The pleasant city and its mighty king,
The tributary princess at his side,
The learned men that were the kingdom's pride,
The minstrels with a ready song to sing,
The gracious ladies of the court, the ring
Of haughty nobles, arrogant of birth,
Are conquored by the Lord of all the earth,
Time, who makes memories of everything.
~Bhartŗhari
Gollum's similar riddle to Bilbo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, ©1937:
This thing all things devours;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats mountain down.
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