Page 20 (1/2)

14

HE STOPPED JUST OUTSIDE the bookstore and flipped open the riddle book again, this tie one, where there was a short uncredited introduction

"Riddles are perhaps the oldest of all the gaoddesses of Greek myth teased each other with riddles, and they were e tools in ancient Roood riddles One of the most famous of these was told by Samson on the day he was married to Delilah:

&039;Out of the eater ca came forth sweetness!&039;

"He asked this riddle of several young , confident that they wouldn&039;t be able to guess the answer The young ot Delilah aside and she whispered the answer to the- in the old days, you see, riddles were taken much more seriously than they are today!

"By the way, the answer to Samson&039;s riddle - and all the other rid-dles in this book - can be found in the section at the back We only ask that you give each puzzler a fair chance before you peek!"

Jake turned to the back of the book, soot there Beyond the page ments and the back cover The section had been ripped out

He stood there for aThen, on an impulse that didn&039;t really feel like an impulse at all, Jake walked back inside The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind

Calvin Tower looked up froe your mind about that cup of coffee, O Hyperborean Wanderer?"

"No I wanted to ask you if you know the answer to a riddle"

"Fire away," Tower invited, and uy in the Bible? It goes like this - "

" &039;Out of the eater ca around again to look at Jake, " &039;and out of the strong came forth sweetness&039; That the one?"

"Yeah, it is," Jake said "How&039;d you know - "

"Oh, I&039;ve been around the block a ti in a full, ot in attack,

And Samson climbed up on the lion&039;s back

Well, you&039;ve read about lion killin men with their paws,

But Samson put his hands round the lion&039;s jaws!

He rode that lion &039;til the beast fell dead,

And the bees made honey in the lion&039;s head&039;"

Aaron winked and then laughed at Jake&039;s surprised expression "That answer your question, friend?"

Jake&039;s eyes ide "Wow! Good song! Where&039;d you hear it?"

"Oh, Aaron knows the around Bleecker Street back before Bob Dylan kne to blow more than open G on his Hohner At least, if you believe him"

"It&039;s an old spiritual," Aaron said to Jake, and then to Tower: "By the way, you&039;re in check, fatso"

"Not for long," Tower said He ed it Towerunder his breath To Jake it sounded suspiciously like fuckwad

"So the answer is a lion," Jake said

Aaron shook his head "Only half the answer Samson&039;s Riddle is a double, my friend The other half of the answer is honey Get it?"

"Yes, I think so"

"Okay, now try this one" Aaron closed his eyes for a moment and then recited,

"What can run but never walks,

Has a mouth but never talks,

Has a bed but never sleeps,

Has a head but never weeps?"

"Sht it over, then shook his head He could have worried it longer - he found this business of riddles both fascinating and char on from here, that he had other business on Second Avenue this ive up"

"No, you don&039;t," Aaron said "That&039;s what you do with modern rid-dles But a real riddle isn&039;t just a joke, kiddo - it&039;s a puzzle Turn it over in your head If you still can&039;t get it, make it an excuse to come back another day If you need another excuse, fatso here does ood cup of joe"

"Okay," Jake said "Thanks I will"

But as he left, a certainty stole over him: he would never enter The Manhattan Restaurant of the Mind again

15

JAKE WALKED SLOWLY DOWN Second Avenue, holding his new purchases in his left hand At first he tried to think about the riddle - what did have a bed but never slept? - but little by little the question was driven fro sense of anticipation His senses seemed more acute than ever before in his life; he saw billions of coruscating sparks in the pavement, smelled a thousand mixed aromas in every breath he took, and seemed to hear other sounds, secret sounds, within each of the sounds he heard He wondered if this was the way dogs felt before thunderstorms or earthquakes, and felt al event was not bad but good, that it would balance out the terrible thing which had happened to hirow

And now, as he drew close to the place where the course would be set, that knowing-in-advance fell upon hi to ask e Mr, Tower gave me And there&039;s a record store The door&039;s open to let in the fresh air and I&039;ll hear a Stones song playing when I pass And I&039; to see my own reflection in a bunch of ht Taxis honked and wove their way a sunshine twin-kled off their windshields and bright yellow hides While he aiting for a light to change, Jake saw the bu against the brick wall of a small restaurant, and as Jake approached him, he saw that the name of the restaurant was Che Maht And that&039;s the truth

"Godda-quarder?" the bue fro around Now he could hear the Rolling Stones, right on schedule:

"I see a red door and I want to paint it black,

No colours anymore, I want them to turn black "

As he passed, he saw - also without surprise - that the name of the store was Tower of Power Records

Toere selling cheap today, it see past in a kind of dreahth he passed a store called Reflections of You He turned his head and caught sight of a dozen Jakes in the mirrors, as he had known he would - a dozen boys ere se, a do/en boys dressed in neat school clothes: blue blazers, white shirts, dark red ties, gray dress pants Piper School didn&039;t have an official uniforet

Piper seeo and far away now

Suddenly Jake realized where he was going This knowledge rose in hisIt&039;s a delicatessen, he thought That&039;s what it looks like, anyway It&039;s really so else - a doorway to another world The world His world The right world