又中又英 | Greek mythology | 褚簡寧

　　What walks on four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? It is a riddle, which means a difficult and confusing question which has a clever answer. I came across this riddle recently while reading a book about Greek mythology. The word “mythology” comes from the word “myth”, which means an ancient story that is based on beliefs instead of reality. Greek mythology has gods, heroes, and monsters. The hit movie The Odyssey is part of Greek mythology. I loved reading books about Greek mythology as a young boy.

　　I have started reading them again to jog my memory, which means to remind me of something. The Greek mythology book I am now reading jogged my memory about what walks on four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening. The riddle’s answer is man or, to be politically correct, a human. A human crawls on arms and legs as a baby, walks with two legs as an adult, and uses a walking stick as a third foot when old.

　　The Sphinx, a mythical monster with a woman’s head, a lion’s body, and a bird’s wings, prevented anyone from leaving or entering the city of Thebes. People who wanted to enter must correctly answer the monster’s riddle about what walks on four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening. It kills or eats those who give wrong answers. The mythical Greek hero Oedipus, king of Thebes, wanted to enter the city after a long exile. He correctly answered The Sphinx’s riddle. The Sphinx was so enraged that it jumped off a cliff and died.

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　　有甚麼是早上四腳走路，中午兩腳走路，晚上三腳走路？這是個 riddle，意即謎語，謎題隱晦、曲折但有着巧妙的答案。我最近讀到一本關於Greek mythology的書時，就遇上這個謎語（riddle）。Mythology一字來自myth，它是指基於信念而非真實的古代神話故事。希臘神話（Greek mythology）當中有神祇、英雄與怪獸。大熱電影《奧德賽》說的也是希臘神話（Greek mythology）的一部分。我還是年輕小伙子時，就喜愛閱讀關於希臘神話（Greek mythology）的書籍。

　　我又開始讀起這些書以 jog my memory，意即喚醒我的記憶。我現在閱讀的希臘神話（Greek mythology）書提醒了我（jog my memory），甚麼是早上四腳走路，中午兩腳走路，晚上三腳走路。謎語（riddle）的答案是man（人，有時可單指男人），或政治正確來說human（人類）。人在嬰兒時會手腳並用在地上爬行，成年時用兩條腿走路，暮年則用枴杖作為第三條腿輔助走路。

　　斯芬克斯（the Sphinx）是有女人頭面、獅身和雀鳥翅膀的神話（mythical）怪物，阻止任何人離開或進入底比斯之城。希望入城的人必須正確回答怪物的謎題（riddle）：甚麼是早上四腳走路，中午兩腳走路，晚上三腳走路？牠會殺害或吃掉所有答錯的人。神話中的（mythical）希臘英雄，底比斯之王伊底帕斯，在漫長的放逐後想進城，他正確地回答了斯芬克斯的謎語（the Sphinx’s riddle）。斯芬克斯（the Sphinx）憤怒得跳下懸崖而死。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻