Category Archives: Riddle

“What is something that runs but has no feet; has a bed but never sleeps?”

Performance Date: February 17th, 2023

SM is a 20 year old environmental studies major at USC. She grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she would spend weekends camping with her family and being out in nature. In her past time, she enjoys hiking and exploring new areas. The following riddle was told to her when she was younger by her grandfather while they were camping once.

“What is something that runs, but has no feet; has a bed, but never sleeps?” “A river.”

Riddles are very popular in many cultures, especially with children. SM heard this riddle when she was a young girl, and it was told to her during a camping trip. This riddle stuck with SM for so long not only because she heard it as a child, but because of its content. As someone who is a huge nature lover and environmentalist, it’s no surprise she loves this riddle. Most riddles have some sort of uniqueness that puts it into categories. As a writer, the riddle that stuck with me the most is “What’s black, white, and read all over? A newspaper.” The riddles that stick with children as they grow up usually relate to a part of their personality or interests, so there is a hint of familiarity. Riddles are meant to stump or confuse the audience they’re being told to, so when children can find familiarity within them, the riddles tend to stick.

Electricity Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC Student Housing
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Main Performance:

HG: Basically you’re in this, like, house that’s like a labyrinth, or whatever. Um… and there’s no electricity and its like dark and whatever, and there’s these doors. There’s these three doors, um… I’m gonna tell you the doors and you pick, actually.

Me: Ok.

HG: So the first one, there’s Red Door, Blue Door, and Green Door. Which one do you pick?

Me: Blue Door.

HG: Ok, um… and then there’s door one, two and three. Which one do you pick?

Me: One.

HG: One? Ok, and then there’s pink door, white door, and black door. Which one do you pick?

Me: White.

HG: White? Ok, um… then there’s five doors. One with a picture of a giraffe and the other four are just one, two, three, and four.

Me: Three.

HG: Ok… Lotta people pick the giraffe door but that’s ok.

Me: *Laughing*

HG: And then finally there’s three more, its just sky door, grass door and moon door.

M: I’ll go with moon door.

HG: And then you’re presented with three options, you finally enter this room and um… they are all ways to die, basically. The first way is to enter a cage with a lion in it. The next is you have to hang yourself. And then the last one is an electric chair. Which one are you picking?

Me: The electric chair.

HG: Aw yeah why’s that

ME: *Laughing* Because there’s no electricity in the house!

HG: *Laughing* Aw f*ck you


Background: The respondent heard the riddle in middle school to the best of his memory. He is from New York City.

Thoughts/Analysis: I had definitely heard a riddle with the same sort of punchline before the informant had told me his riddle, but I didn’t realize it until he said the last option. To someone who hasn’t heard the riddle before, it is supposed to rely on the complex steps that the riddler walks the subject through before arriving at the final decision. You are thinking about so many things throughout the course of the riddle that you forget one of the basic things about the house. In the performance of the riddle, the informant took many “thinking” pauses between each of my decisions to try and signal to me that he was thinking about the path that I was taking in order to throw me off.

Goldfish Riddle

Performance Date: 2/14/23
Primary Language: English
Language: German

Main Performance:
JC: Alright, so, my name is JC and I heard this riddle the other day here in my German class. My German professor told it to me in German but I am unsure of the origin of the riddle.

Me: Can I hear it in German first?

JC: I can’t do it in German sorry. But basically, so, the idea is that, uh, so you come into a room right?

Me: right

JC: and there are two bodies on the floor, and one of the bodies is Jim and one of the bodies is Sally. And, they’re lying in a pool of water and there is glass everywhere on the floor. And the murderer is also in the room. What happened?

Me: Am I the murderer?

JC: No

Me: Was it a suicide?

JC: No

Me: Is the murderer time?

JC: No

Me: Is the murderer water?

JC: No

Me: Is the murderer glass?

JC: No

Me: *I ask clarifying questions about the riddle*

Me: Is there anything else in the room? Like a chair or a window?

JC: Its like a normal room, like a house

Me: Is the murderer a person

JC: No

Me: Is the murderer a living being?

JC: Yes

Me: Are there any fish in the room?

JC: Yes!

Me: Are they poisonous?

JC: No

Me: Are they piranhas or sharks?

JC: No

Me: Did the fish kill the people?

JC: No, did I say it was people?

Me: Oh, no…

JC: It was just two bodies right?

Me; I give up what’s the answer?

JC: So the bodies on the floor are two fish. And the murderer is a cat and he knocked the bowl off of the table. So the whole trick is that you’re supposed to think it was two people, but its actually two goldfish.

Context:
JC and I are in the same discussion section for our class, and we decided to share riddles to help us with our projects. We both shared the first riddles we could think of, and it seemed like this was the most recent on that JC had been told.

Thoughts/Analysis:
This riddle definitely relies on our thoughts of what a body could be. When looking at two dead fish, I would never consider them to be “bodies” as that is a term I would typically reserve for a dead human. However, the riddle works on the technical level that the dead fish are “bodies” and so by subverting my expectation for what a “body” was supposed to mean I was unable to get the answer to the riddle. If the origin of the riddle is, in fact, German, then perhaps it says something about the German perspective on both human and non-human life in that it treats the death of animals and humans relatively equally.

I have a head and I have a tail, but I do not have a body. What am I?

Q: I have a head and I have a tail, but I do not have a body. What am I?

A: A coin

Background: Y is a 20 year old who was born and raised in New Jersey. She now resides in Los Angeles, California. 

Context: This riddle was told to me at a hangout among friends.

Analysis: I liked this riddle because of its simplicity. It relies on knowledge that everyone would have about coins and, perhaps, animals. The barrier to entry for understanding this joke is very low, which is what makes it so compelling. Like most riddles, the answer is not impossible, but just out of reach. It’s simple enough for the audience to have an “oh, of course!” moment when the answer is revealed. This shared moment among audience members and the performer of the riddle works well with the riddle’s wordplay. 

The Lost Dutchman’s Mine

–Informant Info–

Nationality: American

Age: 53

Occupation: Senior VP for a development company

Residence: Pheonix, Ariozna

Date of Performance/Collection: 2022

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

(Notes-The informant will be referred to as MW and the interviewer as K)

Background info: MW is a father of 2 who grew up and now resides in Pheonix, Arizona. I was told this story over the phone.

K: So, what’s the uh title of the story? And how do you know it? Like who told it to you or where did you like hear it?

MW: It’s called The Lost dutchman’s mine, and I heard about it from uh…my parents and friends, I guess

K: It’s one of those things you just kind of always hear? Is it like a fireside story or…?

MW: Yeah, yeah. It’s definitely a fireside story, but not really like…scary, ya know? Just a story you hear around.

K: Ok cool, uh…whenever you’re ready to tell it, go-ahead

MW: So the story goes that uh…way back in the 1800s, like during gold rush time there was an uh…Dutch guy that came down to Arizona. One day he went into an uh…bar or something in the settlement with this huge *exaggerates voice here for emphasis* chunk of gold. Everyone asked him where it came from, and he uh refused to uh tell them outright. He only left one hint for people.

K: What was the hint?

MW: Oh uh…It was like…you could see the entrance of the mine from weaver’s needle which is a mountain in Arizona. It’s like an uh peak that looks like the eye of a needle

K: So, has anyone found it? Or has anyone gone like looking for it?

MW: Oh yeah! Loads have gone looking; I think like 2 or 3 people have even died from trying to find it, but no one has found it yet.

K: So, do people actually believe in it? Or is it more of a fun let’s go look kinda adventure?

MW: Like most stories, I guess there are always believers, most people uh…go hik8ing up in the mountains to try and find it in like..highschool or right before college though *laughter* I remember doing it with my friends when I was like 16 or 17.

K: Oh! So there’s a right of passage aspect to it?

MW: Sometimes yeah, definitely.

Interpretation:
I really enjoyed hearing this story. It, at least from my perspective, did encompass the American dream in a sense. The idea of both the gold rush, which has long been held as a pinnacle of American determination and achievement, and the idea of adventure and finding a long-lost mine combine to form, as stated, a tale of the American dream in a sense. Another aspect I want to note is the coming of age part of the story. This story, at least according to the informant, dates back to his great-grandfather. That part of the story represents a lot of long-held more conservative beliefs. Arizona, for a very long time, has held conservative values. The informant noted that it was really only high school boys who went to try and find the mine as a coming of age process. Even later on in life, it was mainly men who attempted. The idea of a rugged mine full of riches hidden deep within the scorching mountains, and someone going to find it, is very traditionally masculine.