5
$\begingroup$

A Story about It then, not about I now

At the beginning, It came from the dark green.

At the end, It returned to the deep brown.

It loved the deep brown even before It left the dark green.

But not for the same reasons.

He took It for them, from the dark green.

The foe who took It, had an accomplice.

The accomplice wasn't a foe, but was serving one.

It shouldn't have trusted Her.

Pride is mine, he said!

Thank you, they said.

Loyalty, she would say.

Crime, Slaughter, Slavery... It would say.

And say many more cruel things.

If It could.

" What was I before it took me? "

Riddle me this.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Why is the riddle split into 3 parts? Is the final answer broken into 3 parts? $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Dec 27, 2016 at 10:31
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot Just to make it look more neat I suppose. The answer could be just one word. You can ignore the "empty spaces" between the lines if it confuses you thought I'm not sure why. It's just one poem, a single story about a single "thing". I edited it now to avoid the thoughts of a 3-part puzzle. $\endgroup$
    – Vepir
    Dec 27, 2016 at 10:37

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

I suspect this is wrong -- some things don't match up perfectly -- but some parts may be right, and it may inspire a better answer from someone else. Perhaps this is a description of

a fox hunt. [EDITED to add: OP has indicated in comments that s/he was thinking of a different animal being hunted: a wild boar. Most of this could also apply reasonably well to hunting deer, but in what follows I'll stick with foxes and boars.]

At the beginning, It came from the dark green.

Foxes (in the wild) live in forests. [So do boars.]

At the end, It returned to the deep brown.

Most animals, when dead, end up in the earth. [Boars as well as foxes.]

It loved the deep brown even before It left the dark green.
But not for the same reasons.

Foxes dig burrows under the earth. [Boars don't dig burrows but do get very muddy.]

He took It for them, from the dark green.

He is a human hunter and they are the other humans in the hunt. [Boars, unlike foxes, are hunted for food -- so in this case "they" are the hunter's family or customers.]

The foe who took It, had an accomplice.

I think the accomplice is a foxhound, suggesting that "he" above is human rather than hound. [Or, of course, a boarhound.]

The accomplice wasn't a foe, but was serving one.

Dogs aren't particularly the enemies of foxes, usually.

It shouldn't have trusted Her.

She is the accomplice, the hound. (For reasons I am not unsure of, it didn't occur to me before reading OP's comments that this was a possible assignment. I think I'd initially taken "he" to refer to the hound a few lines earlier, and was confused by that.)

Pride is mine, he said!
Thank you, they said.

Hunters are often proud of their hunting accomplishments. [If "they" are getting nice tasty boar meat, they should indeed be thanking the hunter.]

Loyalty, she would say.

Of the foxhound to its owners. [Or the boarhound.]

Crime, Slaughter, Slavery... It would say.
And say many more cruel things.
If It could.

The fox would disagree. Except that of course foxes can't really talk. [Neither can boars.]

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • $\begingroup$ You are very close but you missed the animal being hunted. I think that "loved deep brown" could be interpreted in a quite few ways, as a few other details, when I read it again now. Should I drop the animal and explain all the lines in the next comment? So you can modify your answer accordingly to close this question? Since you basically got almost everything right and I must admit this is my first riddle after all. $\endgroup$
    – Vepir
    Apr 20, 2017 at 16:32
  • $\begingroup$ If you think your answer fits the clues better than mine does, then you should let me (and other solvers) think some more before giving everything away. If you think mine fits just as well as yours, then you might as well tell us what yours was, and then if need be I can add some comments about that to my answer. (My guess is that your answer does fit better than mine.) $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Apr 20, 2017 at 18:49
  • $\begingroup$ ANSWER >>>>>>>>>>>> The original idea was a Boar. 1) forest animal, 2) it died, 3,4) they dig and play in mud and dirt. 5) A hunter took it from the forest to feed his family, 6) He had a hunting dog 7) Dog is not a foe, not human, but is serving a human, 8) Hunters can send the dogs to bait out the animals, hence the boar trusted the dog who is a she - female dogs are preferred over males in hunting (a fact), 9) Hunters have pride when they can put their fangs on a trophy board, and family is thankfull for dinner. 10) dogs love humans, hence loyalty, 11) boar disagrees, but cant speak $\endgroup$
    – Vepir
    Apr 20, 2017 at 19:15
  • $\begingroup$ Aha, pretty much equal in plausibility with my answer. I'll make some appropriate edits. $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Apr 20, 2017 at 19:30
  • $\begingroup$ Now done. I think the fox does better at "loving the brown", but the boar allows a better explanation of "them" :-). $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Apr 20, 2017 at 19:39
5
$\begingroup$

I think it's

Emu

Though, many parts are tough to explain, here my shot on some parts...

At the beginning, It came from the dark green.

At the end, It returned to the deep brown.

It loved the deep brown even before It left the dark green.

But not for the same reasons.

Emu's eggs are Dark Green.

enter image description here

But the bird is deep brown in color.

enter image description here

He took It for them, from the dark green.

The foe who took It, had an accomplice.

The accomplice wasn't a foe, but was serving one.

It shouldn't have trusted Her.

This may be talking about the bird catchers who hunt them or the ones who find the eggs and then place the birds once grown in a zoo. The bird catcher probably serves the zoological park.

Pride is mine, he said!

Thank you, they said.

Loyalty, she would say.

Crime, Slaughter, Slavery... It would say.

And say many more cruel things.

Not sure about this...

Source- Wikipedia

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ +1 For trying, but it's not it. I can say where you got right or close, so possible hints ahead: It was an animal, but "dark green" and "deep brown" are not related to It directly. You are right about It being hunted down. $\endgroup$
    – Vepir
    Dec 27, 2016 at 11:10
1
$\begingroup$

You were

Seed

At the beginning, It came from the dark green.

Plant/Tree

At the end, It returned to the deep brown.

Soil

It loved the deep brown even before It left the dark green.
But not for the same reasons.

Attracted towards ground (gravity) (too far fetched)

He took It for them, from the dark green.
The foe who took It, had an accomplice.
The accomplice wasn't a foe, but was serving one.

He = Wind. Accomplice = Air

It shouldn't have trusted Her.

Pride is mine, he said!

Proud to be a plant someday.

Thank you, they said.
Loyalty, she would say.

She (the air) will be loyal to the seed because the seed cannot be a plant/tree without air.

Crime, Slaughter, Slavery... It would say.
And say many more cruel things.
If It could.

That plant will be a tree. And it will be cut by greedy humans.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.