Riddle
I just came across a riddle of interest to our crowd. A "true riddle" is a metaphorical description of something. The riddler provides the description. Others must guess what the riddler is describing. For example,
riddle:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
answer:
An egg.
Here's one that Eli Kongas Maranda collected from the Lau people of Maliata in the Solomon Islands:
riddle:
Eight men who speak with four different accents.
answer:
A mandolin.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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