11.02.2004

An Old English riddle (#8), from the Exeter Book, trans. by Kevin Crossley-Holland (Penguin Bks, 1978):

I've one mouth but many voices;
I dissemble and often change my tune,
I declaim my deathless melodies,
I don't desist from my refrain.
Aged evening-songster, I entertain
men in their homes by rehearsing
my whole repertoire; they sit, bowed down,
quiet in their houses. Guess my name,
I who mimic the jester's japes
as loudly as I can, and rejoice men
with choicest songs in various voices.

I'll give you three guesses.

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