do not advis. you Ia venture IT,
ID not g1 In" why mott asked he.
Tia. maiden sigh.d and saidi MY step
mother practices wicked aris She l. III
disposed 10 Strangers
Then be- -aw very well that he had
come Ia the hou-., of a witch. but "a II
va. dark and b. could no, 10 farther.
and al-o "a. not afraid. be entered. The
oil woman vas sitting In an arm chair
by the lrr. and looked at the stranger
With her ri sycs "Gool evening"
growlcl she. and pretended 90 b. quite
friendly. Take seai and rest your
Ill. She blew up the fire. on which
40. was cooking something In a small
f-t The daughter warned the two to
L. prudent Ia cat and drink nothing. fOr
the olJ woman brrwcd evil drinks
They slept quirtly until morning. When
they were making ready for their de-
rariurr. and the kings -On was already
stated on his b0r-., the old woman ~,idi
'stop moment: l will first hand YOU
parting dnught."
Wills, she fetched Il the kings son
ru.l- away, and the servant. Who Was
ius, huckling his saddle ON, was stand.
ing thcfr. when the wicked witch came
uut With ih. drink. Take that Ia your
master. aid she. but a. shs spoke the
gIas. brok- and the liquid spurtel on the
hur-.. which Immediately fell down
dad The servant ran and told hi. mas
ter what had happened. and then went
back for the saddle. When he came to
the dead hor-c raven was already de-
youring Il. who knows whether We
shall lind anything better toCiayr' said
the servant. ~ he Killed the raven and
took II with him.
And now they iourneyed onward into
the forest the whole day and could not
get out of IL. By nightfali they found
an inn AMI entered u. The servant gave
the raven 20 the innke-per to make II
really for supper.
The inn, however. was a den % muir
derer~. who intended to Kill the stran'
gers. but fret at down "a supper AMI ATE
.