Question answered by absurd counterquestion — Mythoi

Motif

Question answered by absurd counterquestion.

The wise and the foolish. · Cleverness. · Clever verbal retorts (repartee). · Reductio ad absurdum of question or proposal. · view the constellation · filed as J1291

Within the index

Filed under Reductio ad absurdum of question or proposal.

4 finer motifs beneath it

Black beans, white soup. Question: How can black beans make a white soup? Answer: How can a white whip on the naked flesh make black welts Theological questions answered by propounding simple questions in science. Where was God before he made heaven and earth? and the like answered by "Why a louse bite raises a blister, a flee bite raises a swelling, and a gnat bite is unnoticeable?" If you cannot answer such simple questions how can you pry into God's secrets How many priests should one have in one place? How many fox tails will reach to heaven? All depends on the length of the tails "In this sesame flower where is the oil?" "When your mother conceived where were you?"

Filed beside it

Tide inquires whether moon is up. Minnow seeing absurdity of question (since tide could not be up without the moon) tells the tide to wait till he gets a drink and he will tell Reductio ad absurdum of proposal

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