The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-20
READ ME A RIDDLE"
Some Saws That May Have First Seen
the Light In a Roman Circus.


From the CorrhiH Magazine
The conundrum is the short riddle which
is at present most ia favor with young wits.
1t is verbal puzzle, and the answer turns
upon pun, and, as Charles Lamb has said
of pens in general. its excellence is in pro-
portion to its absurdisy. A prev alent form
Of the conundrum is that which demands
resenl Glance or dissimilarity between two
things that are incapable Of comparison; the
answer must, therefore, be based upon
play of words. But the conundrum is very
miscellaneous. Thus: l. "Why Is naughty
boy like postage stampp Answer: Be
cause you lick him and stick him In cor
ner.n This provoked "a counterpart. q
What is the difference between naughty
boy and a postage stampp Answer: The
one you lick with a stick and the other you
stick with a lick" 3. How do you know
that little birds IN their nests agreef An
swer: because else they would fall out
4. who gains most at coronation, the
king or his peopleY Answer: The king
gains a crown, the people a sovereign D.
Nv hat is the difference between lady and
her mirrorP Answer: zone speaks with
out rejecting, the other reflects without
speaking" 6. when is 1t right to take
any one inp Answer: When 1t rains"
z. "Why is the figure nine like peacock"
Answer: because it is nothing without
3 a@'@''-N
is obscure but 1t seems to have been slang
word OF the bogus Latin sort, and Skeat
thinks that 1t may have been suggested by
the Latin gerond cOndrdurl, to try. This
comprehensive term covers variety OF
absurd questions and answers. There is a
funny old book, printed in l5ll by Wynkyn
de Worde, with the title, demands JOY
ous"--that is to say, "Merry Questions.
Many of them are not calculated to be found
out. Thus, what Is that which never
was and never will be {" Answer: "a
mouse's nest in a cats ear"
AS the riddle usually turns upon meta
phorical expression and every kind of rhe-
toricAl figure, We naturally come to it with
minds prepared to thread the labyrinth Of
verbal intricacies and subtle analogles. And
out Of this rises a new opportunity for the
cunning questioner. A secondary type OF
riddle is generated by taking advantage of
the general impression that the terms Of the
question will be ingenious and recondite
ana far-fetched, IL every term OF the ques-
ton Is plain, literal and used in the proper
est sense, the guesser will be thrown of the
scent and will be hunting far a6eld while
the game crOuches at his door. or this
artless kind of article there are examples
both enigmstic and charadish; here Is one
of the enigma type, which has before now
mvstified a whole circle Of attentive riddle
lovers:
Made In London, sold in York.
Put in a bottle, and called cork.
The next is OF the oharade type, and it has
peculiar interest for me, because friend
Of mine, with whom dtscoursed of riddles,
propounded it 70 me- with a little bit OF his
own personal experience which took my
fancy. The riddle. he said, was long ago
proposed to him by friend who could say
the riddle, but did not know the answer,
and perhaps this condition m Ade it take the
deeper root IN my friends unsatisaed mind;
and some years afterward he recalled IT to
mind, and at the same time toe answer
flashed across him. The riddle is as fol-
lows:
1nmy first my second safe;
My third aud fourth ate.
The result is often so different from what is
expected, that, although it may be true,
and even very true, yet 1t produces the
effect of a sheer sell" maria said to
John, my father Is your father. aud my
mother Is your mother, and yet we are not
brother and sister, What was Mariaw
Answer: Ma-ri>aTl was liar" Among
the literal sort are these: "Why do ducks go
under waterF' Answer: "FoT divers rea-
sons" This riddle was a povelty abou {
the year 1S45, aud it soon provoked this :;
counterpart, by no means equal in quality
w by do they come up again" Answer:
'For sundry reasons "Whers is hAppi-
ness always to be feundp Answer: In
the dictionary" what is that which is
often found where it is not2" Answer
Fault" What fish has its eyes nearest
togetherP Answer: THE smallest. 4"
Nv hen does a man sneeze thricep Az
swer: "When he can't help it," (which
| is the largest room in the worldP Answer:
1.-THE room for Improvement"
1t is not an accident that times Of literary
revival have been prolific in riddles. For 1t
may be said generally that the powers OF
language which are exercised in riddle max
ing are the self-same powers that are exer-
cised in the art OF literature, only that in
| making riddles those powers are drawn upon
more continuously which in general litera-
| ture are exercised with less intensity and
effort. Metaphors, secondary meanings.
adroit groupings which alter siRnifica
tions, all the powers that make words eias-
tic, these are the faculties by which Language
is rendered plastic for the writer, and these
are they that are brought into action by the
riddle maker with a more labored accumu-
lations OF effects. While the progressive
development of speech these powers increase
and there probably never was time or place
In which the materials for riddles were SC
abundant as at the present time in the area
that is covered by the English language.