Thread: Persistence and Apples - A riddle.

grab a couple apples that i can reach and throw them at this "divine" apple until i hit it and knock it free. -- now say i get a taste of the apple and it leaps away and goes further up the tree. this is where i set fire to the tree and listen to that son of a bitch apple scream as he burns alive for tormenting me so! and if anything at all, i now have a perfectly good roasted apple... yeah, im destructive... so what? i could also chop the tree down if i so pleased. but that's a lot more work than lighting a little fire now isn't it. -- even if the apple told me that he was rotten on the inside, i wouldn't believe him. that's exactly what i'd say to avoid being eaten.

you may not think i'm serious... but i am. if something in my gut told me that great things would happen if i ate that apple, i would do most anything in my power to get it. i might not go to the length of burning a tree down, but i would defiantly find a tool of some sort to get the apple down.

The apple is probably lying and I would be suspicious, what makes it so special that I need to it. The ability of speech? I would probably even tell it it was lying and see the answer. I would even try to trick it into falling by being annoying, asking questions, using psychology and keep talking to it. It might give interesting answers that would help me to get it.

If it really is as wonderful and that time my curiosity was getting the better of me, I would fetch a long, thick stick and try to knock it down.

If someone came along, I would ask them to help me, but not let them on to the apple's secret until I was sure of its ability.

i would try to climb the tree...im afraid of heights, but i dont think that would stop me...if for some reason i was unable to get to it by that means, i would try to chop the tree down, or burn it if that deosnt work...i would continue trying such things until i either get the apple or there is no more apple or i am dead...i would ignore anything the apple says, and continue in my attempts to attain the apple. Getting a taste of the apple would frustrate me greatly, and i'd try all the harder to get it or destroy it

roflmao...i answered this question first, then read the other posts afterward, only to read adidas' similar post lol...

on a side note theres a similar riddle i know, read the riddle, then respond with your answer before reading what anybody else wrote, or else it wont work:

ok...you've got to visualize this: you're walking down a path in the forest...now once you have a picture of this in your mind, the first question: what deos your path look like? also what kind of forest is it?
now...continueing on...you're walking down the path, and you come across a cup on the side of the path...visualizing it yet? now, second question: what deos the cup look like? what kind of cup is it? what did you do to the cup in your mind when you came across it? ...continueing on: so you continue walking down the path, and eventually you come across a wall...its high enough that you cant see the top, and long enough on both sides that you cant see and end in either direction, now, third qeustion: what do you do when you come up to the wall? where do you go? what are you going to do?

...post a response to all these questions before reading anybody else's responses or it'll ruin it...ill explain what it means later

I would leave it. Like the apple said, "I'm not the one for you". Some things in life are to good to be true and something that great is not for me. I would be content eating all the other apples instead of wasting my time trying to have something I can't.

btw LS...this is a good study of character...its always good to know more about the person behind the name

--tho you do have to remember that the apple can represent different things to each of us...

ok...you've got to visualize this: you're walking down a path in the forest...now once you have a picture of this in your mind, the first question: what deos your path look like? also what kind of forest is it?
now...continueing on...you're walking down the path, and you come across a cup on the side of the path...visualizing it yet? now, second question: what deos the cup look like? what kind of cup is it? what did you do to the cup in your mind when you came across it? ...continueing on: so you continue walking down the path, and eventually you come across a wall...its high enough that you cant see the top, and long enough on both sides that you cant see and end in either direction, now, third qeustion: what do you do when you come up to the wall? where do you go? what are you going to do? *

...post a response to all these questions before reading anybody else's responses or it'll ruin it...ill explain what it means later[/b]

This is fun btw.

My path has forest on both sides of it. The road is reddish brown cobblestone and there are a few flowers, but mostly high grass. The forest is mostly high, round leaf trees and apples trees.
The cup sits on a tree stump on the right side of the road. I see the cup is a pink, round tea cup making the water seem bluer. It is half full and I leave it alone, but wonder where the owner is.
As for the wall, when I see it I'll stare at it for awhile and wonder who owns the wall. I think whoever owns the cup owns the wall. I will probably try to find a way around it, but go around the direction I came. I don't really care about what's on the other side, but I hope to see who ever owns it.

hmm...ill get around to posting what everything means in a bit...but i suppose i should post what i saw etc. when i first did that one...

my road was rough and dirt hewn, but clear-cut...i didnt pay much attention to the forest, but it was a well lit, clean kinda forest...not too lush, but not sparse or deadening either...when i came across the cup it was one of those cheap plastic disposable kind...red...i kicked it aside...when i came to the wall in the road, i immediately began walking along side it, looking for a way around or through it...

anyway, each aspect of the story is representative of something in your character, and how you respond shows many things about your character, although not always 100% accurate...anyway like i said, ill post what everything is representative of, and then what it means for each person that has responded later, after at least a few more have responded

oh, i got another one...this one requires drawing so the interpretation thereof will be on your part...first get a piece of paper and a pencil/pen...now draw a circle, a square, a triangle, and an 'S', repeating one of them 3 times...do not read what this means until you've drawn this, or if you do not intend to draw this























ok...the cicle represents love, the square represents knowledge, the triangle represents money, and the S represents sex...whichever you chose to put 3 of is something that there either is alot of in your life, or something you wish/desire there to be alot of in your life...whichever of these objects is largest is what is most important to you, and whichever is centermost is something you focus on alot...theres more to the interpretation that just this, however, but its alot more unique depending on how exactly you drew it...for example if you draw the S and the circle seperated and far apart, then perhaps you view these as seperate things, and maybe you often have sex without love? things like that...tho this one isnt quite as concrete of a phychological study as the others...

An apple that moves and talks would be a cool thing to see. I would find a way to climb up that tree somehow, but when the apple spoke to me that would be the last straw. I would probably not try and eat the apple. It wouldn't be right to eat something that can argue a case for itself.

The apple itself is alive, intelligent and has the right to stay where it wants. To end my hunger would be ok but i'm not willing to take an innocent life to further my own ends. There will always be more food but the apple is special and hasn't done anything to me so i see no reason to eat it. I would continue along my path and bid the apple a good life for himself.

Ps. All you people who want to eat the apple, what would you do when you were eating it and it was screaming?

Ahh! Oh god! The pain! You Bastard! Help! Help! Aaahhgg! *Gurgle*

Imagine a panic stricken apple saying THOSE things while you munch away.

mmmm...yes, thats right, scream for me! ...lol j/k

uhhh... Aphius, its a metaphor, the apple represents something you want, not a talking apple.



--------Still cant get "THATS ALOTA NUTS!" out of his head------------

Actually, Aphius has an interesting point as well. There are no right answers to this riddle of mine. I'm only curious as to what others would do in such a situation. I will add, though, that the apple probably wouldn't scream in pain if only it would allow itself to drop to you. In fact, eating the apple should cause it no pain at all. It is there for you, and you for it. Eating the apple would only benefit the both of you. But, like I said, the apple doesn't want to be eaten for some reason, at least... by you... and it tries to trick you with questions. Never answers, only questions.

By the way, WerBurN, that was an interesting excersise. Apparently, with my drawing, I ended up with love (the circle) as the largest/most important, sex inside the circle (that's what I drew three times ), and knowledge also inside the circle. The triangle was on the inside of all of that and it was the smallest, so it would appear that money doesn't mean a whole lot to me. That wasn't a surprise, given the conversation that Lucius and I had today about how terrible it is that money rules the world.

Anyway, I hope my riddle gets more discussion. I'm becoming a little obsessed with it and I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. I understand and expect that the apple means something different for each of us. That's the point, actually. The apple represents, metaphorically, something you want more than life itself; something that you know will somehow help you find completion in this life. How far would you go to get it, if you know without a doubt that it should be yours? And, knowing that the apple did not wish to be eaten by you (and knowing that it would fall from the tree for someone else and you would lose it forever), then how far would you go?

Adidas, Will.i.am, and Phantasy: I want to go a little more in depth into your answers after a few more people have posted theirs. All three of you got me thinking.

Originally posted by Serinanth
uhhh... Aphius, its a metaphor, the apple represents something you want, not a talking apple.

And?

The example said talking apple so i wrote how i would react to a talking apple. Anyway i thought that these responses were more of a character thing. Thats how i would react to the same sort of situation in life, so why not use it here?

The screaming apple thing was more of a joke.

In fact, eating the apple should cause it no pain at all. It is there for you, and you for it. Eating the apple would only benefit the both of you.[/b]

Why? just because its there for you? That shouldn't make it a symbiotic thing though should it?

Answer 1:
If I truly knew that it was THE apple then I wouldn't give up. If I couldn't reach it and it didn't fall down I would get a ladder and climb up to get it. (I would never chop down the tree or burn it because it sounded like the tree wasn't mine) Now, if it said it wasn't the one for me then if I believed that (it might just be trying to trick me) then I would do just that. I don't think I could enjoy the apple if it didn't want to.

Answer 2:
My path is a natural forest path with old trees on both sides. Some sparse grass here and there but otherwise the ground is mostly...ehm, whatever it's called in english (it's green and soft). The cup is just standing there on the ground on the right side of the path. It's a white tea-cup, empty. I don't do anything with it, just leave it. When I come to the wall I look up and to both sides, then turn back the way I came because my goal isn't to get wherever I was going but to simply walk (the journey is the goal in itself).

ok...you've got to visualize this: you're walking down a path in the forest...now once you have a picture of this in your mind, the first question: what deos your path look like? also what kind of forest is it?[/b]

the path is a light coloured dirt path, pretty narrow. forest on both sides. the forest is kinda dark. very thick. dead brush all in it. the trees look black, and in between them it looks kinda like a deep puprle.

now...continueing on...you're walking down the path, and you come across a cup on the side of the path...visualizing it yet? now, second question: what deos the cup look like? what kind of cup is it? what did you do to the cup in your mind when you came across it? [/b]

a tea cup. a white one. I did nothing to it, just looked at it. it's empty.

...continueing on: so you continue walking down the path, and eventually you come across a wall...its high enough that you cant see the top, and long enough on both sides that you cant see and end in either direction, now, third qeustion: what do you do when you come up to the wall? where do you go? what are you going to do?
[/b]

well it's a huge black wall. I feel completely stuck. trapped. afraid. I guess theres nothing to do but turn back...which leaves me feeling empty.


as for the apple riddle. I'm still thinking.


The apple falls far from the tree
she's rotten and so beautiful
I'd like to keep her here with me
and tell her that she's beautiful
She takes the pills to fall asleep
and dreams that she's invisible
Tormented dreams she stays awake
recalls when she was capable...

hm. I was reading other peoples responses and stalker and I saw the same exact kind of cup, and we both did nothing. what does it all mean WerBurN?!

Some people spend their whole lives chasing something they can't have. Sure it would be nice to eat the apple and not have to eat ever again but I think by eating it, I wouldn't be who I am. I would change into something different. The need for hunger is part of who I am and so are the choices I make. Its not like me to stay and fight a losing battle.

Originally posted by WerBurN

ok...you've got to visualize this: you're walking down a path in the forest...now once you have a picture of this in your mind, the first question: what deos your path look like? also what kind of forest is it?
now...continueing on...you're walking down the path, and you come across a cup on the side of the path...visualizing it yet? now, second question: what deos the cup look like? what kind of cup is it? what did you do to the cup in your mind when you came across it? ...continueing on: so you continue walking down the path, and eventually you come across a wall...its high enough that you cant see the top, and long enough on both sides that you cant see and end in either direction, now, third qeustion: what do you do when you come up to the wall? where do you go? what are you going to do? *

pine tree forest. lots of big trees, not much under brush. the path isn't really a path at all. if anything its a vague line where deer or some sort of wild life cross. (if that) it's layers and layers of pine needles with soft soil underneath and a rock protruding every once in a while. -- the cup is a blue coffee mug. i look in it as i pass by it, but i keep walking. because, hey, it's just a coffee cup, nothing else. -- the wall thing is weird, because it depends on what i am doing... if i had the right tools i would go through the wall, and maybe repair it if i didn't plan on using that path again. if i didn't have the tools then there isn't much i could do with it other than follow the wall waiting for a break.

WerBurN! I gotta know what it means! *falls out of chair*

interesting...well the way you view the path is how you view your future...my own path is clearcut, but dusty..there were no rocks etc. so that means i know where i am going and do not foresee troubles ahead, though it wont be easy necessarily...this is pretty much what everyone said more or less, except Paperdoll and Adidas...Paperdoll's path was narrow, had rocks...the rocks are troubles etc. that you think your future will hold, the narrowness of the path could possibly mean a couple things to you, im sure you can deduce...Adidas, your path wasnt really a path at all...you see your life/future as an open range more or less, and lack direction (though in a good way)...the forest represents your perception of life, and your life history...Paperdoll's forest was dark spooky scary and thorny...are you depressed often? maybe had many hardships? ...the lightness of your forest is how happy you have been or how bleak or dark your life has been...the cup is representative of your character or personality...although i have also heard that this is supposed to represent your sexlife...meh, you can make your own interpretation...if your cup was say a golden chalice, then you think highly of yourself, maybe arrogant...a normal plain cup means you believe yourself (as in your character) to be fairly normal...not really good or bad...what you do with the cup is supposed to be representative of how you feel about who you are...if you think its your sex life...well that fairly self-explanatory...the wall is representative of a problem in your life...what you do about the wall is how you overcome problems, or how you feel about them...theres an elongated version of this, if you care to add a couple things to your visualizations... at some point in the path you come across a key....visualizing? what deos it look like? what do you do with it? do you care about it at all? ...then at another point in the road you see a house alongside...what deos it look like? are there people inside? do you want to go in it or get away from it?

...the key is representative of knowledge, and how you view it...what you do with the key, for ex: put it in your pocket, is what you would have to do with knowledge...the house is representative of your home life...if its a quaint and warm cottage, then you have a good home life, if there are people inside, then maybe you wish there to be people that would live with you, or perhaps they already do, and you're happy about it...if its empty it means you like your independence from others, if its a rundown evil looking shack, perhaps your homelife sucks? etc...

I would probably have a long, golden key and try to find the key hole. I would leave it in my hand, ready to stick into anything that looks like a keyhole.

The house is a small cottage with large windows. The inside is brightly light with candles and lamps. There are people inside talking and laughing. I would want to go in and join the fun.

im love this thread...so much is told of each of you guys by answerin each of these riddles...although you have to take the answer with a grain of salt...unique factors can skew answers...

I took this test on Emode I think.

none of the choices on the test worked for me I saw something different.

My woods was decidious, fall, the change in full bloom, sunny not a cloud in the sky the forest alive with sound the path well defined from years of use but merely two ruts in high grass. The cup a pewter goblet i pick it up because I find it odd that it be in the forest, but I put it back, its not mine.
The wall is old smooth field stone, smooth from the years, but the wall was built well, I climb it to see whats on the other side and then and walk along the top of it.

I don't think my path and forest tell anything about how I see the future and my life. I just like forests and the one I was visualising was one at home.