The Barefoot Book of Riddles From Around the World
Introduction Riddles are like tiny poems They take an everyday thing that we've seen a thousand times and they describe it in a way that makes us see it as if for the first time When we guess or hear the answer we think Of course The answer is funny and clever and beautiful Take for example this riddle from Lapland A man a hundred years old wears a hat that is only a day old What is it When we hear the riddle a thousand possible answers go rattling through our minds but when we arrive at the right one a tree covered with snow there is a moment of delight the world is made richer by a twist of language by a simple picture in the mind's eye And once we've got the answer we can take the riddle to someone who hasn't heard it Now we are in a position of power This is another of the pleasures of riddling it's called being in the know Ever since language began riddles have been enjoyed Every country in the world has hundreds of them Why Because we are all caught up in questions and answers We learn to ask the question Why when we are two years old and we don't stop asking it for the rest of our lives Life is a bundle of riddles Some of them we can answer some we can't
One of my favorite authors Alan Garner has written We tell stories to unriddle the world I think what he's saying is that when scientific knowledge can't find the solution to a problem when something is too strange and mysterious to be explained rationally then the riddle language of story might be able to get us closer to the truth In this book I've brought riddles riddle poems and riddle stories together from many cultures and countries Some of them I like because they've made me laugh others because they've surprised me into thinking about the world in new ways I hope you enjoy them as much as I do Hugh Lupton
Little Nancy Etticoat Little Nancy Etticoat in a white petticoat and a red nose The longer she lives the shorter she grows What goes up the chimney down But can't go down the chimney up
What comes once in a minute Twice in a moment But never in a thousand years Brothers and sisters I But that man's father is have none my father's son travels around the world Who is he What sits in the corner and
