The Riddle of the Monster
A long, long tìme ago there lived a monster. This monster was the sphinx. She had the head of a woman and the body of a lion. She also had the wings of a big bird.
The sphinx lived near an old, old city in Greece. The Clty Was Thebes. The sphinx sat on a rock just outside the city. When a man passed by her, she would ask him a riddle. The man had to gIve the right answer, or the sphinx would eat him up.
Here is the riddle of the sphinx: “What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?
No one could answer the riddle. Many men lost their lives. Everyone was afraid of the sphinx. The people from Thebes didn't know what to do.
Then one day a clever man came by. His name was Oedipus. The sphinx stopped him. She asked him her riddle: “What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?”
“Thats easy,” said Oedipus. “Phe answer 1s man. A man crawls on all fours when he's a baby. He stands up on two legs when he's grown.
And when he's old he leans on a cane and thats like a third leg.”
This was the right answer. The sphinx was very angry. She was so angry that she Jumped off a cliff. And she was killed.
Now it was safe to pass the rock. The people of Thebes were so glad that they made Oedipus their king.
Notes:
- sphinx : quái vật nhân sư (đầu người mình sư tử)
- monster : quái vật
- riddle : câu đố
- cliff : vách núi đá :
