THE kind of composition which the Greeks call “enigmas,” some of our early writers called scirpi, or “rushes.” 1 An example is the enigma composed of three iambic trimeters which I recently found— very old, by Jove! and very neat. I have left it unanswered, in order to excite the ingenuity of my readers in seeking for an answer. The three verses are these:
I know not if he's minus once or twice,He who does not wish to puzzle himself too long will find the answer 2 in the second book of Varro's Latin Language, addressed to Marcellus. 3 [p. 385]
Or both of these, who would not give his place,
As I once heard it said, to Jove himself.