Particularly interesting and curious are the _historia-vino_ given
in numbers 312-317. No doubt there are many such. Those here given
were secured from one boy at Malolos. When first examined, I believed
the boy had not understood what I was after. He assured me that they
were _bugtong_ and _bugtong_ of the best and finest class. The idea
in these is to propound a statement in a paradoxical form, which
calls for some reference to a bible story or teaching; the answer is
not immediately clear and demands a commentary which is quite often
subtle and ingenious. Friedreich gives examples of similar expository
religious riddles from Europe.

A curious group are the relationship riddles, numbers 286-289, which
closely resemble trick questions among ourselves. The evidence of
outside influence is here conclusive in the fact that the ideas and
terms of relationship in them are purely European, in nowise reflecting
the characteristic Malayan system and nomenclature.

Some of the riddles are distinctly stupid. "I let the sun shine on
your father's back" seems to mean no more than that the house roof
is exposed to the solar rays. It is doubtful whether this means much
even in the original Tagal. Of course many of the riddles demand
for their adequate understanding a knowledge of native customs,
which the outsider rarely has. Thus, until one knows a common method
of punishing naughty children, the riddle "I have a friend; I do
not like to face him" means nothing. Perhaps the most difficult to
adequately present are some plays on words. These frequently need a
considerable explanation. In some of these the parts of the word to
guess are concealed in or are suggested by the form of the statement
and one must extract them and combine them; such are "_iscopidor_" and
"_sampaloc_." In others the play depends upon homophony, the same sound