Two Horses: a riddle tale

The next time some smarty-pants job-interviewer asks you to give an example of a time when you dealt with a seemingly impossible situation, you can remember this riddle-tale adapted from David Shannon's Still More Stories to Solve.

There was once a queen who had two sons. When she grew old and close to death she sent for her sons. “I want you to ride your horses to Jerusalem. The one whose horse arrives last will inherit everything I own.”

The two princes mounted their horses. But, since each knew his horse had to arrive last if he was to win, both sons rode as slowly as they possibly could. One was forever trying to lag behind the other. When they finally reached the outskirts of Jerusalem, both sons stopped. Neither dared go a step closer for fear of getting there first and thus letting the other arrive last and inherit the kingdom.

They sat for a day. Then two. They sat for a week and began to feel as if they’d spent the rest of their lives sitting at the edge of Jeruselem with nothing to their names. Then, suddenly, both sons had the same idea. They each jumped on a horse and rode to Jeruselem as fast as they could go. What made them change their minds and find a way to end the competition?




Answer: Each jumped on his brother’s horse to finish the race. If one could ride the other’s horse to the city first, it would mean that his own horse would arrive last and he would inherit the kingdom.

A short riddle-story about soup

Bede's brother-in-law told this story when I was in Ontario last week:

The daughter of the emperor was of a marriageable age, but her father wanted his daughter to marry a wise man. Two suitors appeared one day to ask to marry the emperor’s daughter. The emperor set before each suitor a steaming bowl of soup. “Whoever finishes this soup first may marry my daughter,” the emperor said. Why did he say this?

Answer: The foolish suitor would attempt to gulp down the soup and scald his tongue. He would not be able to drink any more soup. The wise suitor would wait until the soup had cooled, and then he could drink the broth easily.

Lion's Advisors

I adapted this story from David Shannon's Still More Stories to Solve. Stories I choose to tell usually have some resonance with my life. I recognize myself in each of the animals. Perhaps that is stating the obvious! At any rate, you may find the answer to the riddle-tale in the comments section.

One morning, Lion—King of the Beasts—woke up with terrible breath. “Yuck!” said his wife and rolled over. This put Lion in the foulest of moods. He roared and growled with every step. He ordered his three advisors to come immediately.

“Sheep,” demanded Lion, “is my breath sweet or is my breath bad?”

The sheep thought the Lion wanted an honest answer. “Your Majesty, your breath is bad.” Lion roared with anger at hearing the truth, and killed the sheep in a blink of an eye.

“Wolf,” demanded Lion, “Is my breath sweet or is my breath bad?”

The wolf was well aware of what had just happened to the sheep. “Oh your Majesty, your breath is as sweet as a summer’s day.”

Lion roared, “You’re flattering me like a fool just to save your life, but it won’t work!” He killed the wolf just as quickly as he had killed the sheep.

Now, the fox was the only advisor left.

“Fox,” demanded Lion, “Is my breath sweet or is my breath bad?”

Fox coughed as he glanced at the bodies of the wolf and the sheep, then slowly gave his answer. Lion not only sent the fox home safe and alive, he even said he understood.

What did the fox say that not only got Lion to spare his life, but even got Lion’s sympathy?