I Speak Without a Mouth and Hear Without Ears: What Am I?

How an echo works

An echo is sound that has bounced off a hard surface and returned. To hear it as a separate sound, the surface has to be far enough away that the reflection arrives a moment after the original, roughly 55 feet or more. That is why echoes show up in canyons, empty halls and tunnels, and rarely in a small bedroom.

The riddle describes the echo as a creature. It speaks, but only after something speaks to it, and it has no body, so it cannot have a mouth or ears.

Reading the clues

The first clue, speaking without a mouth, rules out anything alive. The second clue, hearing without ears, says it only reacts to sound. Together they point at something that depends on a sound made by someone else.

A longer version

Some tellers add a line about the wind.

• I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. What am I?
• I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?