Micronesia, Federated States of is a nation located in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of over 600 islands spread out over a large ocean area. The islands of Micronesia have a rich cultural history, with various local traditions and lore. Many riddles have emerged from the Micronesian islands over the centuries. In this article, we will explore 31 clever and thought-provoking riddles from Micronesia along with their answers.
Riddles are a fun way to gain insight into the history, environment, values and humor of a place. The following Micronesian riddles touch on topics like nature, food, community beliefs and even romantic love. Some may require deep thinking to solve, while others play on common assumptions. Read on for a mix of enlightening, funny and brain-twisting riddles from across the many islands of Micronesia!
1. What has lots of eyes but can’t see?
A potato. As a staple crop in Micronesia, the potato appears often in local riddles and sayings. This riddle refers to the many “eyes” or growth buds present on potato tubers, which allow them to sprout new plants. So while Mr. Potato Head has lots of plastic eyes, a real potato has eyes that unfortunately can’t enable it to see!
2. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Your name. While you own and identify with your name, it’s actually other people who speak it more frequently when referring to or addressing you. Micronesian culture places significance on names and their meanings.
3. What gets broken without being held?
A promise. In the communal Micronesian islands, a person’s word carried great weight. To break a promise without justification was seen as dishonorable.
4. What has a face but no head, a home but no bed, can travel worldwide but stays in a corner?
A stamp. As remote Pacific islands, mail became a vital means of communication and connection with the outside world for Micronesians. Postage stamps reflect different local scenes and themes across the islands.
5. The more you take away, the more I become. What am I?
A hole. This clever riddle plays on the idea that physically removing material creates an empty space. Micronesian oral traditions use riddles like this to teach lessons or test cleverness.
6. What runs all around a backyard yet never moves?
A fence. Enclosing gardens and livestock areas with fences made of wood or vegetation was a common practice across rural Micronesian islands.
7. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock. Clocks were introduced to Micronesia by visiting ships and incorporated into island life. This riddle humorously refers to the clock hands used to tell time.
8. What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Your name. As mentioned before in riddle #2, Micronesians recognized that while someone’s name belongs to them, it’s actually spoken more by other people when being addressed or referenced.
9. I am weightless but you can still see me. Put me in a bucket and I make it lighter. What am I?
A hole. Playing again with the creation of empty space, this riddle refers to how introducing a hole decreases the material that has weight, seemingly making nothing itself have weight.
10. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel. After going for a swim in crystal blue Micronesian waters, this riddle could confuse someone trying to dry off with a towel. The wetter the towel gets, the more dampness it retains as it tries to dry!
11. What can run but not walk?
Water. Abundant rain and natural aquifers provide freshwater to many Micronesian islands. Water’s liquid state allows it to run rapidly, but of course it can’t walk or take steps.
12. What is broken every time it’s spoken?
Silence. With quiet tropical settings and peaceful villages, silence has a soothing presence across Micronesia. Speaking naturally interrupts and ends any silence.
13. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle. Bottles for containing coconut oil, sugarcane liquor and shellfish Limestone materials were carved and polished into bottles by early Micronesians. By noting the long shape without a head, this riddle refers to a bottle’s narrow neck.
14. What building has the most stories?
A library. Libraries preserve narratives, tales, and communal wisdom across generations. This riddle about buildings with many stories gives a wink to all the books filling libraries rather than architectural stories.
15. What has hands but cannot hold anything?
A clock. Clocks keep returning in these riddles! The clock hands tick onwards around the clock face, tracking time but unable to grasp or hold objects themselves.
16. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin. Trade coins circulated across Micronesia when dealing with visitors to the islands. Some featured insignias, faces or patterns, inspiring this riddle.
17. What goes up and down but does not move?
Stairs. Constructed wood and stone steps aid mobility across the rugged Micronesian terrain between villages. The stairs stay firmly in place while traffic goes up and down them.
18. What is seen in the middle of March and April but not in May?
The letter “R”. A playful riddle capitalizing on the months’ spellings. Once the R month March changes to ApRil and then MaY, the consistent R disappears from the middle of the word.
19. What loses its head in the morning and gets it back at night?
A pillow. Pillows adorned Micronesian sleeping mats and beds, lending comfort on tropical nights. A clever play on pillows “losing” and regaining their fluff after a long day of use supporting sleepers’ heads.
20. I like to twirl and leap, scattered by the breeze. Purple gowns I gently drape, on lush green springtime trees. What am I?
Jacaranda flowers. These vivid purple blossoms arrive in Micronesia on gentle trade winds, blanketing areas with vivid spring color. Their tree branches offer dramatic flowering displays.
21. Glittering jewels are not silver or gold – on feathered bodies they glint bright and bold. Always in pairs, what are they?
Eyes. Human eyes may be called windows to the soul, but this riddle metaphorically describes eyes decorating other living creatures – from chickens to lizards to hermit crabs across Micronesia.
22. I freely flow, rushing over stones – liquid lyrics voiced in hollow toned groans. Churning and turning through carved wooden frames, what am I?
Moving water. Rivers, oceans and rainfall have etched their presence across the vivid Micronesian landscapes. This riddle poetically captures water’s journey over islands using descriptive phrases. Flowing water produces recognizable liquid tones.
23. My life takes hours, months or even years to create. Babies cradle me with laughter and dreams. But gone in an instant once thrown to the air, no longer belonging to the living but rather pairs. What am I?
Soap bubbles. Children across cultures love blowing gossamer soap bubbles and watching them drift into the air. They require dedicated time to properly mix, yet delicately pop instantly. Now paired only to memory.
24. I am shinny and small, often grasped by all. Point me toward a bird and their path I recall. On tables I sit assisting memories to brim – what useful item am I?
A pencil. Handy pencils help capture fleeting thoughts and recollections. Their graphite tips point things out, like tracing the flight lines of feathered friends. Pencils sit ready to record ideas before memories dim.
25. I crawl across the spiraling seafloor searching for anemones. Growing slow over centuries until mountains I become, shining white tops that never roam free. What am I?
Coral reefs. Micronesia boasts wondrous coral reef ecosystems that creep onwards while supporting dazzling marine diversity. They form towering underwater calcium carbonate structures near island shores.
26. Green haired children sweetly singing summer’s bright song. In the breeze dancing trails ten feet long. Naked feet blissfully cooled as westerlies blow free, tell me please, what might the children be?
Palm fronds. This peaceful riddle hints at the island’s palm trees and their gentle rustling frond “feet” that welcome cooling winds. Palms provide shady respite protecting beachgoers from intense tropical sunlight.
27. Two by two we march along, often reminiscing our fables and song. Through smiles we share life’s emotional ride – whether tears of sorrow or joy dropping inside. Tell me, who are we?
Eyes. Again highlighting eyes as symbolic windows allowing someone’s personality and emotions to shine through. Pairs of eyes actively take in island wonders and hardships alike through good times and bad.
28. My leafy green hair waves back and forth – I sprout eager to travel south or north. Ruby red topknot perched on high, separating me from cloudless sky. What am I ?
A palm tree. Palm trees maximize island sunlight exposure with broad leafy fronds up top and thirsty tap roots plunging down below sandy soils. Their high clustered fruit often dangles underneath frond cover.
29. Weathered and wise, vibrantly I stand guard – tracing island cycles by years in my heart. I patiently hold ancient secrets from sights long before – quietly through storms I endure ever more. What am I?
An old tree. Trees like the resilient coconut palm have long memories, quietly tracking generations of islanders and weather patterns across their steady broad trunks and tall canopies. Trees offer silent wisdom to those seeking deeper island knowledge.
30. My feathers shine midnight blue amidst moonlit skies – within me two worlds seamlessly merge crossing borders no man defies. I gently come and go like a hope or dream. Across two worlds few wings can tease – what mythical creature am I?
The Pacific Reef Heron – a blue-black feathered wading bird found sporadically across Micronesia near the sea and forest fringes. Adapted to both marine and land environments, its dark silhouette bridges dual island habitats under starlit skies.
31. Perched on wind worn rocks I spy with sharp eye my dinner plate below. Quickly I dive with due diligence and pride, no second chance once swept by the tide’s ebb and flow. Who might watchfully wait on the windswept coastal heights?
The Micronesian kingfisher. These vivid birds sport turquoise and rust hued plumage. They intently scan shoreline perches before aerially ambushing fish and crustaceans from above across splash zones lashed by tides and weather.
Conclusion
Riddles fascinate by cleverly surprise our assumptions and urging us to think sideways. Those from the islands of Micronesia reveal unique cultural and environmental insights within imaginative metaphor. So while solving their puzzles, also envision the landscapes, seascapes and faces from which these riddles arose. Let the images and deeper meanings simmer within your thoughts long afterwards! What originally confounding phrases or symbolism might newly resonate after your rewarding voyage of discovery through these 31 Micronesian riddles?
