Riddles about nature

A blue sheet which covers the whole world.
What is it?
(The sky.)

It looks like peas scattered on a path.
(The sky and the stars.)

White pearls were scattered on a black cloth.
(The sky and the stars.)

At night I come without being fetched.
By day I lost, without being stolen.
What am I?
(A star.)

I have a little sister,
Her name is Pretty Peep,
She wades in the waters
Deep, deep, deep!
She climbs up the mountains
High, high, high;
My poor little sister,
She has but one eye!
(A star.)

Higher than a house,
Higher than a tree,
Higher than a cloud.
What can it be?
(A star.)

We’re very large though we seem small,
We float on high and never fall,
We shine like jewels in the night,
But in the day are hidden from sight.
What are we?
(Stars.)

I saw a restless shepherd travelling
Back and forth on his paths.
He garbs himself in that which goes
In the same and in an opposite direction.
He goes hither and thither among creatures.
(The Sun.)

It never bothers to wake us up,
But in any weather and any season,
We open our eyes, stretch and yawn,
We rise the moment we see it is risen.
(The Sun.)

I am big,
I am in the sky.
I give light.
What am I?
(The Sun.)

Two sisters fair and bright always running, never meet.
(The Sun and the Moon.)

The brother cannot meet the sister. The sister cannot catch up the brother.
(The Moon and the Sun.)

Who am I that shines so bright
With my pretty silver light,
Peeping through your windows grey?
Tell me, little boy, I pray.
(The Moon.)

I with borrowed silver shine,
What you see is none of mine.
First I show you but a quarter,
Like the bow that guards the Tartar;
Then the half, and then the whole,
Ever dancing round the pole;
And true it is, I chiefly owe
My beauty to the shades below.
(The Moon.)

What is it that has always been and yet is only a month old?
(The Moon.)

I was a horn once,
A disk I’m now.
I know things do happen,
But I wonder – how?
(The Moon.)

The dish with kissel stands on a roof of a house.
(The Moon.)

It is very old and still it shines.
Just four weeks old, and never will be five.
(The Moon.)

Two little golden horns are sitting on a cloud,
Floating slowly in the sky, looking very proud.
(A young moon.)

Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more,
On the kitchen floor;
All the horses, all the men,
Couldn’t drive Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more,
Off the kitchen floor.
(Sunshine.)

You see him under the sun, and under the moon and the lamplight. He follows you wherever you go, but never says a word.
(Your shadow.)

You can see it, but you can’t touch it. It may disappear, but has never really left you throughout the day.
What is it?
(Your shadow.)

On a sunny day I have one. And you have one too, and the oak in the field and the fish in the sea also have one.
(А shadow.)

Though I dance at a ball I am nothing at all.
What am I?
(А shadow.)

What falls on the water and never gets wet?
(А shadow.)

Nobody saw it, but everybody heard it.
(The echo.)

Who speaks English, Russian, German and other languages?
(The echo.)

It lives without a body,
Hears without ears,
Speaks without a mouth,
And is born in air.
What is it?
(The echo.)

It is sunny. It is hot.
It is windy. It is cold.
It’s warm today.
Yes, what a lovely day!
It’s cold today.
Yes, what a terrible day!
(The weather.)

Footless and handless it knocks at the door and wants to be let in.
(The wind.)

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mirthless mutters.
(The wind.)

Water frowns at it.
Trees shake their heads at it.
Flowers bow to it.
Clouds run away from it.
(The wind.)

What can pass before the sun without making a shadow?
(The wind.)

What is without hands and without feet, without head or body, but can open a door?
(The wind.)

The one who made him does not know him. He escapes from the one who has seen him. Enveloped in his mother’s womb, he is subject to annihilation, while he has many descendants.
(Wind and lightning.)

I am around long before dawn.
But by lunch I am usually gone.
You can see me summer, fall, and spring.
I like to get on everything.
But when winter winds start to blow;
Burr, then it’s time for me to go!
What am I?
(The dew.)

It lands in the evening, and lies on the earth all night, but in the morning it flies away.
(The dew.)

When rain falls, does it ever get up again?
(In dew time.)
Примечание. Dew – роса; совпадает по звучанию со словом due –должный, надлежащий.

It has no side panels, but flies. It has no eyes, but tears pour.
(A cloud.)

White sheep, white sheep,
On a blue hill,
When the winds stop,
You all stand still.
You walk far away,
When the winds blow,
White sheep, white sheep
Where do you go?
(The clouds.)

A thousand threads,
Ten thousand threads,
They fall into the river
And are never seen again.
(Rain.)

It gently patters on our roof
All through the dark, long night!
It mutters something, and lulls us to sleep,
And asks, “All sleeping? All right!”
(Rain.)

What is it that makes a noise in the fields and in the garden, but cannot get into the house?
(Rain.)

What fall, but never rises?
(Rain)

What is it that can catch me in the garden and make me wet, but cannot reach me when I am at home?
(Rain.)

I am asked to come, I am waited for. But I make them hide when I come.
(Rain.)

The branch of a mountain ash was spanned through the ground.
(A rainbow.)

The first pours water,
The second drinks water,
The third grows.
(A rain, the ground, a herb.)

What is white and falls on the top of the roof?
(Snow.)

In the spring grows old,
In the summer dies,
In the winter comes to life.
(Snow.)

What man cannot live inside the house?
(A snowman.)

When is frosty weather like poesy?
(When there is rime on the hedges.)
Примечание. Игра слов: сходное звучание 1. rime – иней, 2. rhyme – рифма, стихотворение.

The old woman sweeps behind the house, the dust turns before a door.
(A blizzard.)

Riddle me, riddle me, rin-е-go,
Му father gave me some seed to sow.
The seed was black, the ground was white,
If you are а good scholar,
You can guess this by tomorrow night.
(The ground was covered with snow and the boy could not plant the seed.)

I am energy and motion,
I can fly across the ocean,
I can hear and I can speak,
I can see and even seek.
I eat neither bread nor gruel,
I eat energy and fuel,
Better say: I never eat;
I am transformated heat.
(Electricity.)

When I eat, I live; but when I drink, I die.
What am I?
(Fire.)

Give me food and I will live.
Give me water and I will die.
What am I?
(A fire.)

The shape of my form will waver and bend
From the things I’m destroying and the things I will rend.
My color will vary from bright red and blue,
The power I’m using will dictate my hue.
What am I?
(A flame.)

Screaming, soaring,
Seeking sky
Flowers of fire
Flying high
Eastern art
From ancient time
Name me now
And solve this rhyme.
(Fireworks.)

I am the black child of a white father;
A wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven.
I give birth to tears of mourning in pupils that meet me,
And at once on my birth I am dissolved into air.
(Smoke.)

A house full, a hole full, and you cannot gather a bowl full.
(A fog or a smoke.)

What is it that always goes with a railway train,
Is not there when the train stops,
Is no use to the train,
And yet the train cannot go without it?
(Noise.)

What can you see with your eyes shut?
(А dream.)

It flows, but cannot flow out. It runs, but cannot run out.
(A river.)

What runs all day, but never walks;
Often murmurs, never talks;
Has a bed, but never sleeps;
Has a mouth, but never eats?
(A river.)

What has a bed, but never lies in it?
(A river.)

Two brothers look into the water, but cannot meet each other!
(The banks of а river.)

You hear my song
From quite afar.
It’s in the pebbles ringing.
I’m running down
To reach the lake.
I’m gay, I’m fond of singing.
(A streamlet.)

It’s so weak that a little wind can move it. It’s so strong that you can cut it with a knife and leave no track.
(Water.)

What is it that everyone can divide, but no one can see where it is divided?
(Water.)

It is white, it is cold. You can skate on it.
What is it?
(Ice.)

In the spring becomes thin, in the winter becomes thick.
(Ice.)

As I was going o’er London Bridge,
I heard something crack;
Not a man in all England
Can mend that!
(Ice.)

What is it that is not burnt in the fire, and cannot be drowned in the water?
(Ice.)

It is white and blue. It is cold. You see it on the skating-rink. You can skate on it. What is it?
(Ice.)

My step is slow;
The snow’s my breath.
I give the ground
A grinding death.
My marching
Makes an end of me
Slain by sun
Or drowned in sea.
(A glacier.)

I am made of the stuff around me, but lighter than it. More of me is hidden than seen.
What am I?
(An iceberg.)

Why can’t the world ever come to an end?
(Because it’s round.)

What gets larger as more of it is taken away?
(A hole.)

I am the yellow hem of the sea’s blue skirt.
(Sand on a beach.)

The Moon is my father,
The Sea is my mother;
I have a million brothers,
I die when I reach land.
(A wave on the ocean.)

Who changes clothes four times within one year?
(The ground.)

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
(A mountain.)

What has a foot, but has no legs?
(A mountain.)

I am the red tongue of the Earth, that buries cities.
(Lava from a volcano.)

A strange attraction compels me to hold your things most dear, yet I know it not, and feel no warmth in my holding. My brothers and I stick close together until one faces me, and then is pushed away.
What am I?
(A magnet.)

What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
(Charcoal.)

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
(Darkness.)

What is that you will break every time you name it?
(Silence.)

I am all that I am and all that you see,
Yet I’m nothing at all and from you I flee.
Formed of distortion, perceptions awry,
I play the horizon where always I lie.
What am I?
(A mirage.)

What can run all day without getting hot?
(A cold water tap.)