The Sphynx was a monster with a woman's head and bust on a lion's body. She is known for posing questions for people who were passing by Thebes. If they were unable to answer a riddle, she strangled them.

She told this riddle to travelers:

A handsome black shepherd dog came visiting, drawing by a leash an old man with a white beard and dark glasses. He wore a dingy white robe and poked about with a white cane. He gave his name as Homer, and said he had come from ancient Greece to warn me about riddles. "I died of one," he said.

I led him to an easy chair by the fire, saw him settled with the German Shepherd at his feet, and asked, "How so?"

"At vexation of not being able to find the answer."

"Do you recall the riddle?"

"How can I forget? It was: 'What we caught we threw away, and what could not catch, we kept.'"

"Everyone knows the answer to that," I said.

"Impossible!"

"The answer, Homer, is fleas."

"Fleas!" he screamed, "and for this I had to die?"

What does "Silly" and "Fond" Mean?

"Silly" first meant luck and happiness; then deserving of pity, then feebleminded. "Fond" meant first foolish, silly; then foolishly affectionate, then simply affectionate.

What is silly? What is fond?

Silly once was luck,

Fond was silly, and then bond

Between the two has stuck.

You are like a drop of dew;

You are like a lily.

I am very fond of you;

This is very silly.

For Every Word Alive, a Special Story

For every word alive, a special story;

For every story, its own special joy,

What sport that "sorrow" is no kin to "sorry"!

What fun that "girl" once meant the same as "boy"!

Spade up old English "song," the root of "sorrow"--

Two one in meaning, neither less nor more.

But sorry's a coincidental borrow

From Anglo-Saxon "sarig," meaning "sore."

A Middle English child of either sex

Was gurls--that is, "a person still ungrown."

(Ah, lucky gurls--with life still uncomplex,

With Women's Liberation still unknown!)

Friend, grumble not that life is reft of glory,

That all conspires to fuddle and annoy,

As long as "sorrow" is no kin to "sorry--

As long as "girl" once meant the same as "boy"!

A Jamaican Riddle

If all the men were one man

What a great man that would be!

If all the axes were one ax,

What a great ax that would be!

If all the trees were one tree,

What a great tree that would be!

And if all the seas were one sea,

What a great sea that would be!

And if that great man

Took that great ax

And chopped down that great tree

And it fell into the great sea,

What a great splash that would be!

Dr. A.O. Goldsmith of Kennett is a retired director of the School of Journalism, Louisiana State University.