SB WWG Bible genre
Consider the old riddle "Why did the chicken cross the road?". Everyone thinks they know the answer is "To get to the other side." but they are wrong. You will know the true answer, not when you hear it, but when you understand it. |
Your assumption about a text affects the meaning you derive from the text. You were told the question was a riddle, but you assumed it was a simple literal question. Your assumption has set in motion the course of misunderstanding. "To get to the other side.", sounds like a reasonable answer to a literal question. You groan and think that is the dumbest riddle you have ever heard. In fact, some people are so arrogant to call it a non-riddle, being secure in their ignorance.
The true answer is "To get to the other side." I warned you ahead of time, that you would not know this was the true answer when you heard it, but when you understood it. In the genre of riddle, there is word play. The answer given in the first paragraph has no word play because you assumed it was literal. The second answer, which appears to be identical, is a different answer because there is word play. |
|
'The other side" is a common euphemism for having passed from life to death. This is the basis for the true answer. |
A feature of riddles is that one can hide things in plane sight because a riddle cannot be solved by the contents of the riddle. you must know something else. The riddle is known when the answer is given, or when the additional information is surmised. There is a clue. The question asks about a specific chicken; "The chicken."
In the country, chickens cross the road all the time. This isn't a secret, nor a mystery. But which chicken is THE chicken? It is the one that didn't make it, and it's carcass still lies in the road. |