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Tue 30 Mar, 2004 08:48 am
I sit stern on the rock while I'm raising the wind,
But the storm once abated, I'm gentle and kind.
Kings sit at my feet who wait at my nod
To kneel in the dust on the ground I have trod.
I'm seen by the world and known by but a few.
The Gentile detests me, I'm pork to the Jew.
I never have passed but one night in the dark
And that was with Noah alone in the Ark
My weight is three pounds, my length is a mile,
And when once discovered, you'll say with a smile -
That the first and the last are the pride of the isle.
Intrigued but not ready to answer!
Don't mind me. Just bookmarking. I keep forgetting about this one.
I think it would be fair of me to point out that this riddle was first published around 1850 and the "Isle" referred to is Britain
C'mon people, at least have a go!
By golly, I did Google, and ended up here. LOL
The answer is raven, as tryagain said and explained so accurately, if tryagain doesn't answer every riddle from now on I will be suspicious of how he/she got this one.
How do you know the answer is raven, Kev?
Whim.
whimsical wrote:How do you know the answer is raven, Kev?
Whim.
Whim,
I would love to give you the source of this riddle which I had on my favourites list but 10 days ago thanks to some 18 year old german yobbo my computer crashed and I have lost literally everything, and I cant remember where I got the info from, but tryagain's answer is dead right.
I was making no progress with work today and needed a break. So I did a search on an extract from this riddle and discovered this forum. I heard this riddle a few years ago. I could not answer it or find anyone who could. I thought of it from time to time but it's an extraordinary coincidence that the day I searched the net for it happened to be just after a solution was posted. It was once known as "The Bishop of Salisbury's Riddle". It appears in slightly different forms and has stumped solvers for a long time. It sometimes appears with the extra line "The answer is a word of one syllable" (which, if the answer is "Raven", is one reason it has stumped so many people!)
"Raven" sounds a good solution. I suppose only Raven and Dove would satisfy "...alone in the Ark" and I can't see Dove fitting the rest. But I don't really see why "...but one night in the dark". Why are ravens never in the dark? But the rest fits so well that I am inclined to believe "Raven" is correct.
Congratulations to the solver!
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