ut with plenty of analogues among ourselves, are those
where the answer itself is introduced into the question with the
intention to mislead; "Its skin is green and its flesh is red like
a watermelon." "Watermelon."

Filipino riddles are mostly given out by young people. When several
are gathered together they will question and answer; they are much in
vogue when a young gentleman calls upon his sweetheart; among Tagals
and Pampangans at least the chief occasion for giving _bugtong_ is when
a little group are watching at night beside a corpse. In propounding
a riddle it is not uncommon to challenge attention by repeating as
witty a rhyme, which is quite as often coarse as witty. One Tagal
example runs:

Bugtong co ka Piro!
Turan mo ka Baldo!
Pag hindi mo naturan
Hindi ca nang iwang;
Pag maturan mo
May tae ang puit mo.

I have a bugtong compadre P!
Guess it compadre B!
If you cannot guess it
You have not cleaned yourself;
If you do not guess it
You are dirty.

We have mentioned two references to Malay riddles. Of the eight given
in Rizal's paper five have been given us by our informants. As Rizal's
entire paper will be reprinted in another volume of this series we have
not copied the other three. Sibree's paper is important for comparison,
since it presents matter drawn from the uttermost point of Malaysia,
Madagascar, which has been unaffected by Spanish influence. Sibree's
article is translated from a little book by another missionary, the
Rev. Louis Dahle. Dahle's book is entitled _Specimens of Malayasy
Folklore_ and its material is presented in Malagasy only. Mr. Sibree
translates twenty of his riddles. They are in character and flavor
like many of the Filipino riddles. As Sibree does not give the native
text and I have not seen Dahle's book, I cannot know whether they
are rhymed. They are all of the type of true riddles to be guessed,
descriptions wherein one or two characteristics or striking features
are presented, either directly or figuratively. Examination of this
little series deepens an impression already made by study of our own
collection, namely, that the true riddles in our series are largely
original Filipino while the insoluble riddles, the catches, the plays
on words, are those where foreign influence is most evident. Although
Sibree's article is easily accessible, we quote a few of these Malagasy
examples for comparison.

"Cut and no w