[37] The writer might have added, the superstitions; for proverbs not
a few involve and rest on popular superstitions, and a collection
of these would be curious and in many ways instructive. Such, for
instance, is the Latin, (it is, indeed, also Greek): _A serpent,
unless it devour a serpent, grows not to a dragon_; (Serpens, nisi
serpentem comederit, non fit draco); which Lord Bacon moralizes so
shrewdly: “The folly of one man is the fortune of another; for no man
prospers so suddenly as by other men’s errors.” Such again is the
old German proverb: _The night is no man’s friend_; (Die Nacht ist
keines Menschen Freund;) which rests, as Grimm has so truly observed
(_Deutsche Mythol._, p. 713) on the wide-spread feeling in the northern
mythologies, of the night as an unfriendly and, indeed, hostile power
to man. And such, too, the French: _A Sunday’s child dies never of the
plague_; (Qui nait le dimanche, jamais ne meurt de peste.)
[38] We may adduce further the words of Salmasius: Argutæ hæ brevesque
loquendi formulæ suas habent veneres, et genium cujusque gentis penes
quam celebrantur, atque acumen ostendunt.
[39] Thus Ἄϊδoς κυνῆ—Ἄπληστος πίθος.—Ἰλιὰς κακῶν.
[40] This Greek proverb on love is the noblest of the kind which I
remember: Μουσικὴν ἔρως διδάσκει, κἄντις ἄμουσος ᾖ τὸ πρίν.
[41] In this respect the Latin proverb, Mores amici noveris, non
oderis, on which Horace has furnished so exquisite a comment (_Sat._ i.
3, 24-93), and which finds its graceful equivalent in the Italian, Ama
l’amico tuo con il difetto suo (Love your friend with his fault), is
worthy of all admiration.
[42] By Zell, in his slight but graceful treatise, _On the proverbs of
the ancient Romans_ (_Ferienschriften_, v. 2, p. 1-96).
[43] Thus, Noxa caput sequitur;—Conscientia, mille testes.
[44] He has preserved for us that very sensible and at the same time
truly characteristic one, Quod non opus est, asse carum est.
[45] These are two or three of the most notable—the first against
“high farming,” which it is strange if it has not been appealed to
in the modern controversy on the subject: Nihil minus expedit quam
agrum optime colere. (Pliny, _H. N._, 6. 18.) Over against this,
however, we must set another, warning against the attempt to farm with
insufficient capital: Oportet agrum imbecilliorem esse quam agricolam;
and yet another, on the liberal answer which the land will make to the
pains and cost bestowed on it; Qui arat olivetum, rogat fructum; qui
stercorat, exorat; qui cædit, cogit.
[46] This was the judgment of Salmasius, who says: Inter Europæos
Hispani in his excellunt, Itali vix cedunt, Galli proximo sequuntur
intervallo.
[47] What may have become of this collection I know not; but it was
formerly in Richard Heber’s library, (see the _Catalogue_, v. 9. no.
1697.) Juan Yriarte was the collector, and in a note to the _Catalogue_
it is stated that he devoted himself with such eagerness to the
bringing of it to the highest possible state of completeness, that he
would give his servants a fee for any new proverb they brought him;
while to each, as it was inserted in his list, he was careful to attach
a memorandum of the quarter from which it came; and if this was not
from books but from life, an indication of the name, the rank, and
condition in life of the person from whom it was derived.
[48] Las manos blancas no ofenden.
[49] Bien sabe el asno en cuya cara rebozna.
[50] Quando vierás tu casa quemar, llega te á escalentar.
[51] El Rey va hasta do puede, y no hasta do quiere.
[52] Socorros de España, ó tarde, ó nunca.
[53] Matarás, y matarte han, y matarán a quien te matare.
[54] _Curiosities of Literature_, p. 391. London: 1838.
[55] These may serve as examples: Chi ha sospetto, di rado è in
difetto.—Fidarsi è bene, ma non fidarsi è meglio.—Da chi mi fido,
mi guardi Iddio; da chi non mi fido, mi guarderò io.—Con arte e con
inganno si vive mezzo l’anno; con inganno e con arte si vive l’altra
parte.
[56] Vendetta, boccon di Dio.
[57] Aspetta tempo e loco à far tua vendetta, che la non si fa mai ben
in fretta. Compare another: Vuoi far Vendetta del tuo nemico, governati
bene ed è bell’e fatta.
[58] Vendetta di cent’anni ha ancor i lattaiuoli.
[59] Con l’Evangelo si diventa eretico.
[60] Gli amici legono la borsa con un filo di ragnatelo.
[61] Ad un uomo dabbene avanza la metà del cervello; ad un tristo non
basta ne anche tutto.
[62] Jeremy Taylor appears to have found much delight in the proverbs
of Italy. In the brief foot notes which he has appended to the _Holy
Living_ alone I counted five and twenty such, to which he makes more
or less remote allusion in the text. There is an excellent article on
“Tuscan Proverbs” in _Fraser’s Magazine_, Jan. 1857.
[63] _Arabic Proverbs of the Modern Egyptians._ London: 1830.
[64] Yet this very mournful collection of Burckhardt’s possesses at
least one very beautiful proverb on the all conquering power of love:
_Man is the slave of beneficence_.
[65] En casa del Moro no hables algarabia.
[66] Sermon sin Agostino, olla sin tocino.
[67] Gross und leer, wie das Heidelberger Fass.
[68] Doctor Luther’s Schuhe sind nicht allen Dorfpriestern gerecht.
[69] Cum duplicantur lateres, Moses venit.
[70] La gente pone, y Dios dispone.—Der Mensch denkt’s; Gott lenkt’s.
[71] La padella dice al pajuolo, Fatti in là, che tu mi tigni.
[72] Dijó la corneja al cuervo, Quítate allá, negro.
[73] Ein Esel schimpft den andern, Langohr.
[74] Γλαῦκας εἰς Ἀθήνας.
[75] Wer sich auf der Achsel sitzen lässt, dem sitzt man nachher auf
dem Kopfe.
[76] Se ti lasci metter in spalla il vitello, quindi a poco ti metteran
la vacca.
[77] Dame donde me asiente, que yo haré donde me acueste.
[78] Qui se fait brebis, le loup le mange.
[79] There is a Catalan proverb to the same effect: Qui de tot es moll,
de tot es foll.
[80] Autant pèche celui qui tient le sac, que celui qui met dedans.
[81] Wer die Leiter hält, ist so schuldig wie der Dieb.
[82] Quien no adoba gotera, adoba casa entera.
[83] Benedetto è quel male, che vien solo.—Un mal è la vigilia
dell’altro.—Un male ed un Frate di rado soli.
[84] Al villano, se gli porgi il dito, ei prende la mano.
[85] Dieu donne le froid selon le drap.—Cada cual siente el frio como
anda vestido.
[86] Cui serpe mozzica, lucerta teme.
[87] El rio passado, el santo olvidado.
[88] Passato il punto, gabbato il santo.