The Devil's Nine Questions



If you don't answer my questions nine

Sing ninety-nine and ninety,

I'll take you off to hell alive, And you are the weaver's bonny.

What is whiter than milk?

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

What is softer than silk?

Say you're the weaver's bonny."



Snow is whiter than milk,

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

Down is softer than silk,

And I'm the weaver's bonny."

What is louder than a horn?

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

What is sharper than a thorn?

Sing I am the weaver's bonny.

Thunder's louder than a horn,

Sing ninety-nine and ninety ;

Death is sharper than a thorn,

Sing I'm the weaver's bonny.



What is higher than a tree?

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

What is deeper than the sea?

Sing I'm the weaver's bonny.



Heaven's higher than a tree,

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

And hell is deeper than the sea,

Sing I'm the weaver's bonny.

What is innocenter than a lamb?

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

What is worse than woman kind?

Say I'm the weaver's bonny.



A babe is innocenter than a lamb,

Sing ninety-nine and ninety ;

The devil's worse than woman kind,

Sing I'm the weaver's bonny."



You have answered me questions nine,

Sing ninety-nine and ninety;

You are God's, you're not my own,

And you're the weaver's bonny."

From Bronson, Singing Traditions of Child's Popular Ballads

Collected Mrs. Rill Martin, Virginia, 1922

Child #1

See also BONBROMQ

@devil @questions @riddle

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