334 lines
7.5 KiB
Groff
334 lines
7.5 KiB
Groff
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The Riddle Manual
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=================
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WARNING! Answers are posted at the bottom of this list!
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Don't look unless you _really_ want to. (Last update 8/91)
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What has roots as nobody sees,
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Is taller than trees,
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Up, up it goes,
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And yet never grows?
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Thirty white horses on a red hill,
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First they champ,
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Then they stamp,
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Then they stand still.
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Voiceless it cries,
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Wingless it flutters,
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Toothless bites,
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Mouthless mutters.
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An eye in a blue face
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Saw an eye in a green face.
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"That eye is like to this eye"
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Said the first eye,
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"But in low place,
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Not in high place."
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It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
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Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
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It lies behind stars and under hills,
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And empty holes it fills.
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It comes first and follows after,
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Ends life, kills laughter.
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A box without hinges, key, or lid,
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Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
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Alive without breath,
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As cold as death;
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Never thirsty, ever drinking,
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All in mail never clinking.
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This thing all things devours:
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Birds, beast,trees, flowers;
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Gnaws iron, bites steel;
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Grinds hard stones to meal;
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Slays king, ruins town,
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And beats high mountain down.
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You feel it, but never see it and never will.
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You must keep it after giving it.
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As light as a feather, but you can't hold it for ten minutes.
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Has a mouth but does not speak, has a bed but never sleeps.
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Runs smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but cannot climb!
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You break it even if you name it!
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It passes before the sun and makes no shadow.
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You feed it, it lives, you give it something to drink, it dies.
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A red drum which sounds
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Without being touched,
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And grows silent,
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When it is touched.
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Two horses, swiftest travelling,
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Harnessed in a pair, and
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Grazing ever in places
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Distant from them.
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A harvest sown and reaped on the same day
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In an unplowed field,
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Which increases without growing,
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Remains whole though it is eaten
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Within and without,
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Is useless and yet
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The staple of nations.
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If you break me
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I do not stop working,
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If you touch me
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I may be snared,
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If you lose me
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Nothing will matter.
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All about, but cannot be seen,
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Can be captured, cannot be held
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No throat, but can be heard.
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I go around in circles,
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But always straight ahead
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Never complain,
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No matter where I am led.
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Lighter than what
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I am made of,
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More of me is hidden
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Than is seen.
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If a man carried my burden,
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He would break his back.
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I am not rich,
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But leave silver in my track.
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My life can be measured in hours,
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I serve by being devoured.
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Thin, I am quick
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Fat, I am slow
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Wind is my foe.
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Weight in my belly,
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Trees on my back,
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Nails in my ribs,
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Feet I do lack.
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You can see nothing else
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When you look in my face
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I will look you in the eye
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And I will never lie.
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I am always hungry,
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I must always be fed,
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The finger I lick
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Will soon turn red.
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Three lives have I.
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Gentle enough to soothe the skin,
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Light enough to caress the sky
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Hard enough to crack rocks.
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Glittering points
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That downward thrust,
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Sparkling spears
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That never rust.
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Each morning I appear
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To lie at your feet,
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All day I follow
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No matter how fast you run,
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Yet I nearly perish
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In the midday sun.
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Keys without locks
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Yet I unlock the soul.
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Something wholly unreal, yet seems real to I
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Think my friend, tell me where does it lie?
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I am so simple,
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That I can only point
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Yet I guide men
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All over the world.
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The first ones are from the Hobbit. "Red Drum", "Two horses", and "A
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harvest" are from a trilogy called Bard, the last three I made up,
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and the rest are from SSI's excellant D&D computer games and Sierra's
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Conquest of Camelot.
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Guitian Master of Winter
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BILLERMA@XAVIER
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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A beggar's brother went out to sea and drowned.
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But the man who drowned had no brother.
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What was the relationship between the man who drowned and the beggar?
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First will be last
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Last will be first
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and all in between will also be cursed
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open the door, and the thing will be there
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so be carefull and beware !
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speak, friend, and enter !
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Man of old, it is told
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Would search until he tired,
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Not for gold, ne'er be sold,
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But what sought he was fire.
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Man today, thou mayst say,
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Has quite another aim,
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In places deep, he did seek,
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To find me for his gain!
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What am I?
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-------------------------------------------------------------
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From: Wee Willie <s892804@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU>
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Subject: A dozen more riddles.
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To: John Billerman <BILLERMA@XAVIER.BITNET>
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compiled by Dan Judd.
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1. For our ambrosia we were blessed,
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by Jupiter, with a sting of death.
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Though our might, to some is jest,
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we have quelled the dragon's breath.
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Who are we?
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2. Colored as a maiden tweaked,
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time was naught when I began;
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through the garden I was sneaked,
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I alone am the fall of man.
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What am I?
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3. Early ages the iron boot tread,
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with Europe at her command.
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Through time power slipped and fled,
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'til the creation of new holy land.
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Who am I?
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4. One thin, one bold,
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one sick, one cold.
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The earth we span,
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to prey upon man.
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Who are we?
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5. One where none should be,
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or maybe where two should be,
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seeking out purity,
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in the kings trees.
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What am I?
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6. He who makes it does not keep it.
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He who takes it does not know it.
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He who knows it does not want it.
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He who gathers it must destroy it.
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What is it?
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7. One tooth to bite,
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he's the forests foe.
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One tooth to fight,
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as all Norse know.
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What is it?
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8. This creature, part man and part tree,
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hates the termite as much as the flea.
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His tracks do not match,
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and his limbs may detach,
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but he's not a strange creature to see.
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What is it?
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9. The part of the bird
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that is not in the sky,
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which can swim in the ocean
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and always stay dry.
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What is it?
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10. Dead and bound,
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what once was free.
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What made no sound,
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now sings with glee.
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What is it?
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11. The root tops the trunk
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on this backward thing,
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that grows in the winter
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and dies in the spring.
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What is it?
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12. Touching one, yet holding two,
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it is a one link chain
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binding those who keep words true,
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'til death rent it in twain.
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What is it?
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========================================================
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Answers? Well OK, if you _really_ want them. In order:
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mountain
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teeth
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wind
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daisy in field of grass, big eye is sun (stupid one.)
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darkness
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eggssesss
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fish
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time
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heart
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your word
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your breath
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river
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water
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silence
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air?
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fire
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heart
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eyes
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war
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hope
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air? wind?
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wheel
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ice
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snail
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candle
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boat, but I accepted cave as an answer
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mirror
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fire
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water
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iceicles, teeth or stalactites?
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shadow
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piano, harpsichord
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in the mind
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compass.
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the beggars was his sister
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(Beats me)
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oil? diamonds?
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1. Bees
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2. An Apple
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3. Italy (Rome)
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4. The Four Horsemen of Apocolypse
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5. A Unicorn
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6. Counterfiet Money
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7. An Axe
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8. A Man With A Wooden Leg
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9. A Shadow
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10. A Wooden, Stringed Instrument
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11. An Icicle
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12. A Wedding Ring
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