Oriented on making people closer

Riddles - an integral part of folklore creativity of nations of the world. This entertainment and simultaneously intellectual game brightened up leisure of our ancestors, and played an important role in development of native speech. Perhaps, it is for this reason that all people have got riddles exclusively original, reflecting different aspects of activity of people, their attitude and understanding of the surrounding.

Investigating Turkmen national riddles, scientists have met difficulties while translating. For example, upon translation of texts into Russian the word-play, rhythm, national colour and many other things were lost. And after all popular wisdom was minted by centuries and depth of the contents of riddles is similar to a genetic code.

A key component of each riddle is a metaphor, the allegoric description of the subject or the phenomenon which is required to be guessed. In different foreign languages a concept and association have values, and they are interesting for these namely. The riddle is not only game, but also an exercise on development of native speech, training of logic thinking and a prominent aspect in formation of mentality of an individual. Therefore, even in education of children national riddles are of great importance.

Here is one of the Turkmen national riddles: «Gulagy eşegiňki ýaly, aýagy itiňki yaly, özi hem geçi yaly boker» («Ears are similar to those of donkey, legs are like that of a dog, jumps like a goat»), have you guessed who it is? Correct, it is a hare. In Russian national folklore there is an analogue of the given riddle, pay attention, how the stylistics and an image of speech changes: «it is small and white, on the snow jumps pryg-pryg, on the small wood makes tick-tock».

Or: «Tomusda ýaldyrar - gyşda poslar» («it shines in summer – rusts in winter»), probably anyone has guessed that it is a sickle. In summer work in the fields is in full swing, for this resaosn the sickle shines, and in winter «orak» (sickle), “rests", lies without business because of what it rusts.

«Özi patyşa, kyrk aýaly bolsa-da, goňşylaryňka gidyar» («It is a king itself, has got forty wives and walks on streets and visits strangers»), truly, it is a cock. One more riddle in which because of presence a word-play in it, it is necessary to be attentive: «Sary aganyň sakgaly uzyn» («Uncle Sary has got a long beard»). In Turkmenistan yellow carrots grows («sary» in translation from the Turkmen language - yellow colour) carrots. Drawing an analogy with the name of uncle Sary, in the riddle the sense also changes. Here the metaphor is developed, through a man with a beard where the beard is external stalks of a vegetable-root crop.

«Okap bilmeýär, hat ýazýar» («it cannot read, but writes»). The right answer for this riddle is a snail. Till 1917 in Turkmenistan the Arabic writing was used, therefore a trace left from a snail reminded thin Arabic ligature. Thus, plain children's riddles are capable to expand a stock of knowledge and representations about world around and that environment in which there the people of any nationality live.

And now try to solve strange riddles of different nations of the world, only remember mentality, and that each people have got their own history.

1. An Armenian riddle: «I have got something: it has got three mouths, - a man person gets into its big mouth».
2. A Uzbek riddle: «Jigger -dwarf from the roof rakes up rubbish».
3. A Japanese riddle: «the radish which has got drunk with sake».
4. A Chinese riddle: «From south, a flock of wild geese heads here and all plop in water».

Answers: 1. Trousers. 2. Razor 3. Carrots. 4. Pelmeni (Traditional Chinese pelmeni, bent in the shape of moon and dough white and yellowish. Therefore outwardly they remind geese).

Selbi Charyeva