The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-07-29
RIDDLES OF ANCIENT TINES.
Anagrams and Acrostics Have Been Known
Since the Days OF the Ps,lmist.

AnaErains and Acrostics Have Been known
Since the Days OF the Psalnlst.
It seems ridiculous that tho people
who lived hundreds and hundreds of
wears ago were more interested i'll puz-
zles than you and l arc today This is
true nevertheless. Tho puzzles l refer to
arc those i'll writing, although the an
cients probably occupied some of their
spare time with strange and puzzling
devices of wood and metal, as we do
What pleasure it is to solve the prob
lens i'll our favorite magazines or news
papersl 1t is very good exercise for ones
brains, too, and where u prize is offered
to the fortunate boy or girl who first
solves tho puzzles of different kinds the
work is moro pleasant still in tho an
ticipation of proving oneself little
clevcrer than the others and of receiv-
ing tho gift We find that the acrostio
Is tho most ancient form of puzzling
mankind. Acrostic is Greek for n num-
Der of verses, the first letters of which
form word-sometimes q name and
sometimes sentence Tho final letter
may form a word, or, as Addison tells
US, tho letters will even run down the
center of the verses rs q scam. The He
brew poets often made their verses run
over the entire alphabet Twelve of tho
psalms arc written OH this plan, the
most notable being tho one hundred and
nineteenth. This has 90 divisions of
stanzas, corresponding to the 90 letters
OF the Hebrew alphabet Each stanza is
formed of eight couplets, and the first
line of each couplct in tho first stanZa in
tho original Hebrew begins with the
letter alcph, the second commences with
beth, the third with gimcl and 50 on
through the alphabet. Tho English di-
visions of the psalms are called after
tho Hebrew letter that began the COUP
lets. 1t was also customary to compose
verses on sacred subjects after the fash
ion of Hebrew acrostics. This was done
with II view TO aid memory, and such
pieces were called abccdarian hymns.
The riddle is also of ancient origin.
Tho Proverbs of the Bible, or savings
attributed to Solomon, are often in the
form of riddles. Was it not the Queen
of Shcba who proposed riddles TO Solo
mon! The Koran, the scriptural book of
the Mohammcdans, also contains rid
dies us do some books now i'll existence,
written i'll Arabic and Persian. The an
cient Egyptians also propounded rid
dies, and one of the seven wise mon of
Greece, who lived III the sixth century
b. G., was celebrated for his riddles in
verse. Homer the Greek poet, accord
ing 10 a statement in Plutarch, died of
veXatiOn at not being able to solve q
riddle. In the middle ages riddles were
encouraged for amusement on winter
nights i'll the baronial hall and also in
tho monastery. In later days some Of
the most brilliant men of letters contrib
uted to the list of riddles
The anagram or transposition of the
letters in words or sentences, was much
III vogue i'll Greece In the olden times.
The Cabalists, or Jewish doctors,
thought that tho anagram always point
Ell out mans destiny and if his name
written backward or transposed in any
way spelled word with meaning they
firmly believed it a revelation. The fiat
terers of james Of England proved his
right to the British monarchy as tho de-
Secondhand of tho mythical King Arthur
from his name Charles James Stuart,
which becomes "claims Arthur's seat. {"
The best anagrams arc those which have
III the new order of letters some signifi-
cation appropriate to that from which
they arc formed When PLATE asked,
"Quid est vcritas?' (What is truth0,
he probably had no idea that his quos-
ton answered itself. But it did. The
transposition made it, EST vir qui
adcst" ct is the man who is herc). An
agrams were written rs curly as $50 b.
c., and their name comes from the
Greek words ana, backward. and gram
ma, writing. -Philadclphia Press.