[144] They have for their Latin equivalents such as these; Colo quod
aptâsti, ipsi tibi nendum est.—Qui vinum bibit, fæcem bibat.—Ut
sementem feceris, ita metes.
[145] In respect of other proverbs, such as the following, Tunica
pallio propior;—Frons occipitio prior; I have greater doubt. The
misuse lies nearer; the selfishness may very probably be in the proverb
itself, and not in our application of it; though even these seem not
incapable of a fair interpretation.
[146] On a toujours assez de force pour supporter le malheur de
ses amis. I confess this sounds to me rather like an imitation of
Rochefoucault than a genuine proverb.
[147] Ognun tira l’acqua al suo molino.
[148] Ex alieno tergore lata secantur lora.
[149] Zelf is de Man.
[150] J’aime mieux un raisin pour moi que deux figues pour toi.
[151] Comptez après votre père. Compare the Spanish: Entre dos amigos
un notario y dos testigos.
[152] Einmal, keinmal. This proverb was turned to such bad uses, that
a German divine thought it necessary to write a treatise against it.
There exist indeed several old works in German with such titles as
the following, _Ungodly Proverbs and their Refutation_. It is not for
nothing that Jeremy Taylor in one place gives this warning: “Be curious
to avoid all proverbs and propositions, or odd sayings, by which evil
life is encouraged, and the hands of the spirit weakened.” In like
manner Chrysostom (Hom. 73 in Matt.) denounces the Greek proverb: γλυκὺ
ἤτω καὶ πνιξάτω.
[153] Peccato celato, mezzo perdonato.
[154] Badly turned into a rhyming pentameter:
Consonus esto lupis, cum quibus esse cupis.
[155] There are very few inculcating an opposite lesson: this however
is one: _Spend, and God will send_; which Howell glosses well; “Yes, a
bag and a wallet.”
[156] Quien en un año quiere ser rico, al medio le ahorcan.
[157] Male parta male dilabuntur.—Wie gewonnen, so zerronnen.
[158] Ungerechter Pfennig verzehrt gerechten Thaler.
[159] Lo ageno siempre pia por su dueño.
[160] Der Geiz sammlet sich arm, die Milde giebt sich reich. In the
sense of the latter half of this proverb _we_ say, _Drawn wells are
seldom dry_; though this word is capable of very far wider application.
[161] There is one remarkable Latin proverb on the moral cowardliness
which it is the character of riches to generate, saying more briefly
the same which Wordsworth said when he proclaimed—
“that riches are akin
To fear, to change, to cowardice, and death;”
it is this: Timidus Plutus: and has sometimes suggested to me the
question whether he might not have had it in his mind when he composed
his great sonnet in prospect of the invasion:
“These times touch monied worldlings with dismay;”
not that his genius needed any such solicitation from without; for
the poem is only the natural outgrowth of that spirit and temper in
which the whole series of noble and ennobling poems, the _Sonnets to
Liberty_, is composed, and in perfect harmony with the rest; yet is it,
notwithstanding, in a very wonderful way shut up in the two words of
the ancient proverb.
[162] Τῇ χειρὶ δεῖ σπείρειν, ἀλλὰ μὴ ὅλῳ τῷ θυλάκῳ.
[163] Giv saa i Dag, at du og kandst give i morgen.—Giv een at du kand
give en anden.
[164] L’ultimo vestito ce lo fanno senza tasche.
[165] This is the English form of that worthy old classical proverb:
Φεύγων μύλον, ἄλφιτα φεύγει, or in Latin: Qui vitat molam, vitat
farinam.
[166] Ahont anirás, bou, que no llaures? I prefer this form of it to
the Spanish: Adonde yrá el buey, que no are?
[167] Pereza, llave de pobreza.
[168] Dii facientes adjuvant.
[169] According to the Spanish proverb: Quien bien ata, bien desata.
[170] Quien tiene boca, no diga á otro, Sopla.
[171] Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre.
[172] Nondum omnium dierum sol occidit.
[173] Il mondo è, di chi ha pazienza.
[174] Se ben ho perso l’anello, ho pur anche le dita;—Si se perdieron
los anillos, aqui quedaron los dedillos.
[175] In their bastard French it runs thus: Gambette ous trouvé nen
gan chimin, nen gan chimin ous va pèdè li. It may have been originally
French, at any rate the French have a proverb very much to the same
effect: Ce qui vient par la flute, s’en va par le tambour; and compare
the modern Greek proverb: Ἀνεμομαζώματα, δαιμονοσκορπίσματα. (What the
wind gathers, the devil scatters.)
[176] Εὕδοντι κύρτος αἱρεῖ.—Dormienti rete trahit. The reader with a
_Plutarch’s Lives_ within his reach may turn to the very instructive
little history told in connexion with this proverb, of Timotheus the
Athenian commander; an history which only requires to be translated
into Christian language to contain a deep moral for all. (_Sulla_, c.
6.)
[177] Sera in imo parsimonia.
[178] Seneca (_Ep._ i.): Non enim tantum _minimum_ in imo, sed
_pessimum_ remanet.
[179] Morgenstund’ hat Gold im Mund.
[180] Lo que hace el loco á la postre, hace sabio al principio.
[181] Henry More, _On Godliness_, b. 8. How remarkable a confirmation
of the fact asserted in that proverb and in this passage lies in
the twofold uses of the Greek word κακοήθεια; having, for its first
meaning, an evil disposition in a man’s self, it has for its second an
interpreting on his part for the worst of all the actions of other men.