Riddles for games

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~wade/HyperDnd/Riddles/riddles

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What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
  Up, up it goes,
  And yet never grows?

#Answer: mountain
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Thirty white horses on a red hill,
  First they champ,
  Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.

#Answer: teeth
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Voiceless it cries,
Wingless it flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.

#Answer: wind
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An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place,
Not in high place."

#Answer: daisy in field of grass, big eye is sun (stupid one.)
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It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
  And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
  Ends life, kills laughter.

#Answer: darkness
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A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.

#Answer: egg
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Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.

#Answer: fish
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This thing all things devours:
Birds, beast,trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.

#Answer: time
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You feel it, but never see it and never will.

#Answer: heart
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You must keep it after giving it.

#Answer: your word
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As light as a feather, but you can't hold it for ten minutes.

#Answer: your breath
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Has a mouth but does not speak, has a bed but never sleeps.

#Answer: river
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Runs smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but cannot climb!

#Answer: water
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You break it even if you name it!

#Answer: silence
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It passes before the sun and makes no shadow.

#Answer: air?
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You feed it, it lives, you give it something to drink, it dies.

#Answer: fire
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A red drum which sounds
Without being touched,
And grows silent,
When it is touched.

#Answer: heart
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Two horses, swiftest travelling,
Harnessed in a pair, and
Grazing ever in places
Distant from them.

#Answer: eyes
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A harvest sown and reaped on the same day
In an unplowed field,
Which increases without growing,
Remains whole though it is eaten
Within and without,
Is useless and yet
The staple of nations.

#Answer: war
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If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.

#Answer: hope
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All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held
No throat, but can be heard.

#Answer: air? wind?
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I go around in circles,
But always straight ahead
Never complain,
No matter where I am led.

#Answer: wheel
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Lighter than what
I am made of,
More of me is hidden
Than is seen.

#Answer: ice
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If a man carried my burden,
He would break his back.
I am not rich,
But leave silver in my track.

#Answer: snail
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My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe.

#Answer: candle
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Weight in my belly,
Trees on my back,
Nails in my ribs,
Feet I do lack.

#Answer: boat, but I accepted cave as an answer
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You can see nothing else
When you look in my face
I will look you in the eye
And I will never lie.

#Answer: mirror
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I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I lick
Will soon turn red.

#Answer: fire
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Three lives have I.
Gentle enough to soothe the skin,
Light enough to caress the sky
Hard enough to crack rocks.

#Answer: water
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Glittering points
That downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
That never rust.

#Answer: iceicles, teeth or stalactites?
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Each morning I appear
To lie at your feet,
All day I follow
No matter how fast you run,
Yet I nearly perish
In the midday sun.

#Answer: shadow
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Keys without locks
Yet I unlock the soul.

#Answer: piano, harpsichord
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Something wholly unreal, yet seems real to I
Think my friend, tell me where does it lie?

#Answer: in the mind
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I am so simple,
That I can only point
Yet I guide men
All over the world.

#Answer: compass.
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A beggar's brother went out to sea and drowned.
But the man who drowned had no brother.
What was the relationship between the man who drowned and the beggar?

#Answer: the beggars was his sister
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First will be last
Last will be first
and all in between will also be cursed
open the door, and the thing will be there
so be carefull and beware !

speak, frie
#Answer: unknownnd, and enter !
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Man of old, it is told
  Would search until he tired,
Not for gold, ne'er be sold,
  But what sought he was fire.

Man today, thou mayst say,
  Has quite another aim,
In places deep, he did seek,
  To find me for his gain!

#Answer: knowledge? oil? diamonds?
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For our ambrosia we were blessed,
by Jupiter, with a sting of death.
Though our might, to some is jest,
we have quelled the dragon's breath.

#Answer: Bees
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Colored as a maiden tweaked,
time was naught when I began;
through the garden I was sneaked,
I alone am the fall of man.

#Answer: An Apple
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Early ages the iron boot tread,
with Europe at her command.
Through time power slipped and fled,
'til the creation of new holy land.

#Answer: Italy (Rome)
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One thin, one bold,
one sick, one cold.
The earth we span,
to prey upon man.

#Answer: The Four Horsemen of Apocolypse
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One where none should be,
or maybe where two should be,
seeking out purity,
in the kings trees.

#Answer: A Unicorn
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He who makes it does not keep it.
He who takes it does not know it.
He who knows it does not want it.
He who gathers it must destroy it.

#Answer: Counterfiet Money
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One tooth to bite,
he's the forests foe.
One tooth to fight,
as all Norse know.

#Answer: An Axe
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This creature, part man and part tree,
hates the termite as much as the flea.
His tracks do not match,
and his limbs may detach,
but he's not a strange creature to see.

#Answer: A Man With A Wooden Leg
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The part of the bird
that is not in the sky,
which can swim in the ocean
and always stay dry.

#Answer: A Shadow
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Dead and bound,
what once was free.
What made no sound,
now sings with glee.

#Answer: A Wooden, Stringed Instrument
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The root tops the trunk
on this backward thing,
that grows in the winter
and dies in the spring.

#Answer: An Icicle
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Touching one, yet holding two,
it is a one link chain
binding those who keep words true,
'til death rent it in twain.
        
#Answer: A Wedding Ring
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A house of wood in a hidden place
Built without nails or glue
High above the earthen ground
It holds pale gems of blue.

#Answer: A nest
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Inside a great blue castle
Lives a shy young maid
She blushes in the morning
And comes not out at night.

#Answer: The sun
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I have legs but walk not
A strong back but work not
Two good arms but reach not
A seat but sit and tarry not

#Answer: A chair
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I can be touched
But I hurt those who touch me
I move swiftly through a dry forest
But die in a mountain stream
Where I pass I leave a black shroud.

#Answer: Fire
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He who makes it needs it not
He who buys it wants it not
He who uses it feels it not

#Answer: A coffin
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In marble halls as white as milk,
LIned with a skin as soft as silk,
Within a fountain crystal-clear,
A golden apple doth appear.
No doors there are to this stronghold,
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.

#Answer: An egg
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'Twas in heaven pronounced, and 'twas muttered in hell,
An echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest,
And the depths of the ocean its presence confessed;
'Twill be found in the sphere when 'tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder.
'Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth, and awaits him in death,
Presides o'er his happiness, honor, and health,
Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser 'tis hoarded with care,
But is sure to be lost on the prodigal heir.
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound,
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is crowned.
Without it the soldier, the seamn may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e'en in the whirlwind of passion be drowned.
'Twill not soften the heart; but though deaf be the ear,
It will make it acutely and instantly hear.
Yet in shade let it rest, like a delicate flower,
Ah... breathe on it softly, - it dies in an hour.

#Answer: The letter 'H'
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The beginning of eternity,
The end of time and space,
The beginning of every end,
The end of every place.

#Answer: The letter 'E'
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Robbers came to our house
And we were all in.
The house leaped out at the windows
And we were all taken in.

#Answer: Fish in a net
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Though I dance at a ball, I am nothing at all.

#Answer: A shadow
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As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man who had seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?

#Answer: One
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Look into my face and I'm everybody;
Scratch my back and I'm nobody.

#Answer: A mirror
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Goes over all the hills and hollows,
Bites hard, but never swallows.

#Answer: Frost
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I walked and walked and at last I got it;
I didn't want it, so I stopped and looked for it;
When I found it, I threw it away.

#Answer: A thorn
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Lives in winter, dies in summer,
Grows with its root upwards.

#Answer: An icicle
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A man rode to town on Friday.
He stayed there all night,
and came back on the same Friday.
How can this be?

#Answer: His horse is named "Friday"
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Fatherless and Motherless, born without sin
Roared when it came into the world,
And never spoke again.

#Answer: Thunder
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When you look into my face,
        I shall never lie; 
Instead be but a window into your soul,
        whether there light or shadows hide;
As in me many see their deaths
        where others see their lives;
In this deny me many try,
        but they simply twist their knives;
For though prejudiced to some I may seem, 
        THE LIE IS THEIR OWN LIVES. 

#Answer: A mirror
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I am the part of the bird 
        that is not in the sky, 
Who can drown in the ocean 
        and yet remain dry.
A last vestige of man
        that refuses to die.
In mourning I am tossed
        at your feet to lie;
I begin my job early, 
        devouring your ankles and thighs.
I work my way up, 
        eating your legs to your waist.
And though around midday away I am chased, 
        I return quickly, 
To savor the arm of my taste.
        As evening falls I enter your lungs,
Spiraling down 
        past your mouth and your tongue.
I feast on your body, your soul, and your mind, 
        but as darkness falls you shall find
That away I will go, a relief for some;
        At least until tomorrow morning comes.

#Answer: Your shadow
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As destructive as life,
        As healing as death;
An institutioner of strife,
        Just as prone to bless.
It is all that is good,
        Yet with an evil trend; 
As it was the beginning of things,
        It can also be the end.

#Answer: Fire, but Love also seems to work (though it was not the
intended answer)
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As beautiful as the setting sun, 
        As delicate as the morning dew; 
An angel's dusting from the stars
        that can turn the Earth into
A frosted moon.

#Answer: Snow
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Creatures of power, creatures of grace,
        Creatures of beauty, creatures of strength.
As for their lives, 
        they set everything's pace,
For all things must come to live 
        under their emerald embrace. . . 
Either in their life, or in their death.

#Answer: Trees
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Stronger than steel,
        And older than time;
They are more patient than death
        and shall stand even when the stars have ceased to shine.
Their strength is embedded 
        in roots buried deep
Where the sands and frosts of ages
        can never hope to touch or reach.

#Answer: Mountains
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Inside me the adventurous find
        Quests and treasures of every kind.
Trolls, goblins, orcs, and more,        await 
        Within my closed walls for
All those that wish to visit me.
        Your hands are the key
To secrets untold,
        And your mind will unlock the door.

#Answer: A book
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I run through hills;
        I veer around mountains.
I leap over rivers
        and crawl through the forests.
Step out your door to find me.

#Answer: The road
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A golden treasure that never stays;
        The coin whose face gives wealth to all.
Strands, nuggets, and dust of gold 
        are all bought with its shining grace. . .
And all are more precious than any gleaming metal.

#Answer: The sun
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It comes only before,
        It comes only after,
Rises only in darkness, 
        But rises only in light.
It is always the same,
        But is yet always different.

#Answer: The moon
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It holds most knowledge that has ever been said;
        But is not the brain, is not the head.
To feathers and their masters, 'tis both bane and boon. . . 
        One empty, and one full.

#Answer: Paper
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I cut through evil 
        like a double edged sword, 
And chaos flees at my approach.
        Balance I single-handedly upraise,
Through battles fought with heart and mind,
        Instead of with my gaze.  

#Answer: Justice
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#Answer: If you have more riddles, send them to wade at cs.ualberta.ca
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--
J C Lawrence                           Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------------(*)               Internet: clawrenc at cup.hp.com
...Honorary Member Clan McFUD -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...