The native Hawaiians were quite fond of riddles (with riddles similar to the riddle contest in The Hobbit). Here’s an example:
Kuu ana ula, ku lalani na koa kapa keokeo.
In my red cave stand in rows white-clad soldiers.
Here is the answer:
Teeth.
Got it? Get the idea?
Now try this one:
Kuu mau koi, nana e kalai na waa liilii ha waa kia loa.
My hatchets carve out little canoes and long-masted canoes.
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Bare feet, large and small, going over a trail.
(Note that a bare footprint looks a bit like a hatchet.)
Found in “Hawaiian Riddling”, by Martha W. Beckwith, American Anthropologist, Vol. 24, p. 314 (1922).
I like this, I’ll add it to my list of cultural remnants like:
Swing set
swing set
up and down it goes
here comes the woolly wind blowing through me toes
(I think it’s ‘woolly’?)