VOLUME 2 - The Sphinx
Chapter 1 - the riddle of the Sphinx
He pursued his journey and at last reached the city of Thebes, his own native city, though he knew it not. There he found great dismay and confusion on all sides.
Aaaahhhh!!! He hears some screaming. The realm was being ravaged by a dread Sphinx, a monster with the head and shoulders of a woman and the body of a lioness, who crouched on a rock, and asked riddles of every traveler who passed. Nobody guessed the right answer, and everybody who failed to do so became the Sphinx's prey.
Oedipus, careless of a life which he had ceased to prize, approached the monster, and expressed willingness to try his fortune.
"What animal is it," asked the Sphinx, "which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening on three?"
The Sphinx laughed. Ahahaha!!! Let see if you could answer my question.
He let out a conceited smile and arrogant face.
"That animal," answered Oedipus promptly, "is a man. As a child he crawls, as a man he walks erect, and in his old age supports himself on a staff."
Ehhh… The Sphinx was surprised.
This was the correct answer; and the Sphinx, furious at having found someone who could guess it, flung herself from the rock and died.
