19 A Very Old Riddle

The people of old Greece and Egypt believed in mythology. The stories in myths were mostly about strange creatures. Some of these creatures were part human and part animal. One, the Sphinx, had the head of a woman and the body of a lion. The Sphinx lived high on a mountain peak over which a road passed. People who traveled that road were never heard from again. Whenever travelers reached the peak of the mountain, the Sphinx would block the road and speak this riddle: “What goes on four feet in the morning, on two feet at noon, and on three feet in the evening?” No traveler in a thousand years had guessed the answer. And the Sphinx had eaten them all.

But one day a Greek traveler named Oedipus traveled that way. When Oedipus came to the mountain pass, the Sphinx leaped out. With a cunning grin, it asked its terrible riddle. Oedipus, wise with age, knew the answer immediately, but he teased the Sphinx by frowning and shaking his head. These strange actions made the Sphinx tense and upset. Then suddenly Oedipus shot forth the answer. The Sphinx was so upset that it jumped off the mountain to its death.

The answer Oedipus gave was simple: a person. Can you guess why this was right? In a person’s morning, or childhood, he or she crawls on all fours. At noon, an adult, a person walks on two legs. In the evening, old age, a person uses a third foot—a cane.

古希腊和古埃及人信奉神话。神话故事大多是关于奇异生物的。其中一些生物是半人半兽的。有一个叫斯芬克斯的生物，有着女人的头和狮子的身体。斯芬克斯住在一座高山的山顶上，山顶上有一条路经过。走那条路的旅行者再也没有消息。每当旅行者到达山顶时，斯芬克斯就会挡住路，说出这个谜语：“什么生物早晨用四只脚走路，中午用两只脚走路，晚上用三只脚走路？”一千年来，没有旅行者猜中答案，斯芬克斯把他们都吃掉了。

但有一天，一个名叫俄狄浦斯的希腊旅行者走了这条路。当俄狄浦斯来到山口时，斯芬克斯跳了出来。它带着狡黠的笑容，问出了那个可怕的谜语。俄狄浦斯因年长而聪慧，立刻就知道了答案，但他皱着眉头摇摇头，逗弄斯芬克斯。这些奇怪的举动让斯芬克斯紧张不安。然后俄狄浦斯突然说出了答案。斯芬克斯非常沮丧，从山上跳下去死了。

俄狄浦斯给出的答案很简单：人。你能猜到为什么这个答案是对的吗？在人的“早晨”，也就是童年时期，他或她用四肢爬行。到了“中午”，也就是成年时期，人用两只脚走路。到了“晚上”，也就是老年时期，人会使用第三只脚——拐杖。