Phone Line and Ten Black Birds on the Phone Line by Simon Carmel (1981a/b – located in a VHS
videotape entitled American Folklore in the Deaf Community), A Riddle by Brian Rasmus (1988 –
produced by DawnSignPress) and Run by David Burke (2004 – located in a DVD entitled Story Swap:
Deaf Tales by the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf). I will now look at the first and third of these
riddles.
It appears that Carmel’s renditions of Birds Hopping on the Phone Line and Ten Black Birds on
the Phone Line are the earliest published recordings of original riddles in ASL (1981). These riddles
are an excellent example of using a short question-and-answer form. Birds Hopping on the Phone Line
was more relevant during the 1970s when deaf people relied on large, heavy teletypewriters or TTYs
that required quite a bit of muscle when striking the keys. Older deaf people can easily relate to the
riddle as it is part of their history. An English translation and a video of Carmel's Birds Hopping on the
Phone Line are as follow:
English Translation: Birds Hopping on the Phone Line
(translated by Andrew Byrne)
While driving a car in the countryside on a beautiful day, a man sees pretty birds perching on a
phone line. Soon afterward, he spots another group of beautiful birds perched on the phone line
on the other side of the road. Further down the road, he notices several birds hopping on the
phone line. He wonders why they are hopping. If you know the answer, keep it to yourself. If you
don’t know the answer, think about why [the hopping occurs]. [Instead of telling you the answer
to the question myself], I am going to show you [the answer on the picture on the overhead
screen].
(Continue on the next page)
The Power of ASL
3
Winter 2018 – Issue 12