Well, you all seem like a swell group of folks, so I wonder if you could help me out with something that has been bothering me for the past 10 years or so.
I was on the Green Tortoise (alternative bus service, mostly on the West Coast) and the group of people I was traveling with were feeling a bit loose (read: stoned) when we got into a riddle contest. One fellow presented a riddle which he said came from, IIRC, Plato. Problem is, the bugger didn’t bother to tell us the answer. Perhaps someone out there would be kind enough to provide an answer, or at least a well thought out clue?
It goes like this:
What I caught, I left behind.
What I brought, I could not find.
I’m sure the answer is so blatent, it’s not even funny…
And while we’re on the subject, anybody know of any good riddles they would like to share?
"‘Let me tell you a riddle,’ Samson said to them. ‘If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.’
‘Tell us your riddle,’ they said. ‘Let’s hear it.’
He replied, ‘Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.’ For three days they could not give the answer."
(Judges 14:10-14)
Betcha didn’t know that Hebrew riddles translated into English with perfect rhyme and meter, did ya???
BTW, the answer is that Samson had killed a lion and found (and eaten) honey in its innards.
The way it’s written seems to imply that the bees (and thus the honey) showed up between the time Samson killed the lion and the time he came back to check it out. Although why bees would take up residence in the dead lion’s body is beyond me.
thanks, Phobia, that is the best answer I’ve heard so far, though I’ve always thought that good riddles were supposed to be quite obvious in the answer, and breath doesn’t quite flush it out.
I’m not going to be much help, I’m afraid - the only answer I can come up with has to do with ones health - as in catching a contagious disease.
What I caught, (The illness)
I left behind (I spread to others)
What I brought (My health)
I could not find. (For I was now ill, myself)
Is this an appropriate venue for other such riddles? I’ve a few in a similar vein, should anyone be interested.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>-(o)-<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Life is a tapestry.
Each new day brings with it the opportunity to sew by
word and deed within the heart of someone around us.
Let us choose our colors with care.
JDPalinor: hey…that works…
But it looks like Mike King has a better grasp on the whole thing. I guess the riddle was told to me wrong (I wrote it in my journal at the time or would never have remembered it).
