Solve the riddles of the net.book.riddles, a 1992-93 collection compiled by Mark Manning from e-mail and...
logic/net.book.riddles New
New entry, edited from material collected for the archive and not yet in a released version.
Problem
Solve the riddles of the net.book.riddles, a 1992-93 collection compiled
by Mark Manning from e-mail and rec.games.frp.
[ Editor: The Infamous Net.Book.Riddles, Version 3.0b, compiled by Mark
Manning <mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov>. Each riddle is numbered as in the
original: the number before the period identifies the submitter, the
number after it the submitter's riddle. The Date/Who/Author/Title
fields of the original are given on one line after the number; "Title:
None" is omitted. The compiler's introduction and the answers are in
the solution file. Several of these riddles are also in logic/riddle. ]
1.1 Date: Unknown, but not long ago. Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
Author: Unknown
You eat something you neither plant nor plow.
It is the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies.
1.2 Date: Unknown, but not long ago. Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
Author: Unknown
A serpent swam in a silver urn.
A golden bird did in its mouth abide
The serpent drank the water, this in turn
Killed the serpent. Then the gold bird died.
1.3 Date: Unknown, but not long ago. Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
Author: Unknown
Teacher, open thy book.
1.4 Date: Unknown, but not long ago. Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
Author: Beyond Zork
My tines are long.
My tines are short.
My tines end ere
My first report.
1.5 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu Author: Unknown
Turn us on our backs
And open up our stomachs
You will be the wisest of men
Though at start a lummox.
1.6 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu Author: Unknown
The hungry dog howls
For crust of bread.
His cry goes unheard
It's far overhead.
1.7 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu Author: Unknown
Bury deep,
Pile on stones,
Yet I will
Dig up the bones.
1.8 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu Author: Unknown
A cloth poorly dyed
And an early morning sky
How are they the same?
1.9 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu Author: Matt Morris
It occurs once in every minute
Twice in every moment
And yet never in one hundred thousand years.
1.10 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
Author: Matt Morris
My first wears my second; my third might be
What my first would acquire if he went to the sea.
Put together my one, two, three
And the belle of New York is the girl for me.
1.11 Date: 4/21/92 Who: cpearce@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
Author: Phil Weaver
Never ahead, ever behind,
Yet flying swiftly past;
For a child I last forever,
For adults I'm gone too fast.
2.1 Date: Wed Apr 8 12:49:46 1992 Who: dschoen@cs.vu.nl
Author: Unknown
Two horses, swiftest travelling,
Harnessed in a pair, and
Grazing ever in places
Distant from them.
3.1 Date: Unknown Who: The Shadowraiker Author: Unknown
It can be said:
To be gold is to be good;
To be stone is to be nothing;
To be glass is to be fragile;
To be cold is to be cruel.
Unmetaphored, what am I?
4.1 Date: Unknown Who: 2390carrolld.vms.csd.mu.edu
Author: TSR Inc. Module S2
round she is,
yet flat as a board
altar of the Lupine Lord
Pearl on black velvet
Jewel in the sea
Unchanged yet e'er changing
Eternally.
5.1 Date: Unknown Who: KM42%MARISTB.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu
Author: KM42000 (?)
Twice four and twenty blackbirds
sitting in the rain
I shot and killed a quarter of them
How many do remain?
6.1 Date: Unknown Who: v892079%SI.HHS.NL@uga.cc.uga.edu
Author: Gentevoort (?)
first will be last
last will be first
and all in between will also be cursed
open the door and the thing will be there
so be carefull and beware!
7.1 Date: Unknown Who: gusar@uniwa.uwa.oz.au Author: Sean (?)
It has a golden head
It has a golden tail
but it hasn't got a body.
7.2 Date: Unknown Who: gusar@uniwa.uwa.oz.au Author: Sean (?)
Speak, friend, and enter!
8.1 Date: Unknown Who: BILLERMA%XAVIER.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu
Author: Unknown
A leathery snake,
With a stinging bite,
I'll stay coiled up,
Unless I must fight.
9.1 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Coleridge
There is not wind enough to twirl
That one red leaf, nearest of its clan,
Which dances as often as dance it can.
9.2 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Longfellow
Half-way up the hill, I see thee at last
Lying beneath me with thy sounds and sights --
A city in the twilight, gleaming and vast,
With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights.
9.3 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Dickinson
I am, in truth, a yellow fork
From tables in the sky
By inadventant fingers dropped
The awful cutlery.
Of mansions never quite disclosed
And never quite concealed,
The apparatus of the dark
To ignorance revealed.
9.4 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: John Updike
Notes: Leave the last 2 lines off to make the riddle harder
Many-maned scud-thumper,
Maker of worn wood,
Shrub-ruster,
Sky-mocker,
Rave!
Portly pusher,
Wind-slave.
9.5 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Shelley
Make me thy lyre, even as the forests are.
What if my leaves fell like its own --
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep autumnal tone.
9.6 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: G.Manley Hopkins
This darksome burn, horseback brown,
His rollock highroad roaring down,
In coop and in comb the fleece of his foam
Flutes and low to the body falls home.
9.7 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Shakespeare
I've measured it from side to side,
'Tis three feet long and two feet wide.
It is of compass small, and bare
To thirsty suns and parching air.
9.8 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Sir Edmund Gosse
My love, when I gaze on thy beautiful face,
Careering along, yet always in place,
The thought has often come into my mind
If I ever shall see thy glorious behind.
9.9 Date: 1 May 92 16:10:35 GMT Who: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Author: Francis Saltus Saltus
Then all thy feculent majesty recalls
The nauseuous mustiness of forsaken bowers,
The leprous nudity of deserted halls --
The positive nastiness of sullied flowers.
And I mark the colours, yellow and black,
The fresco thy lithe, dictatorial thighs.
10.1 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
10.2 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
10.3 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless it flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
10.4 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place,
Not in high place."
10.5 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
10.6 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
10.7 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.
10.8 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beast, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
10.9 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
You feel it, but never see it and never will.
10.10 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
You must keep it after giving it.
10.11 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
As light as a feather, but you can't hold it for ten minutes.
10.12 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
Has a mouth but does not speak, has a bed but never sleeps.
10.13 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
Runs smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but cannot climb!
10.14 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
You break it even if you name it!
10.15 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
It passes before the sun and makes no shadow.
10.16 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual
Author: From the SSI Computer Game "Secret of the Silver Blades"
You feed it, it lives, you give it something to drink, it dies.
10.17 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
A red drum which sounds
Without being touched,
And grows silent,
When it is touched.
10.18 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
A harvest sown and reaped on the same day
In an unplowed field,
Which increases without growing,
Remains whole though it is eaten
Within and without,
Is useless and yet
The staple of nations.
10.19 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.
10.20 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held
No throat, but can be heard.
10.21 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
I go around in circles,
But always straight ahead
Never complain,
No matter where I am led.
10.22 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Lighter than what
I am made of,
More of me is hidden
Than is seen.
10.23 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
If a man carried my burden,
He would break his back.
I am not rich,
But leave silver in my track.
10.24 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe.
10.25 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Weight in my belly,
Trees on my back,
Nails in my ribs,
Feet I do lack.
10.26 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
You can see nothing else
When you look in my face
I will look you in the eye
And I will never lie.
10.27 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I lick
Will soon turn red.
10.28 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Three lives have I.
Gentle enough to soothe the skin,
Light enough to caress the sky
Hard enough to crack rocks.
10.29 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Glittering points
That downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
That never rust.
10.30 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Each morning I appear
To lie at your feet,
All day I follow
No matter how fast you run,
Yet I nearly perish
In the midday sun.
10.31 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Keys without locks
Yet I unlock the soul.
10.32 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
Something wholly unreal, yet seems real to I
Think my friend, tell me where does it lie?
10.33 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
I am so simple,
That I can only point
Yet I guide men
All over the world.
10.34 Date: Unknown Who: The Riddle Manual Author: Unknown
A beggar's brother went out to sea and drowned.
But the man who drowned had no brother.
What was the relationship between the man who drowned and the
beggar?
11.1 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
For our ambrosia we were blessed,
by Jupiter, with a sting of death.
Though our might, to some is jest,
we have quelled the dragon's breath.
Who are we?
11.2 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
Colored as a maiden tweaked,
time was naught when I began;
through the garden I was sneaked,
I alone am the fall of man.
What am I?
11.3 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
Early ages the iron boot tread,
with Europe at her command.
Through time power slipped and fled,
'til the creation of new holy land.
Who am I?
11.4 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
One thin, one bold,
one sick, one cold.
The earth we span,
to prey upon man.
Who are we?
11.5 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
One where none should be,
or maybe where two should be,
seeking out purity,
in the kings trees.
What am I?
11.6 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
He who makes it does not keep it.
He who takes it does not know it.
He who knows it does not want it.
He who gathers it must destroy it.
What is it?
11.7 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
One tooth to bite,
he's the forests foe.
One tooth to fight,
as all Norse know.
What is it?
11.8 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
This creature, part man and part tree,
hates the termite as much as the flea.
His tracks do not match,
and his limbs may detach,
but he's not a strange creature to see.
What is it?
11.9 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
The part of the bird
that is not in the sky,
which can swim in the ocean
and always stay dry.
What is it?
11.10 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
Dead and bound,
what once was free.
What made no sound,
now sings with glee.
What is it?
11.11 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
The root tops the trunk
on this backward thing,
that grows in the winter
and dies in the spring.
What is it?
11.12 Date: Unknown Who: s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU
Author: Wee Willie, compiled by Dan Judd.
Touching one, yet holding two,
it is a one link chain
binding those who keep words true,
'til death rent it in twain.
What is it?
12.1 Date: Unknown Who: Unknown Author: Unknown
The man who made it didn't need it.
The man who bought it didn't use it.
The man who used it didn't want it.
13.1 Date: Unknown Who: Unknown Author: Deon Ramsey
A Statue with the Inscription : All ye who Enter here, weep, for my
Story is a sorrowfull one. (Or something similar)
The correct response was to weep in front of the statue, which
opened a secret door behind It. I used a slightly harder version of
that on my Group, and it stumped them for quite a while :-)
14.1 Date: Unknown Who: Unknown Author: Unknown
The wise and knowledgeable man is sure of it.
Even the fool knows it.
The rich man wants it.
The greatest of heroes fears it.
Yet the lowliest of cowards would die for it.
What is this upon which I ponder?
15.1 Date: Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992 Who: jmarvin@us.oracle.com
Author: Unknown
I am and yet can not
am an Idea, yet can rot
am two but none
am on land, but on sea.
What am I?
15.2 Date: Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992 Who: jmarvin@us.oracle.com
Author: Unknown
all in white
Fossil, fresh snow, a loan, the sky,
Just what am I?
16.1 Date: Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992
Who: jmarvin@us.oracle.com, dschoen@cs.vu.nl
Author: Duncan Schoen (?)
I am better than sex,
I am worse than MS-DOS,
Dead men eat me,
If you eat me you'll die.
16.2 Date: Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992
Who: jmarvin@us.oracle.com, dschoen@cs.vu.nl
Author: Duncan Schoen (?)
Two horses, swiftest travelling,
Harnessed in a pair, and
Grazing ever in places
Distant from them.
16.3 Date: Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992
Who: jmarvin@us.oracle.com, dschoen@cs.vu.nl
Author: Duncan Schoen (?)
What is greater than God,
Worse than the Devil,
Dead man eat it,
If you eat it you'll die.
17.1 Date: Wed Apr 15 11:33:19 1992 Who: lgrant@maths.tcd.ie
Author: _A Feast Of Creatures. Anglo-Saxon Riddle Songs_ by Craig
Williamson, ISBN 0-85967-671-4
I am a wonderful help to women,
The hope of something to come. I harm
No citizen except my slayer.
Rooted I stand on a high bed.
I am shaggy below. Sometimes the beautiful
Peasant's daughter, an eager-armed,
Proud woman grabs my body,
Rushes my red skin, holds me hard,
Claims my head. The curly-haired
Woman who catches me fast will feel
Our meeting. Her eye will be wet.
17.2 Date: Wed Apr 15 11:33:19 1992 Who: lgrant@maths.tcd.ie
Author: _A Feast Of Creatures. Anglo-Saxon Riddle Songs_ by Craig
Williamson, ISBN 0-85967-671-4
I saw a swift one shoot out on the road:
S S I P
I saw a woman sitting alone.
17.3 Date: Wed Apr 15 11:33:19 1992 Who: lgrant@maths.tcd.ie
Author: _A Feast Of Creatures. Anglo-Saxon Riddle Songs_ by Craig
Williamson, ISBN 0-85967-671-4
Power and treasure for a prince to hold,
Hard and steep-cheeked, wrapped in red
Gold and garnet, ripped from a plain
Of bright flowers, wrought - a remnant
Of fire and file, bound in stark beauty
With delicate wire, my grip makes
Warriors weep, my sting threatens
The hand that grasps gold. Studded
With a ring, I ravage heir and heirloom.
To my lord and foes always lovely
And deadly, altering face and form.
18.1 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: The Young People's Series
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives;
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
18.2 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: The Young People's Series
Thirty white horses upon a red hill,
Now they stamp,
Now they champ,
Now they stand still.
18.3 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Dawns away,
The day's turned grey,
And I must travel far away.
But I'll be back,
And then we'll track,
The light of yet another day.
18.4 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Deep, dark, underground,
That is the place where I'll be found.
Yet brought into the light of day,
I sprinkle sunlight every-which-a-way.
Though dulled with oil I will be found,
I am remarkably well and throughly sound.
Cut me quick and it will be seen,
That I instantly have a marvelous sheen.
18.5 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: The Young People's Series
Long legs, crooked thighs,
Little head, and no eyes.
18.6 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: The Monkee's TV Show
What has six eyes,
Six arms,
Six legs,
Three heads,
And a very short life?
18.7 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What is it that speaks without any words?
And can be loudly, and distinctly heard?
Will drive away friend, and foe alike.
And is enough to make a stolid man's face alight?
18.8 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What must be in the oven yet can not be baked?
Grows in the heat yet shuns the light of day?
What sinks in water but rises with air?
Looks like skin, but is fine as hair?
18.9 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Little Johnny Walker,
My, but he was a talker!
Yet nary a word did he say!
When I took him out,
Then they would all point and shout!
And ask that I put him away.
(This is NOT a dirty riddle.
So get your mind out of the gutter!)
18.10 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: The Young People's Series
Two legs sat upon three legs with one leg in his lap.
In comes four legs, grabs one leg, and runs off with him.
Up jumps two legs, grabs up three legs, throws it after four legs,
and makes him bring back one leg.
Who are we?
18.11 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
They are many and one,
They wave and they drum,
Used to cover a stare,
They go with you everywhere.
18.12 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Stomp, stomp,
Chomp, chomp,
Romp, romp.
Standing still,
all in gear.
18.13 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Sweet tooth,
Ah shoot,
All gone,
We all long,
For another piece of it.
18.14 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
It comes in on little cat's feet,
Is neither sour, nor sweet.
Hovers in the air,
And then is not there.
18.15 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
A laugh,
A cry,
A moan,
A sigh.
18.16 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What is it you have to answer?
But to answer you have to ask?
And to ask you have to speak?
And to speak you have to know,
The answer.
18.17 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I can hit you in the eye,
Yet twinkle in the sky,
Expanding when I die,
What do you think am I?
18.18 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Squishes,
Squashes,
Wishes I washes,
Can get it in my hair,
Makes me not look too fair.
18.19 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
White on black,
And black on white.
Helps you to know things,
By using your sight.
18.20 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Up a hill,
Down a hill,
Over them I may roam,
But after all my walking,
There's no place like my own.
18.21 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
This thing is a most amazing thing.
For it can be both as sharp as a knife,
Or as flat as a floor.
And yet, for all that it can be,
It is as natural as a bee.
18.22 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Deep, deep, do they go.
Spreading out as they go.
Never needing any air.
They are sometimes as fine as hair.
18.23 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Unknown
Oh Lord! I am not worthy!
I bend my limbs to the ground.
I cry, yet without a sound.
Let me drink of waters deep.
And in silence I will weep.
18.24 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Shifting, Shifting, Drifting deep.
Below me great and mighty cities sleep.
Swirling, Scurlling, All around.
I'm only where no water will be found.
18.25 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I bubble and laugh
And spit water in your face.
I am no lady,
And I don't wear lace.
18.26 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What has wings,
But can not fly.
Is enclosed,
But can outside also lie.
Can open itself up,
Or close itself away.
Is the place of kings and queens,
And doggerel of every means.
What is it upon which I stand?
Which can lead us to different lands.
18.27 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Do not begrude this,
For it is the fate of every man.
Yet it is feared,
And shunned in many lands.
Causes problems, and sometimes gaps,
Can hobble the strongest, and make memory laps.
What is this danger we all face?
For being a part - of the human race.
18.28 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Woe to Norman,
That craggy man.
Who's known such horrors,
As to exceed the grief of man.
And as it was written,
A daughter was lost.
When the seas came a coming,
With a shout, and hoar frost.
Oh, where can he be?
This man of cruel fate.
Whose teeth are gnashing,
And a face full of hate.
18.29 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
His eyes were raging,
That scraggly beast.
His lips were bursting,
With rows of angry teeth.
Upon his back a razor was found,
And in his thoughts - my death abound.
It was a fearsome battle we fought,
My life - or his, one would be bought.
And when we were through, and death chilled the air,
We cut out his heart, and ate it with flair.
Who was he?
18.30 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I travelled inwards,
To that heart where no one else roamed.
Where only the birds and animals found a home.
Where the pixies flew with an audible air,
And tangles twigs and leaves within my hair.
Ah. I love this place, this paradise,
Where everything is so beautiful,
So still, and so nice.
Where did he go?
18.31 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Of these things - I have two.
One for me - and one for you.
And when you ask about the price,
I simply smile and nod twice.
18.32 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I am a strange creature,
Hovering in the air,
Moving from here to there,
With a brilliant flare.
Some say I sing,
But others say I have no voice.
So I just hum - as a matter of choice.
What am I?
18.33 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Sleeping during the day,
I hide away.
Watchful through the night,
I open at dawn's light.
But only for the briefest time,
Do I shine.
And then I hide away,
And sleep through the day.
18.34 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Looks like water,
But it's heat.
Sits on sand,
Lays on concrete.
People have been known,
To follow it everywhere.
But it gets them no place,
And all they can do is stare.
18.35 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
A part of heaven,
Though it touches the earth.
Some say it's valuable,
Others - no worth.
18.36 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I stand,
And look across the sea,
With its waves, crests, troughs, and valleys.
I stride,
Across this water, my horse following after,
And while it laps against his withers,
And brushes against my thighs,
I fill the emptiness with laughter.
And he - with his sighs.
Whether do we go?
Or do we go at all?
Or are we simply out here wading,
To the next port of call.
Where the sea ends,
Where the loam lays firm beneath my feet,
And I can mount my steed again,
And continue til next we meet.
What is really being talked about?
18.37 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
It roars its challenge,
And I respond.
It takes my abuse,
And goes beyond.
Filled with liquid,
In my hurried haste,
I wield my staff,
In this turgid race.
But once I have vanquished,
The mighty foe,
I float like a thistle,
While moving ever so slow.
What are we talking about really?
18.38 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I was born blind,
And could not see,
Until it was a quarter of three.
I could not smile,
Til half past six,
And all of my arms and legs
Were made of sticks.
18.39 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Ah! My breath doth shake,
My limbs are thin,
My belly aches.
Whiteness doth crown my head,
And the tracks I leave,
Are unsteady where I've led.
I look out through rheumy eyes,
And seem to say my last goodbyes.
The darkness doth draw me near,
I lean towards it - the better to hear.
18.40 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
A riddle given by two people to a third:
(1st person, 2nd person)
Tis not, tis is.
Tis good, tis bad.
Tis left, tis right.
Tis day, tis night.
18.41 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: The Young People's Series
Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more,
On the King's kitchen door.
All the King's horses,
And all the King's men,
Couldn't get Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more,
Off the King's kitchen door.
18.42 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
It was once upon a time,
and nursery rhymes.
When genii's stood all in a row.
When Little Jack Horner,
Sat in his corner,
And all the King's men said "Aye! Aye!" today.
So Heigh-Diddle-diddle,
Eat crumpets and play the fiddle,
While a cow makes curry and whey.
And we'll all laugh,
To see such fun,
And maybe we'll come again - to play.
18.43 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
It is a tolling of the night.
When all is still.
And the wind whispers near the mill.
Twas struck twelve times!
And his voice rang out!
And then, it was stilled.
18.44 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What mysteries are in its creation?
Who's hand did bend its ore?
Where did the knowledge come from?
And could he have made any more?
On his finger it did lie,
Yet on his soul the more.
For the fire it would bring,
Would make his heart ring,
And death, would come knocking at his door.
18.45 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
It was asked of me what I could be made,
And so people were fed from me.
It was asked of me what I could be made,
And so houses were built.
It was asked of me what I could be made,
And so things were written.
It was asked of me what I could be made,
And so I fertilized the ground.
But when asked more of what I could be made,
There was nothing to be found.
18.46 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
With this you can do wonderous things.
Look at things close, or far away,
You can see things big,
Or you can see things small.
Or maybe you don't see things at all.
I come in many colors and hues,
Sometimes green and sometimes blue.
And when I'm red - it's not from shame,
But from something with a different name.
18.47 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Oh how I love my dancing feet!
They stay together - oh so neat.
And when I want to walk a line,
They all stay together and do double time.
I count them up, ten times or more,
And race on-off, across the floor.
18.48 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
They were made for a fairy queen's feet.
To cover them and keep them tidy, and neat.
A flower, of various sizes and hues,
Their name is the opposite of a grown man's shoes.
18.49 Date: Unknown Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Part pickle, part crazy,
You can't call this flower lazy.
It perks its head up with a snout
And if it had a voice - I'm sure it'd shout.
18.50 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Bound by age, comfort and zest,
The inquiring hand could not rest.
But given to her heart's desire,
She gave to us - our worst quagmires.
And so now we wallow in our grief,
And seeking to close the box we weep.
While famine, plague, and other woes,
Beset ourselves - and our foes.
18.51 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Nestled among a thorny embrace,
What should I see but a small, plump, face.
With cheeks rosey red,
And neck way too long.
He'll be ripe for plucking,
Before too long.
18.52 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
A muttered rumble was heard from the pen,
And I, in my walking, stopped to look in.
What was this I saw?
A massive beast, hooved, and jawed.
With spikes upon its mighty brow,
I watched as he struck the turf and prowled.
And yet for all of his magnificience,
He couldn't get out of that wooden fence.
18.53 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Title: A song riddle
There once was a man who sang this song:
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
He'd sit around and sing this song:
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
"Hi! Ho!" away he'd go,
Singing all night long!
Hey dilly, dill, dang, dang, do-reeee!
He'd stay up til it was three!
On his knee he'd keep a jug!
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
And with it he'd keep a mug!
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
"Hi! Ho!" away he'd go!
Off to see the girls.
To laugh and sing and play his games,
Until he went insane!
Oh what can it be that's this much fun?
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
Seems its liked by everyone.
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
"Hi! Ho!" off we go!
Off to have some fun!
To have a taste, a bit of fun,
And be like everyone!
Tell me now, all about this row!
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
Oh, what's this now, I feel like a sow?
Hey! Dilly, dill, dang, dang!
Up is down and down is up,
I feel so sick inside.
Guess I'll have to drink some more,
Or cover my head and hide!
"Hi! Ho!" away we go!
Off into the night!
And if you can tell me what this is,
I'll tell you that you're right!
"Hi! Ho!" away we go!
Off into the night!
So tell me quick, I've got an itch,
To have some more tonight!
YEAH!
18.54 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Twas the night of the day
in which I must relay
that in which I took part in.
For the sun was out
and without so much as a shout
he quietly went in.
Twas ever so queer
I thought he would leer
but never a word did I get in.
For without another word
(at least that's what I heard)
He was back to the place he'd been in.
18.55 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Twas the giantess who told me what to do.
Twas she who opened the doors,
And close the windows. Not I.
Twas her who decided the chair did well on the lawn.
And the table should be in the basement.
I have done naught to deserve punishment,
For I did not place the dog on the lamp,
Nor the cat in the chimney.
Twas the giantess.
18.56 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
A lazy day looked down upon her,
And with eyes barely slitted, she saw me.
I wondered if I should wander.
But drew back when her eyes grew the bigger.
Satisfied of my cowering, she stretched,
Yawned, and spread her fingers langorously.
And I, with my petite fingers rubbed my nose as I watched.
She knew I had to eat and that soon I would emerge.
Drawing my darkness forth with me to escape notice.
It would not matter, for in the end we would
Perform our pagan dance. With its rituals of sunlight,
And shadow. Of words, softly spoken - or sprayed upon the wall.
If I am lucky, oh so lucky, I will whisk away
Upon a squeal of delight - or is it pain?
And ponder the world once more, from within
The hovel, the crawl space, the cracks.
Where I live.
18.57 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
From sun up to sun down I stare out across the sea.
From sun down to sun up I stare out across the sea.
But while with sun up I can only blink in the brightness.
With the sun down I can blink out the brightness.
18.58 Date: 5/8/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
(Talked with a definite beat.)
A lot of bark,
But no one notices.
A lot to bite,
And everyone cares.
I'm not a dog,
If anyone notices.
And there's a lot to me,
But I don't have hair.
I stand up straight,
If you've noticed me.
I've got lots of limbs,
If anyone cares.
I can give you shade,
If you've noticed it.
And I do even more,
I give you air.
18.59 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Twas in December or June,
When my lady did swoon.
When her hair did fall off,
And her glasses were lost.
When she did scream,
In a manner most obscene.
While pointing at me,
And saying "Eeeeee! Eeeeee!"
I must say it was all a bit much,
Since no one did I touch.
But it was quite apparent,
That something was errant.
So I decided to come back another day,
When, mayhap, she was away.
18.60 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
This thing is many things.
It is joyful,
It is quiet,
It is bubbling,
It is roaring,
It can jump,
And it can sit.
It can whisper,
And it can drip.
What is it of which I speak?
What is it which can be both shallow and deep?
18.61 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I drift,
As slowly as a lazy river.
I dance,
Upon as little as a puff of air.
I tumble,
Better than the greatest acrobat.
Swirling,
Twirling,
Down to the ground.
Where I lie,
Til I get my second wind.
So I can begin again.
18.62 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
A riddle, easily solved.
Red breasted.
Only one in a field of many.
Born in an egg.
Inspired to sing.
Now gather the letters and tell me what I mean.
18.63 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I have four of these,
With matching extremities.
They can do many things,
And hardly ever bring me pain.
Unless I stick them with a pin,
Or burn them sometimes when...
What is it that I can wiggle at will?
And use in other means still?
18.64 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What are all your fingers for?
One's to point, of that I'm sure.
One's for the doctor - whereever he may roam,
One's for the accuser - to point out what is known.
One's for the ear, without which we can not hear.
And one get's us a ride, so we can rest our back side.
What are all your finger for?
Tell me which is which, and I'll even our score.
18.65 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I am a box,
Full of that which is most rare.
But it isn't a flute,
And it isn't some hair.
Though soft be my bed,
I am as hard as a rock.
And though dull in the darkness,
I glisten once unlocked.
What am I, this box so strange?
To hold such a treasure,
Which is not so plain.
18.66 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Title: The Giant Slept
The giant slept upon the rocks,
His bones, sealed tight against them.
A hoary hand, outstruck against fate's decree,
That he should thus be kept from his purpose in life.
Not knowing that his time has passed,
And that that, which gave him his reason for living,
His roots,
Were no longer his own.
But blackened stumps,
Against which no living being could hope to live.
yet...
In his passing, life found purchase.
For other creatures, making use of that which would remain,
Would, in of themselves, find life.
While the giant slept,
Upon the rocks.
18.67 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
I dreamed I saw a fairy's dance,
Upon the midnight sky.
Where lights, like lantern's grew,
Without a whim, or a why.
Amid their joy,
Amid their dance,
I came running into their midst.
But with nar'ry a sound,
They drew away,
And fell into the mist.
Oh, I saw them again,
But only from very far.
Dancing in the air at night,
Like tiny lanterns, or tiny stars.
18.68 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
When I looked upon the flames of his passion,
And the coolness of her touch,
I knew tragedy could only come from their union.
And indeed, when they came together,
Darkness reigned upon the land.
And although they were soon separated,
Learning as they did that they were not for each other,
Still, their passing regards for each other,
Left it's impression upon all who had witnessed it.
And would be talked about for ages still to come.
18.69 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Oh woe is me! Woe is me!
To have lost that which I can never buy back!
To be unable to recall that which has transpired!
Let my breath be returned!
Let time recoil!
Let this not be so!
Oh woe is me! Woe is me!
18.70 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
What has a coat?
Hugs you not in sympathy?
Whose smile you'd rather not see?
Whose stance is a terrible thing to see?
Who is it that brave men run away from?
Whose fingers are clawed?
Whose sleep lasts for months?
And who's company we shunt?
18.71 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
You can tumble in it,
Roll in it,
Burn it,
Animals eat it,
Used to cover floors,
Still used beyond stall doors.
Freshens whatever it is placed on,
Absorbs whatever is poured into it.
What is it?
18.72 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Author: Mark Manning
Within passion's fruit they will be found,
And more of them in the pomegranate's crown.
Rowed they are within an apple's core,
Yet other fruits have them more.
And though the nectarine has but one,
Still, this is all just in fun.
Playing hide and seek - a children's game.
Finding out each player is just the same.
18.73 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Catherine M. Fanshawe Title: A Riddle
'Twas whispered in Heaven, 'twas muttered in hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest,
And in the depths of the ocean its presence confes'd;
'Twill be found in the sphere when 'tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder;
'Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth and awaits him at death,
Presides o'er his happiness, honor and health,
Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser 'tis hoarded with care,
But is sure to be lost on his prodigal heir;
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound,
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is crowned;
Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e'er in the whirlwind of passion be drowned;
'Twill soften the heart; but though deaf be the ear,
It will make him acutely and instantly hear.
Set in shade, let it rest like a delicate flower;
Ah! Breathe on it softly, it dies in an hour
18.74 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Jonathan Swift Title: The Vowels: An Enigma
We are little airy creatures,
All of different voice and features;
One of us in glass is set,
One of us you'll find in jet,
T'other you may see in tin,
And the fourth a box within;
If the fifth you should pursue,
It can never fly from you.
18.75 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Hannah More Title: A Riddle
I'm a strange contradiction; I'm new, and I'm old,
I'm often in tatters, and oft decked with gold.
Though I never could read, yet lettered I'm found;
Though blind, I enlighten; though loose, I am bound,
I'm always in black, and I'm always in white;
I'm grave and I'm gay, I am heavey and light-
In form too I differ - I'm thick and I'm thin,
I've no flesh and bones, yet I'm covered with skin;
I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute;
I sing without voice, without speaking confute.
I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch;
Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much;
I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages,
And no monarch alive has so many pages.
18.76 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Unknown (The Young Children's Series) Title: A Riddle
As I went through the garden gap,
Who should I meet but Dick Red-cap!
A stick in his hand, a stone in his throat,
If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a groat.
18.77 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Unknown (The Young Children's Series) Title: A Riddle
Arthur O'Bower has broken his band,
He comes roaring up the land --
The King of Scots, with all his power,
Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower!
18.78 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Unknown (The Young Children's Series) Title: A Riddle
Flour of England, fruit of Spain,
Met together in a shower of rain;
Put in a bag tied round with a string,
If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a ring.
18.79 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Unknown (The Young Children's Series) Title: A Riddle
Little Nancy Etticote,
In a white petticoat,
With a red nose;
The longer she stands
The shorter she grows.
18.80 Date: 9/16/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: Unknown (The Young Children's Series) Title: A Riddle
I have a little sister, they call her Peep, Peep;
She wades the waters deep, deep, deep;
She climbs the mountains high, high, high;
Poor little creature she has but one eye.
18.81 Date: 10/14/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
What is it that races your mind?
Sets your heart on fire,
And blows off time?
Used to be a drink,
But isn't anymore.
And can be bought down the street;
In the five and ten cent store?
18.82 Date: 10/15/92 Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
I saw a company a marching,
A marching across the sea.
And looking upon them,
I asked myself "What can they be?"
For there was a horse,
And there was a cow,
And there were men marching,
With houses and trees. But how?
I saw a company marching,
A marching across the sea.
And wondered in my rest,
How lazy I must be.
18.83 Date: 8 Apr 92 14:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
I'm up.
I'm down.
I'm all around.
Yet never can I be found.
Who am I?
18.84 Date: 8 Apr 92 14:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
I can be moved.
I can be rolled.
But nothing will I hold.
I'm red and I'm blue.
And I can be other colors too.
Having no head, though similar in shape,
I have no eyes - yet move all over the place.
What am I?
18.85 Date: 8 Apr 92 14:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
I can be eaten,
I can be grown,
And sometimes you'll find me,
As part of your home.
Though able to bend,
And sticky when broke,
I'm stouter than maple,
But weaker than oak.
What am I?
18.86 Date: 8 Apr 92 14:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
Upon me you can tread,
Though softly under cover.
And I will take you places,
That you have yet to discover.
I'm high, and I'm low,
Though flat in the middle.
And though a joy to the children,
Adults think of me little.
What am I?
18.87 Date: 8 Apr 92 14:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
What is it which builds things up?
Lays mountains low?
Dries up lakes,
And makes things grow?
Cares not a whim about your passing?
And is like few other things,
Because it is everlasting?
18.88 Date: 9 Feb 93 17:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
It sat upon a willow tree,
And sang softly unto me.
Easing my pain and sorrow with its song,
I wished to fly, but tarried long.
And in my suffering,
The willow was like a cool clear spring.
What was it that helped me so?
To spend my time in my woe.
18.89 Date: 9 Feb 93 17:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
I awoke with start.
Hearing its voice in the dark.
And shook more so from within,
Than that which came upon the wind.
Then, with a flare and a flash.
I hid my head and awaited the crash.
What is it that shook my body so?
And made me hide way down low?
18.90 Date: 9 Feb 93 17:29:56 GMT Who: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov
Author: mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov Title: A Riddle
Quickly, quickly up they run.
Then down again here they come.
Moving up, then down, then up again,
Take notes, and start again.
Combining both sharps and flats.
Does anyone know where they are at?
19.1 Date: 18 Apr 92 20:06:34 GMT
Who: heath@anchor.as.utexas.edu (James Heath) Author: Unknown
They can be harbored, but few hold water,
You can nurse them, but only by holding them against someone else,
You can carry them, but not with your arms,
You can bury them, but not in the earth.
19.2 Date: 18 Apr 92 20:06:34 GMT
Who: heath@anchor.as.utexas.edu (James Heath) Author: Unknown
Deep as a bowl, round as a cup,
Yet all the world's oceans can't fill it up.
19.3 Date: 18 Apr 92 20:06:34 GMT
Who: heath@anchor.as.utexas.edu (James Heath) Author: Unknown
Though desert men once called me God,
To-day men call me mad,
For I wag my tail when I am angry,
And growl when I am glad.
20.1 Date: Tue Apr 21 15:13:49 1992 Who: rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie
Author: Russell Wallace
Fat Man at Dead Man's Journey.
20.2 Date: Tue Apr 21 15:13:49 1992 Who: rwallace@unix1.tcd.ie
Author: Russell Wallace
What answer is blowing in the wind?
21.1 Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 13:20:32 -0700 Who: zorn@apple.com
Author: Jed Hartman
I heard of an invading, vanquishing army
sweeping across the land, liquid-quick;
conquering everything, quelling resistance.
With it came darkness, dimming the light.
Humans hid in their houses, while outside
spears pierced, shattering stone walls.
Uncountable soldiers smashed into the ground,
but each elicited life as he died;
when the army had vanished, advancing northward,
the land was green and growing, refreshed.
21.2 Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 13:20:32 -0700 Who: zorn@apple.com
Author: Jed Hartman
I saw a strange creature:
Long, hard, and straight,
Thrusting into a round, dark opening,
Preparing to discharge its load of lives.
Puffing and squealing noises accompanied it,
Then a final screech as it slowed and stopped.
Say what I mean.
21.3 Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 13:20:32 -0700 Who: zorn@apple.com
Author: James Thurber's _The Thirteen Clocks_
I can find a thing I cannot see and see a thing I cannot find.
The first is time, the second is a spot before my eyes.
21.4 Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 13:20:32 -0700 Who: zorn@apple.com
Author: James Thurber's _The Thirteen Clocks_
I can feel a thing I cannot touch and touch a thing I cannot feel.
The first is sad and sorry, the second is your heart.
22.1 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET
Author: From Zork II by Infocom
Never ahead, ever behind,
Yet flying swiftly past,
For a child, I last forever,
For adults, I'm gone too fast.
22.2 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET
Author: From Zork II by Infocom
Tall she is, and round as a cup,
Yet all the king's horses
Can't draw her up.
22.3 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET
Author: From Might & Magic II by New World Computing
There more of it there is,
The less you see.
22.4 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET
Author: From Might & Magic II by New World Computing
What is not enough for one,
Just right for two,
Too much for three?
22.5 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET Author: Sean Molley
What gets wetter the more it dries?
22.6 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET Author: Sean Molley
H I J K L M N O
What word does this represent?
22.7 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET Author: Sean Molley
A long snake
With a stinging bite,
I stay coiled up
Unless I must fight.
22.8 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET Author: Sean Molley
Man of old, it is told
Would search until he tired,
Not for gold, ne'er be sold,
But what sought he was fire.
Man today, thou mayst say,
Has quite another aim,
In places deep, he did seek,
To find me for his gain!
22.9 Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 11:29:14 CDT
Who: Sean Molley -> mollems@WKUVX1.BITNET Author: Sean Molley
A warrior amongst the flowers,
He bears a thrusting sword.
Able and ready to use,
To guard his golden hoard.
23.1 Date: 09 Oct 1992 11:52:40 -0400 (EDT)
Who: Barbara -> BAJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU Author: Lewis Carroll
Tom gave his brother John a box,
About it there were many locks,
The box was not with key supplied,
But caused two lids to open wide.
24.1 Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:30:04 -0600
Who: THOMPSON BENJAMIN RHINELANDER <thompson@spot.Colorado.EDU>
Author: THOMPSON BENJAMIN RHINELANDER
The Load-bearer, the Warrior,
The Frightened One, the Brave,
The Fleet-of-foot, the Ironshod
The Faithful One, the Slave
24.2 Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 15:37:16 -0600
Who: THOMPSON BENJAMIN RHINELANDER <thompson@spot.Colorado.EDU>
Author: THOMPSON BENJAMIN RHINELANDER
Walks in the wind
Runs in the rain
Makes dry oceans in the sun
Counts time, stops clocks
Swallows kingdoms, gnaws rocks.
24.3 Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 19:59:08 -0600
Who: THOMPSON BENJAMIN RHINELANDER <thompson@spot.Colorado.EDU>
Author: THOMPSON BENJAMIN RHINELANDER
The rolling hills, the heart that beats forever,
The land that never changes, never stills
Ploughed by travellers far from home, not planted,
White in anger, green in peace, and always blue.
25.1 Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1992 13:21:28 +0100
Who: miju@keep.fantasy.sub.org (Michael Jung)
Author: miju@keep.fantasy.sub.org (Michael Jung) Title: Riddle 1
Pull with all your might, only a whistle you'll gain
but almost out of sight, someone may shrink in pain.
25.2 Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1992 13:21:28 +0100
Who: miju@keep.fantasy.sub.org (Michael Jung)
Author: miju@keep.fantasy.sub.org (Michael Jung) Title: Riddle 2
Listen closely, I'm hard to understand
I am as elusive as is a handful of sand.
Even if you perceive me, you know me not
before you can tell me, what I have forgot.
26.1 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
As I went over London Bridge
I met my sister Jenny
I broke her neck and drank her blood
And left here standing empty.
Tell me who was my sister?
26.2 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
What goes through the door without pinching itself?
What sits on the stove without burning itself?
What sits on the table and is not ashamed?
26.3 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
What work is it that,
the faster you work,
the longer it is before your work is done,
And the slower you work
the sooner your work is finished?
26.4 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
Whilst I was engaged in sitting
I spied the dead carrying the living
What did I see?
26.5 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
I know a word of letters three,
Add two and fewer there will be.
26.6 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
I give you a group of three.
One is sitting down, and never will get up.
The second eats as much as is given him,
yet is always hungry.
The third goes away and never returns.
26.7 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
Whoever makes it, tells it not.
Whoever takes it, knows it not.
Whoever knows it, wants it not.
Of what do I speak?
26.8 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: 'Dream Park' by Niven & Barnes
Who makes it, has no need of it.
Who buys it, has no use for it.
Who uses it, can neither see nor feel it.
26.9 Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 23:00:04 -0400
Who: Douglas WEBB <dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca>
Author: Christopheros of Mytilene
You seized me, and yet I fled
You see me flee and cannot hold me tight
You press me in your hand, then your fist is empty.
What am I?
Show solution
[ Editor: the compiler's introduction, followed by the answers section
of the net.book.riddles. ]
This is the net.book.riddles. It is the work of myself in the
collection of all of the riddles which have been submitted to myself via
e-mail and rec.games.frp. I hope you enjoy it.
Please note that for MANY of these riddles, those who submitted them do
NOT take credit for their creation. These are just those people who
submitted the riddles - NOT THE Authors. There are some though, which
are the creation of the people submitting them. If possible, this has
been marked. Those not marked though, are the work of some other Author
unknown to myself or not specified when the riddle was given to me.
Thanks to everyone who submitted riddles whether from books or from
their own head.
At the bottom of the list will be the answers. The answers are listed
in the order of preference. Thus, the most preferred answer will be
placed first with additional answers (if any) following.
PS: If, on something which reads "Unknown", you know what should go in
that location - then please DO drop me a note. None of these riddles
are meant to be rip offs from someone else's work. I just thought I'd
compile a list of riddles and look what's happened! :-)
Disclaimer: I hereby throw this into the public domain. I take no
responsibility for this book's merits, worth, or anything else.
However, although ***THIS*** work is now in the public domain arena that
does NOT mean the works contained within it are. All of the individual
authors (myself included) would be highly upset if a new computer game
came out with our riddles in it without being paid some kind of a
nominal fee. Nor would an anthology or other book containing these
riddles be welcome without recourse to being reimbursed for our time and
efforts. Therefore! You can use these riddles however you see fit - so
long as you don't make any kind of a profit from them. If you decide
you'd like to try to make money in some way through the use of these
riddles - then you should seek the agreement of the individual authors.
That's why I've included who they are - so you can find them. Nuff said
(I think).
-- Mark Manning <mark@pokey.jsc.nasa.gov>
Answers to the above riddles
1.1 Salt
Ice.
1.2 A silver dish of some kind floating in an oil lamp with the flame
above it.
1.3 A butterfly
1.4 Lightning
Lightning Bolt
1.5 A book
1.6 A dog baying at the cresent moon.
1.7 Memories
1.8 Their color changes easily
1.9 The letter "M"
1.10 Manhattan
Solved by Mark Suters and Phil Randall
(g8411891@cc.uow.edu.au)
1.11 Childhood
2.1 Your eyes
The Sun and the Moon
3.1 A Heart.
4.1 The Moon
5.1 Since, after shooting 1/4 of the birds, the rest will fly off, the
answer should be either (2*(4+20))/4=12 or ((2*4)+20)/4=7.
6.1 Unknown. Thought to be: Post. As in the post on a door.
7.1 A golden coin
7.2 Friend
8.1 A whip
9.1 Unknown
9.2 Unknown
9.3 Unknown
9.4 Unknown
9.5 Unknown
9.6 Unknown
9.7 Unknown
9.8 Unknown
9.9 Unknown
10.1 A mountain
10.2 Your teeth
10.3 The wind
10.4 A daisy in field of grass, big eye is sun (stupid one.)
10.5 The darkness
10.6 Eggssesss
Orange
10.7 A fish
10.8 Time
10.9 Your heart
10.10 Your word
10.11 Your breath
10.12 A river
10.13 Water
10.14 Silence
10.15 The air?
10.16 A fire
10.17 Your heart
10.18 A war
10.19 Hope
10.20 Sounds or Noises
10.21 A wheel
10.22 An iceberg or a piece of ice
10.23 A snail
10.24 A candle
10.25 A boat
A cave
10.26 A mirror
10.27 A fire
10.28 Water
10.29 Icicles
teeth
stalactites
10.30 A shadow
10.31 A piano
A harpsichord
10.32 In the mind
10.33 A compass.
10.34 The beggar was his sister
Two priests
11.1 Bees
11.2 An Apple
11.3 Italy (Rome)
11.4 The Four Horsemen of Apocolypse
11.5 A Unicorn
11.6 Counterfiet Money
11.7 An Axe
11.8 A Man With A Wooden Leg
11.9 A Shadow
11.10 A Wooden, Stringed Instrument
11.11 An Icicle
11.12 A Wedding Ring
12.1 A coffin
13.1 Weeping
14.1 Nothing.
Something
15.1 Paradox (and a pair of docks)
15.2 A bride (something old, something new, something borrowed
something blue)
16.1 Nothing
16.2 [Editor: no answer given in the original; 16.2 is the same riddle
as 2.1.]
16.3 Nothing
17.1 An onion
17.2 Piss (yes, really...)
17.3 A sword.
18.1 One
18.2 Teeth
18.3 The Sun
A Shadow
18.4 A Diamond
A gem
18.5 A pair of tongs
18.6 Three peasants about to be eaten by a dragon.
The Monkees about to be eaten by a dragon.
18.7 Passing Gas
18.8 Yeast
18.9 Your opinions
18.10 One leg is a leg of mutton.
Two legs is a person.
Three legs is a stool.
Four legs is a dog.
18.11 Your hands
18.12 Horses
18.13 Candy
18.14 Fog
Mist
18.15 Emotions
18.16 A Riddle
18.17 A star
18.18 Mud (Your mom wishes you'd wash it off)
18.19 A monitor (More of a Traveller riddle)
18.20 Your home
18.21 Music
18.22 Roots
18.23 A Weeping Willow
18.24 The desert
18.25 A fountain
18.26 A stage
18.27 Growing Old
18.28 The Wreck of the Hesperus by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(The reef of Norman's Woe)
18.29 A wild boar (Razor back)
18.30 The heart of the forest
18.31 Sharing
18.32 A Hummingbird
18.33 A Morning Glory
18.34 A mirage
18.35 A rainbow
18.36 The open plains
18.37 Going down a river with rapids in a boat.
18.38 A doll
18.39 Old age
18.40 Paradox/Opposites
18.41 Sunlight
18.42 Childhood
Childhood's Fairy Tales
18.43 A bell ringing out at midnight.
18.44 A ring of fire.
18.45 A tree (A BIT obscure, I'd say!)
18.46 Your eyes
18.47 A centipede or millipede
18.48 Lady Slippers
18.49 Daffodil
18.50 Pandora's Box
18.51 Prickly Pear or other thorny, fruit bearing plant.
18.52 A bull
18.53 Liquor
18.54 An eclipse
18.55 A child playing with her doll house.
18.56 A cat and mouse.
18.57 A lighthouse
18.58 A tree
18.59 A mouse
18.60 Water, river, stream, etc...
18.61 A leaf
18.62 A robin
18.63 Fingers
18.64 Thumb: Hitchhike
1st Finger:Accusing finger
2nd Finger:Doctor's finger
3rd Finger:Pointing finger
4th Finger:Ear finger
18.65 A jewelry box
18.66 A tree frozen/caught in a stream
18.67 Lightening Bugs
18.68 A solar eclipse
18.69 He broke his word
18.70 A bear
18.71 Hay
18.72 Seeds
18.73 The letter H
18.74 The Vowels
18.75 A Book
18.76 A cherry
18.77 A storm of wind
18.78 A plum pudding
18.79 A candle
18.80 A star
18.81 Coke. This was thought up for someone who was playing in a
detective type of RPG game. It has a double meaning in that
Cocaine used to be used in Coke. Thus, this is like a tip given
to someone about a cocaine deal.
18.82 Clouds in the sky
18.83 The Wind
18.84 A Ball
18.85 A Pecan or Walnut Tree
18.86 Stairs
18.87 Time
18.88 A bird
18.89 Thunder and Lightning
18.90 Hands on a keyboard
19.1 A grudge
19.2 A sieve/collander (Sphere of Annihilation ;-)
19.3 A cat
20.1 The Trinity A-bomb test at La Jornada del Muerto, Alamogordo, New
Mexico
20.2 Forty-two.
(How many roads must a man walk down ...)
21.1 A rainstorm.
21.2 Train/Subway
21.3 Time
21.4 Your Heart
22.1 Youth
22.2 A Well
22.3 Darkness
22.4 A Secret
22.5 A Towel
22.6 Water (H to O ... H2O)
22.7 Whip
22.8 Oil
Jewels
22.9 Bees
23.1 A smack up the side of the head.
24.1 A horse
24.2 Sand
24.3 The sea/ocean
25.1 A bow and arrow
25.2 A riddle
26.1 Bottle of gin
26.2 The sun
26.3 Roasting meat on a spit
26.4 A ship (The vessel is made of dead wood
and the people are alive.)
26.5 few
26.6 Stove, fire, and smoke
26.7 Counterfeit money
26.8 A coffin (See #12.1 also)
26.9 Snow