RIDDLE STORIES AND RIDDLES
(excerpts from posts)
(If you want to use any of the information below in public or in print, be sure to obtain permission from the
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1) Why the Fish Laughed. It is full of riddles.
http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/fish.html

2) Riddling Tales from Around the World, compiled and edited by Marjorie Dundas, University Press of Mississippi. 2002 HB $46.00, PB $18.00 order from 1-800-737-7788 book reviewed by Linda Spitzer, professional storyteller Miami, FL

I love riddles and riddle tales. So do kids and grown-ups. Often one only finds one riddle story in an anthology. But Riddling Tales is the largest anthology of folktales focused on riddles and puzzle and dilemma stories I have come across. The stories originate from countries all over the globe. I especially like the variety and version of the same story which enables a reader to create an entirely original version of his own using elements from each of the versions. Many of the folktales are short enough to read aloud to a group of students, scouts, campers, seniors or children needing entertainment. Great aid for babysitters. I find when I tell a riddle tale, the listeners eagerly await the solutions and how they are solved. I often stop the story to ask the audience what they are thinking, what are the answers, how is this going to be solved. You'll even find a chapter of Riddle Tales that break the mold--they don't fit into any one category but may be in several. Dundas has added commentary and sources for each of these tantalizing tales. Besides Clever Manka, Debate in Sign Language, Palace of Bird Beaks, The Silent Princess, and Cow Tail Switch you will find many others that you probably have never seen or heard before. That's what keeps us buying good books like this one. Librarians, media specialists, drama or speech teachers, scout groups, storytelling class instructors, and storytellers of all levels will find this book a treasure house of terrific tales to tell.

Note from the Publisher: "Eighty-five tales that show how the riddle motif pervades storytelling cultures worldwide. In almost every land riddling tales are a staple genre of folk storytellers. This collection selects representative tales from Afghanistan, Arabia, China, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Mongolia, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Turkestan, Turkey, the United States, Vietnam, and other locales. This is the only anthology of folk tales focused on the element of riddle, puzzle, or dilemma."

What makes it even more special is that Marjorie has given credit and thanks to many storytell list members for their help while putting the book together. Marjorie made "the transition" this year from this life to the next. I think it would be a wonderful tribute to her memory if we put the book on our Holiday Wish List. You won't be sorry, it is well worth the price.
Riddling Tales from around the World.
http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2002/riddling_tales.html

3) George Shanon has three separate short books each with 15 folktales. The volumes are
Stories to Solve ISBN 0-38073280-2
More Stories to Solve ISBN 0-380-73261-0
Still More Stories to Solve ISBNL 0-688-147437 PA

They are published by Harper Trophy, List at $4.95 US each. They are graded for Ages 8-12
I have found they make fun little fillers and things for adults as well.

4) A Bride for Khan Turali - a folktale from Azerbaijan
http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/63_folder/63_articles/63_dada_story.html
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5) I just came across 2 riddles I can't wait to share with someone:
What sits on the bottom of the ocean and shakes? - A nervous wreck.
What did the Dalai Lama say to the hot-dog vendor? "Make me one with everything."
from The Bowl Is Already Broken, Mary Kay Zuravleff, Bloomsbury, 2005
(Book is about museum curator whose museum is about to be converted into fast-food restaurant "Wok On".)

Which reminds me of 2 other riddles. This one is from the blues musician and one-man-band Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller, who died about 1977. I was his Midwest "agent" in Detroit, trying to set up gigs for him when he travelled from California to the East Coast. He drove a Rambler station wagon and slept in it. When he got hungry, he took out his shotgun and killed a bird or rabbit and cooked it on a portable gas stove. He stayed with my wife and me for a week once. We had an apartment near Woodward and W. Grand Blvd in what was euphemistically called a "changing" neighbourhood. I was only vaguely aware of that. I think it had been all white and blacks were moving in. I hadn't realised that our apartment building was all white -- Jesse was black -- until we got some hassle about a black man staying with us. As I recall, Jesse was born about 1896. His family was so poor his mother gave him away when he was 6. When he was 10 he made himself a guitar and hit the road. He called me Richard, but he refused to call my wife anything but Mrs. Marsh. Great character with a life full of incident, most of it positive. Had a hot-dog stand then a shoe-shine stand outside the gates of a movie studio in Hollywood and met stars. Douglas Fairbanks got him a part in a film, but I don't know which one. Anyway, here is his riddle.

Big at the bottom, small at the top, thing in the middle goes flippity-flop. A churn.

I was a rock&roll DJ on a kilowatt station in Manistique, Michigan, in the 1960s. A listener rang up with this riddle, which cracked me up so much I couldn't say it on the mike at first.

Big and red and doesn't eat rocks. Red Rock eater on a diet.
Richard M. Dublin 10/27/05
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6) Two bad riddles deserve two more.
What is the smallest room? A mushroom.
What room has no windows or doors, no ceilings or floors? A mushroom.
Wayfarer Tomm 10/27/05
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7) What building has the most stories???
The Library.
Becky M.10/27/05
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8) Why do gorillas have such big nostrils??
Because they have such big fingers.
Mary G. 10/27/05
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9) One came out where two went in
But nobody died
Everyone was happy
But many people cried

The wedding ceremony.
Sebastian M. 10/27/05
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10) One of my favorite Riddle stories for young children is "The Little Red House". Here are the bones:
Little boy is bored. His mom sends him out to find a little red house with no windows and doors and a star in the middle. The puzzled boy asks his friend. She doesn't know - tells him to ask Farmer Brown...he doesn't know. He tell her to ask wise old Granny - she doesn't know....but, she tells him to go ask the wind. Puzzled and exasperated the little boy sits under an apple tree and shouts out to the wind."Do YOU know where I can find a little red house with no windows and doors and a star in the middle". Of course, he hears nothing back. The wind starts blowing and an apple falls down from the tree. He looks at the bright red apple. (Teller brings out a bright red apple) Could THIS be it? Take a knife (you just happen to have) and cut the apple in half across it's middle - you'll find a star where the seeds are. The children listening are amazed as you show them the star. The boy runs home...."Mama - I found it...."

Remember, don't cut the apple up and down...cut it through the middle (across) of the apple. Children think it's glorious "magic". A FUN story.
Beverly C. 10/28/05
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Response: Here is an online version. The Little Red House With No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/thelittleredhouse.html
You are right, it is a fun story to share.
Karen C. 10/28/05
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Response: I found my version in "The Everything Book- for Teachers of Young Children" Valerie Indenbaum & Marcia Shapiro, 1983, Partner Press.
Beverly C. 10/28/05
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Response: A version of "The Little Red House" with suggestions for telling is in the National Storytelling Press book by Annette Harrison, "Easy-to-Tell Stories for Young Children." (8.95 or 8.05 to members at
http://www.storynet.org
"The Little Red House" riddle story, according to Annette Harrison in her book Easy-to-Tell Stories for Young Children, comes from European folklore, collected by Caroline Bailey in her 1929 book, Read-Aloud Stories. Bailey called it "The Little Red House With No Doors."
Joan K
Joan K. 10/28/05
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11) This thread got me intrigued. I googled riddles and riddle stories and the first site that came up was Marilyn McPhie's Stories to Make You Think site.
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/liststorytelma3.html

It's got lots of goodies under the following categories:
Riddles and Riddle Stories | Palindromes, Spoonerism and Word Play | Paper and Drawing Stories | Math Stories | Logic Problems, Justice Issues and Puzzlers

No doubt someone has posted this before, but it's new to me!
Judy S. 10/28/05
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12) Here are some riddles that Chuck Larkin sent us awhile ago!
Riddles can be an exercise in visualization--
Two legs sat on three legs eating no legs when along came four legs and stole no legs from two legs. When four legs ran off with no legs, two legs picked up three legs and threw it at four legs until four legs brought no legs back. What happened?

(A man was sitting on a stool eating a fish when along came a cat and stole the fish from the man. When cat ran off with the fish, the man picked up the stool and threw it at the cat until the cat brought the fish back.)
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Born without skin nor flesh nor bone,
It cries but once and then it's gone.
(A fart.)
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Belly to belly and arms around back
A bit of soft flesh stuck in a crack. What's going on?
(A woman is breast feeding.)
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An old man holds it and he shakes it and he shakes it.
The old woman raises her skirt and she takes and she takes it. What's going on?
(An apple tree -- man and woman are taking down apples.)
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Forty sheep went through a gap, forty more after that
Then a dog and then a cat, with a man followed the lot. How many feet went though the gap?
(Two. Sheep have hooves and dogs and cats have paws . Only men have feet.)
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It's yellow and it shines but it isn't gold. What is it?
(The sun)
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What has a head and a tail but no body?
(A penny)
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What weighs nothing but sinks ships?
(A hole)
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What's higher than the highest
Lower than the lowest
Greater than God
Worse that the devil
Dead men eat it
But if you eat it, you die. What is it?
(Ans.: Nothing.)
•••••The more it dries, the wetter it gets. What is it?
(Ans.: A towel.)
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How far can a dog run in to the woods?
(Ans.: He can go IN only to the middle. After that he's coming OUT.)
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It runs and runs but has no feet. What is it?
(Ans.: Water)
•••••What do you lose when you run a race and win
(Ans.:Your breath)
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You go in one hole and come out three holes.
When you're outside, you're inside
And when you're inside, you're outside. What is it?
(Ans.--A jumper, sweater)
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What can you put into a box to make it lighter?
(Ans: A hole.)
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The longer it stands, the shorter it gets. What is it?
(Ans.: A candle)
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A man is going to a field and when he gets there, he's knows he is going to die. What is happening here?
(Ans.: A man has just jumped from an airplane over a field -- and his parachute won't open.
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What happens once in a minute, twice in a moment but never in a hundred years?
Ans: The letter M.
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There are three haystacks out front of a house and another three haystacks out back of a house. When you put them together, how many haystacks do you have?
Ans.: One haystack.
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Light as a feather and not much in it.
But ten strong people can't hold it a minute.
Ans.: Breath.
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You throw away the outside and cook the inside.
Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?
Ans.: Corn on the cob.
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What goes up a chimney down but can't go down a chimney up?
Ans: An umbrella.
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You take the top off to put the bottom on and then you take the bottom off to put the top on. What is it?
(Ans: A toilet seat.)
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A needle has one and so does everything. What?
(Ans: A name.)
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Ina V.D. 10/27/05
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13) 1) Liars' Paradise:
"There are two small towns, one of which is inhabited by people who always lie, and the other by people who always tell the truth. The first is called Liars' Paradise and the second Trueville. A man, wanting to visit Trueville, comes to a crossroad and to his amazement sees two roadsigns, pointing in opposite directions but both saying "To Trueville". Considering the matter, he decides that this is quite logical: the correct sign has been put up by the authorities of Trueville, and the other by the town council of Liar's Paradise. The latter should of course say "Liar's Paradise," but since they are liars they have put up a sign that also tells a lie. But our traveller is still at a loss because he doesn't know which is the right way to Trueville. Luckily he sees a man sitting by the roadside, who must definitely be from one of the two towns, only our traveller doesn't know which one. Now the problem is: By what single simple question can he find out for sure which is the right road?"

a) ONE ANSWER:The traveler could ask is, "Which road leads to your town?" If the man on the roadside is from Trueville, he'll point to the correct road, as that's the truth. If the man on the roadside is from Liar's Paradise, he'll still point to the correct road to Trueville, as that's a lie. OR
b)"If I ask someone from the other town which road is the right one, what will he say?" Then you take the *negative* of that answer.

2) A RIDDLE

It's more powerful than God.
It's more evil than the Devil.
The poor have it.
The rich need it.
If you eat it you will die.

What is the word???

Don't move to the bottom unless you give up and want the answer..

The answer is NOTHING -
NOTHING is more powerful than God.
NOTHING is more evil than the Devil.
The poor have NOTHING.
The rich need NOTHING.
If you eat NOTHING you will die.

3) A MATH RIDDLE FROM
_The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures_ by Malba Tahan Edinburgh: Canongate Pressn 1993 (originally published in Portugese in 1972) Malba Tahan is the creation of a 'celebrated Brazilian mathematician'.

The frame story of the book involves a narrator meeting Beremiz Samir ('The Man Who Counted') and taking him to Bagdad where his mathematical skill is tested by many people who bring him challenges they think will defeat him. There are some well known riddles/problems, some with new twists. here is one example: the narrator has picked up Beremiz and they are sharing Beremiz's fine camel. They encounter three brothers who are arguing about a herd of camels. Their father has died and left the 35 camels to be divided between the three brothers in the proportions one half/one third/one ninth. they are finding this difficult. the narrator reluctantly allows Beremiz to borrow his camel and add it to the herd of 35. he then applies the instructions in the father's will, dividing the herd of 36 as follows 18+12+4 = 34 leaving his friend's camel and another which the grateful brothers are happy to allow him to take, since their problem has been solved.

Also should work with 17 camels. But this version 'magically' gains a camel.
Ina V.D. 10/29/05
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14) There was a lady on this list who collected riddle stories in to a book called Riddling Tales from Around the World by Marjorie Dundas. It's a great collection. She died soon after the book was published, but I remember her posts as thoughtful and interesting. Many storytell-ers are cited in the collection.
Granny Sue 11/2/05
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(This web page updated 11/5/05)