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Chistons (poetic riddles)
Textbook: p. 228
GoalRead Uvaysiy’s three chistons and find their answers.
New words
chiston, poetic riddle · chistonanswer · javobhint, sign · ishoracurtain, veil, membrane · parda
Explanation
The textbook gives three chistons by Uvaysiy. The first has a dome with neither door nor window, inside which girls in red live, and one can learn their state only by breaking the dome; the answer is the pomegranate. The second speaks of something that wears green in summer at the tip of a branch and stays bare in winter; the answer is the walnut. The third portrays two beloveds who never saw each other, and not even a hair fits between them; the answer is day and night.
Worked examples
Example: the “dome” is the pomegranate’s rind, the “girls in red” are the seeds, the “curtain” the inner membranes.
Example: when day comes night leaves – they never meet, hence the “two beloveds”.
Class activity
Compose a 2-line chiston of your own hinting at the traits of some fruit.
Practice
1
What is the answer to the first chiston?
The pomegranate.
2
What is the second chiston about?
About the walnut.
3
Who are the two beloveds in the third chiston?
Day and night.
4
What do “girls dressed in red” stand for in the pomegranate chiston?
The pomegranate’s red seeds.