124 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XIII, 



it. 



Translation. 

 (35) Though it is neither fish nor flesh, yet everybody eats 



If anybody eats it in the presence of other men, he feels 



greatly ashamed. 



Answer. — A fall upon the ground. 



Note. 

 The Bengali idiom for falling upon the ground, either by 

 stumbling or slipping the foot, is achhad khawa (^rn*I^ ^srnH^T) 



which, literally translated, means " to eat a fall." Hence the 

 metaphor of eating has been used in the above riddle. 



(\i) iranHfc IT* *n^«l^ UTS*!! l 



wfV^f *m% <tt^: %% gfsT vi&n d 



Translation. 



(36) Anguldatta (i.e., the fingers) received Nakadatta ."s 

 (i.e., the nose's) treasure, 



And, after getting hold of the same with great care, placed 

 it elsewhere. 



Answer. — The mucus of the nose. 



Note. 



The nose, from which the mucus is taken out with the aid 

 of _ the fingers and thrown away, has been personified here as 

 Nakadatta; whereas the fingers have been personified as 



Anguldatta. The word thaila (ira^O means " placed. 



•■ 



-..,», OT ,™, J-uv/ nwu HtutMi ^l^lj IUtJ«lll> /7M*l/Ol*. 



The comparative study of riddles current in different parts 



of the world is of great " interest to the ethnographer, as it 



shows the identity of humour of the different races ot people 



inhabiting various parts of the same country, separa ted from 



each other by long distances, or even different countries of the 



world, separated from each other bv vast oceans and high 



mountain -ranges. The truth of this will appear from the 



parallelisms, which have been pointed out above, between the 



riddles current among the Bengalis of Sylhet and those in 



vogue among the Hindus of Bihar and the Parsees of Bombay 



Mr. Andrew Long, the doyen of English folklore study, njj 



very rightly said : " Proverbs and riddles are as universal!) 



scattered, and the Wolufs puzzle over the same devinetW^ 



the Scotch schoolbov or th« Br^tnn npa.sn.nt. Thus, t° r 



What 



ever, and rests never 1 ' " AnswerT— ' The Wind.' ' Who are the 

 comrades that always fight, and never hurt each other- 



