11 replies to this topic

[Shakeepuddn]

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found,
I shake hands with statesmen and kings.
I open and close with a singular sound,
But silent when my noble voice rings.

A present was I from an Indian beast
To serve in the highest of halls,
In other homes I reside with a book by my side,
Many pounds can be lost when I fall.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known,
And for their fate I am ever at hand.
Oft on my block I do dance up and down,
But only as one will command.

[Shw]

Its tough!!!

Spoiler for My first guess...

Is it a gold coin or a diamond?

But that has nothing to do with sound on open and close or by the books....

still thinking..........

[Shakeepuddn]

Correction:
Line four in first stanza should read:

But "silence" when my noble voice rings.

[Lost in space]

Spoiler for ....................

no-Belle voice

[StuGiBoy]

It's not

Spoiler for this

a Gavel

by any chance is it?

[Grayven]

Spoiler for The answer!

ME-RYN+L

[Raoul]

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found,
I shake hands with statesmen and kings.
I open and close with a singular sound,
But silent when my noble voice rings.

A present was I from an Indian beast
To serve in the highest of halls,
In other homes I reside with a book by my side,
Many pounds can be lost when I fall.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known,
And for their fate I am ever at hand.
Oft on my block I do dance up and down,
But only as one will command.

I'm not sure but I get the feeling it is one of these two :

Spoiler for Very tough riddle. Possibly the solution

A sword, or an axe

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found --> No idea
I shake hands with statesmen and kings --> Kings and statesmen use swords as weapons
I open and close with a singular sound --> drawing the sword from the scabbard, and putting it back in
But "silence" when my noble voice rings --> swords are "noble" weapons, and when a sword is swinging, it tends to silence people.

A present was I from an Indian beast --> ?
To serve in the highest of halls --> ?
In other homes I reside with a book by my side --> ?
Many pounds can be lost when I fall --> swords are heavy.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known --> Swords are hard, and the blade is usually double edged. Guards use swords, but this line made me think it was an axe
And for their fate I am ever at hand --> Fits the axe more than the sword
Oft on my block I do dance up and down --> The block and the executioners axe
But only as one will command --> The executioner

<_< thats all i could think of...

Edited by Raoul, 15 January 2009 - 12:53 PM.

[Shakeepuddn]

It's not

Spoiler for this

a Gavel

by any chance is it?

Bam! That was fast.

Spoiler for Answer and explication

Gavel

Benches (judge)
Chairs (Chairmen)
Open and close court sessions and meetings.
Silence demanded when used during court.

The U.S. Senate uses an ivory gavel (tusk from a "beast") presented from Inida as a gift a few decades back.

In other places near a bible for oaths,

and many pounds ($) are spent at auctions, where it is also used to close bidding (also a double entendre with the "pound")

Always used with a "sounding block."

Darn . . . I thought that one would last a bit longer. Good job Stugi.

[Mentalsylum]

Spoiler for thought i had it

but i was wrong

Spoiler for answer

a safe (that was actually pretty easy)

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found,
I shake hands with statesmen and kings.
I open and close with a singular sound,
But silent when my noble voice rings.

A present was I from an Indian beast
To serve in the highest of halls,
In other homes I reside with a book by my side,
Many pounds can be lost when I fall.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known,
And for their fate I am ever at hand.
Oft on my block I do dance up and down,
But only as one will command.

Edited by Mentalsylum, 15 January 2009 - 05:02 PM.

[Rewq455]

"A present was I from an Indian beast"

Spoiler for A present was I from an Indian beast

The idea of a blade came from an animals claws. Could that be what that line means?

Edited by Rewq455, 16 January 2009 - 02:44 PM.