The _word_ for riddle varies with the population. In Ilocano it is
_burburtia_, in Pangasinan _boniqueo_, in Tagal _bugtong_, in Gaddang
----, in Pampangan _bugtong_, in Bisayan _tugmahanon_.

Riddles are common to all mankind. They delighted the old Aryans and
the ancient Greeks as they do the modern Hindu and the Bantu peoples
of darkest Africa. Many writers have defined the riddle. Friedreich
in his _Geschichte des Räthsels_, says: "The riddle is an indirect
presentation of an unknown object, in order that the ingenuity of the
hearer or reader may be exercised in finding it out.... Wolf has given
the following definition: the riddle is a play of wit, which endeavors
to so present an object, by stating its characteristic features and
peculiarities, as to adequately call it before the mind, without,
however, actually naming it."

The riddles of various Oriental peoples have already been collected
and more or less adequately discussed by authors. Hebrew riddles
occur in the Bible, the best known certainly being Samson's:


"Out of the eater came forth meat,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness."


Arabic riddles are many and have been considerably studied; Persian
riddles are well known; of Indian riddles at least one collection
has been printed separately under the name _Lakshminatha upasaru_,
a series of Kolarian riddles from Chota Nagpur has been printed as,
also, an interesting article upon Behar riddles; Sanskrit riddles are