英文谜语同中国谜语一样有着极其悠久的历史,其中最为有名的大概是斯芬克司之“谜”了。“斯芬克司”一词源自希腊语Sphinx,是希腊神话中一个可怕的怪物,它长着女人的头、狮子的身躯,身上还有两只翅膀。传说中,狮身人面的女怪斯芬克司生性残酷无比,常常守在大路口,让过往的行人猜一个谜,猜错了就要被吃掉。有一次,一位国王的儿子被斯芬克司吃掉了,国王一怒之下,发出悬赏:“谁能把它制服,就给他王位。”青年俄狄浦斯(Oedipus)应召前去,很快就道破谜底,斯芬克司便自杀了。这个世界著名的谜语是:What goes on four feet,on two feet,and three,but themore feet it goes on,the weaker it will be.其谜底是Man.Because he crawls first,then walks on two feet,uses a cane whenold.因为人在婴儿时用四肢在地上爬行,成人后两腿行走, English riddles, like Chinese riddles, have a very long history, of which the most famous is Sphinx’s “mystery ”. Sphinx comes from the Greek word Sphinx, a terrifying monster in Greek mythology with a woman’s head, a lion’s body, and two wings. Legend has it that the Sphinx female Sphinx is extremely brutal and often kept at the crossroads to allow past pedestrians to guess a mystery and guessed wrongly to be eaten. Once, a king’s son was eaten by Sphinx and the king gave him a fury: “Who can subdue it and give him the throne?” Young Oedipus called Go forward, soon to break the mystery, Sfink Division will commit suicide. The world famous riddle is: What goes on four feet, on two feet, and three, but theyore feet it goes on, the weaker it will be. The answer is Man.Because he crawls first, then walks on two feet, uses a cane whenold. Because people crawl on the ground with their limbs while they are infants,