Four Legs in the Morning: The Story of the Sphinx

Author's Note: This is a story I wrote in sixth grade (earlier than my other written-in-sixth-grade-story, Scream). Please enjoy.

They call me monster. They see me as a weird and unnatural mixture of man and beast. They assume that I am vicious and vile, evil through and through, because I am not like them, because I am part-lion, part-falcon.

What they do not see is that I am also part-human.

Humans are intelligent, yes; humans are clever, able to make tools and build cities; but humans are proud, vain. They are disdainful of those who are not like them. They think they have superior knowledge over every other kind of creature that even has a mind. But humans are not dominant, as they like to think.

There are men who set out to kill so-called monsters, to win the honor and fame and glory. They think they are ridding the world of evil beasts who "attack" humans and "defy the gods." These men are blinded by their own stupidity.

In the city of Thebes, the city who's walls I take my residence by, they speak of "The Sphinx," a monster who has the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. The Sphinx is vicious, asking innocent travelers on the road to Thebes impossible riddles, and devouring those who cannot answer correctly.

I am not "The Sphinx." That is what the humans have made me, but that is not me.

The riddle is to see if they know their own kind. I ask them, "What beast is it that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at mid-day, and three legs in the evening?" The human travelers always assume it is a strange monster, because humans are "above such lowness to be called a 'beast'," and that they "stand above all beasts, on two legs always." That is a lie.

One hot summer day, yet another traveler came to Thebes. He was a tall youth, with raven-black hair and soft brown eyes, carrying a walking stick. I hid behind the rocks, showing only my human head.

The youth called out, "Fair maiden, are you a captive of the Sphinx, the monster?"

I replied, "In a way, I am."

"Shall I save you from the beast?"

I thought for a moment, then said, "You can't. No human can kill the beast."

"Why is that?"

I flew up on my falcon wings and landed on a rock near the man. "It is the humans that have created what they think is the beast, and they will not admit that they are wrong. Yes, I am what you call 'The Sphinx.' Kill me, if you like. You still cannot destroy the beast."

"It would be a bad thing to destroy such beauty," he marveled, stretching out an arm to touch my wing.

I backed up and laughed lightly. "Okay, traveler. Will you try to answer my riddle? Or have you heard so many lies that you're afraid to?"

"I'll try," the young man said, stepping forward.

"What beast is it that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at mid-day, and three legs in the evening?"

The traveler thought. I could tell he was thinking intensely, trying to make sense of what I could possibly have meant. I did not rush him. I liked this traveler, he seemed to think in ways that others had not. Suddenly his face lit up, and I knew he had found the correct answer.

"It's Man!" he cried triumphantly. "The answer is Man! A human being walks on all fours as a baby, on two as an adult, and when he is old he leans on a cane for support, making three legs!"

I smiled. "Good job, traveler. You have answered my riddle correctly. Go on and save the people of Thebes from the Sphinx and from themselves."

With a lighthearted laugh, I took to the air and flew away.