National Idiosyncrasies -- The Seven Sages of Greece -- Know
Thyself -- The Laconic "If" -- Ancient Greek Proverbs -- Roman
Proverbs -- The Proverbs of Scotland: Strong Vein of Humour in
them -- Spanish and Italian Proverbs -- The Proverbs of France
-- The "Comédie des Proverbes" -- The Proverbs of Spain: their
Popularity and Abundance; Historic Interest: their Bibliography
-- Italian Proverbs: their Characteristics -- The Proverbs of
Germany -- Chinese Adages: their Excellence -- Japanese
Proverbs: their Poetry and Beauty -- Arab Sayings: their
Servility: their Humour -- Eastern Delight in Stories --
African Sayings: their pithy Wisdom -- The Proverb-philosophy
of the Talmud.
While we find a striking similarity existing between the proverbs of
various peoples, many being absolutely identical, and others teaching
the same truths under somewhat different external guise; there is also
in many cases a certain local and individual colouring that gives added
interest.
We see, too, national idiosyncrasies coming to the front in the greater
prominence given to proverbs having a bearing in some particular
direction. Thus, a poetic and imaginative people will specially dwell on
proverbs of a picturesque and refined type, while a thrifty and cautious
race will hold in especial esteem the inculcation of saving, of early
rising, of steady labour, the avoidance of debt and suretyship. A more
impulsive people will care but little for such thraldom, and will teach
in its sayings the delights of the present, the pursuit of the
pleasures rather than the duties of life, and the wild doctrine of
revenge against those who thwart their desires; while an oppressed and
downtrodden race will very faithfully reflect the oppression under which
they lie by the sayings that find most favour amongst them.
Our English proverbs, like our language, have come to us from many
sources; and while we have some little store that we may claim as of
home-growth, the greater part has been judiciously borrowed. We may
fairly ascribe to our changeable climate such a warning adage as the
advice to "Make hay while the sun shines"; and when a settler on the
prairies of the West clothes the excellent doctrine that every man for
himself should perform the disagreeable tasks that come in his way, and
not seek to transfer them to other people, in the formula, "Every man
must skin his own skunk," we feel the sentiment to be redolent of the
soil of its birth. The picture it presents to us is so entirely American
that it is quite needless to search for its origin in the folk-lore of
Wessex or on the banks of the Indus.[91:A]
The greater number of the proverbs of ancient Greece were fraught with
allusions to the mythology, poetry, and national history of Hellas, and
thus form a valuable testimony to the general high level of intellectual
training of this wonderful people. The "Adagia" of Erasmus contains, as
the result of the search of many years amongst the literary remains of
the classical authors, some five thousand of these ancient sayings. Many
that, from their Latin dress we ascribe to the Romans, were really
derived from Greek or still earlier sources.
It will be recalled that those who, from their pre-eminent wisdom, were
entitled, the Seven Sages of Greece, each inscribed in the Temple of
Apollo one sentence of concentrated wisdom. The best known and most
freely quoted of these was the "Know thyself," the contribution of Solon
of Athens; and the more we reflect on this the more we realise its
profundity. To know thyself--to know, for example, thy possibilities of
health and strength for strenuous bodily or mental labour, to know thy
worldly status, and what of influence is there open to thee or closed
against thee; to know thyself, not as the crowd regards thee, but in all
the secret workings of thy heart, controlling thy actions, biassing thy
thoughts, influencing thy motives; to step aside out of the bustle of
life and quietly take stock of thyself; to know how thou standest in
view of eternity--that is wisdom. The maxim of Chilo of Sparta was
"Consider the end," and that of Bias of Priene the sad indictment, "Most
men are bad." Thales of Miletos declared, and the yet greater and wiser
Solomon was in accord--"Who hateth suretyship is sure." Periander of
Corinth sang the praise of honest work in "Nothing is impossible to
industry";[92:A] and Pittacos of Mitylene warned his hearers and pupils
to "Seize Time by the forelock." The seventh, Cleobulos of Lindos,
pinned his faith on the golden mean, "Avoid extremes." These maxims
passed into general circulation and adoption, and thus became of
proverbial rank. They do not strike one as being of at all equal value,
but there is no doubt that a man who was fortified, not only by the
knowledge of these precepts, but, more important yet, by their practice,
would be equipped to face unscathed all the possibilities of life.
In our ordinary English word "laconic" is preserved a curious little
allusion. The Lacones or Spartans were noted amongst the other Greeks
for their brusque and sententious speech, the practice of expressing
much in little. Hence our word laconic, meaning concise, pithy. Plato
wrote that "If anyone desires converse with a Lacedæmonian he will at
first sight appear to him wanting in thought, in power of utterance, but
when the opportunity arrives, this same man, like a skilful hurler of
the javelin, will hurl a sentence worthy of the greatest consideration."
A good example of this trait of the Spartans will be seen in their reply
to Philip of Macedon when he threatened them, "If I enter Laconia I will
level your city to the dust." Their rejoinder was, "If"!
The prostrate Saul was warned that it was hard for him to "kick against
the pricks," to resist the Higher Power, to rebel against the guiding
goad, and the utterance was a very familiar one in his ears. It will be
found in the Odes of Pindar, the tragedies of Euripides and Æschylus,
and in the writings of Terence. Another familiar Biblical text is that
"One soweth and another reapeth."[93:A] This, too, would appeal at once
to the hearers as a piece of their own proverbial lore. It is at least
as ancient as Hesiod, who wrote his "Theogony," and introduced this
proverb therein, some nine hundred years before the Christian era.
It is in all countries an accepted belief that the Higher Powers, under
whatever name worshipped, help those who help themselves. Thus, the
Spaniards say, "Pray to God and ply the hammer," while the Greeks
taught, "Call on Athene but exert yourself as well." Another very
expressive Greek proverb was "A piped-out life," as applied to one who,
in rioting and dissipation, in feasting and drunkenness, had carried out
that grim ideal, "A short life and a merry one," who to lulling siren
song, the harp, the tabret, and the viol, sailed swiftly down the stream
of Time. A graphic picture again is this--"You have burst in upon the
bees," applied to one who causelessly, needlessly meddled with matters
that were no concern of his, and thereby brought swift retribution on
himself.
The proverbs born on Roman soil were considerably fewer in number than
those of Greek birth, and this is a result that we should naturally
anticipate, since the Romans had not the strong religious feeling, nor
the poetic afflatus, nor the subtle thought of the Greeks. The Romans in
this, as in much else, were borrowers rather than producers. At the same
time the sterling common-sense and energy of the Roman people is seen in
their proverbs. They are business-like and practical, inculcating
patience, perseverance, independence, and frugality; dealing in a wise
spirit with the affairs of life, marriage, education, agriculture, and
the like. How true, for instance, to all experience is the "Aliquis in
omnibus est nullus in singulis," while in some, heathen as they were in
origin, a high moral sense is reached, as, for example, "Conscientia,
mille testes."
How expressive is "Res in cardine est." The matter is on the hinge, it
must soon now be settled one way or the other, for, as another proverb
hath it, "A door must be open or shut"--there can here be no middle
course of procrastination and uncertainty. How good, again, the
oft-quoted "Qui cito dat bis dat"--"He giveth twice that giveth in a
trice," as an old English version rhymingly renders it, or the "Quot
homines tot sententiæ." "I see wel the olde proverbe is true," quoth
Gascoigne in his "Glasse of Government," which saith, "So many men so
many mindes." The French reading is "Autant d'hommes, autant d'avis."
Our old English proverb about the difficulty of getting blood out of a
stone is paralleled in the "Aquam a pumice postulare" of ancient Rome,
and the saw, "Extremis, ut dicitur, digitis attingere"--to touch, so to
speak, with the tips of the fingers--is of special interest to us, as it
will be recalled that it is quoted in the New Testament, and applied to
the Pharisees who laid on others burdens that they themselves would not
touch with one of their fingers.
Our adage, "Opportunity makes the thief," is but the old Roman "Occasio
facet furem."
The brief "Latum unguem" is expressive of those who cavil and split
hairs[95:A] over trifles, when not the breadth of a nail of difference
exists between them, and yet sharp contention is stirred up.
It is needless to dwell at any length on these proverbs of ancient Rome.
Their character and tone of thought are very English, and therefore many
of them we shall find incorporated in English guise in our midst, while
others find a place in our literature in their original setting. Amongst
these latter we may name, by way of illustration, "Ab ovo," "Ad
captandum vulgus," "Dum vivimus vivamus," "Ex cathedra," "Facilis est
descensus Averni," "Humanum est errare," "De mortuis nil nisi bonum,"
"Carpe diem," "Argumentum ad hominem," "Ars est celare artem," "Petitio
principii," "Per fas et nefas," "Ne sutor ultra crepidam," "Vox populi
vox Dei," and "Festine lente."[95:B]
While many of the proverbs of Scotland are identical in significance
with our own, and only vary from them by some slight dialectic
influence, there are not a few that are the special possession of the
Scottish people. These have a very distinct individuality. There is
rarely much grace or tenderness in them, but they contain abundant
common-sense. There is scarcely one that is pointless, while in most the
point is driven home mercilessly. As maxims of prudence and worldly
morality they are admirable, and have a certain roughness of expression
that is often taking. They are distinctly canny, and not uncommonly have
a strong touch of saturnine humour.
Many examples are easily recognisable as identical in spirit with the
parallel English adages, the slight differences of setting giving them
an added interest. One gets so used to things when always presented to
us the same way that their value gets dulled, and a new reading then
comes very opportunely. The Scottish version, "A bird in the hand is
worth twa fleeing bye"[96:A] is, we think, a good example of this. The
leading idea in both this and the English declaration that "A bird in
the hand is worth two in the bush" is the greater value of a small
certainty than a larger possibility; but, while the twittering of the
free birds in the bush may be provoking, there is at least the
possibility of their capture, while the Scottish version gives a still
greater value to our possession, seeing that even as we grasp it the
possibility of increasing our store is rapidly passing away. In a
collection, gathered together in 1586, we find "It is better to haif ane
brede in hand nor twa in the wood fleande."
Other examples of this practical identity are these: "Before you choose
a friend eat a peck o' saut wi' him"; "It's no easy to straucht in the
oak the crook that grew in the sapling." The "sour grapes" of our
English proverb are at once suggested in this northern version: "Soor
plooms, quo' the tod, when he couldna' climb the tree"; "Ill weeds wax
weel."
The value of this change of diction as an aid to appreciation is also
felt still more when it arises from some little antiquity. Our most
familiar adages, for instance, seem to possess an added charm when we
find them embedded in the quaint English of the poems of Chaucer and
others of our earlier writers, and in like manner many of the proverbs
given in this collection of the year 1586 have a special interest. The
mere setting is a very secondary point, though not without importance,
since we readily see that what we need is, in the first and foremost
place, the sterling truth, and then this truth enhanced in value by the
happy way it is presented to our notice. The following extracts from
this collection, gathered together over three centuries ago, will be of
interest:--"The fische bred in durtie pooles will taiste of mude,"
"Whane the sunne schyneth the lyt of the starres ar not seene," "All the
praise of wertew consisteth in doing," "Wit is the better gif it be the
dearer bocht," "The foull taide hath a faire stoine in his hede," "The
sweite kirnell lyeth in the harde schell," "The glass anes crazed will
wt the leist clap be crackt," "The fairest silke is soonest soylede,"
"He quhilk walde gather frwite sould plant treis," "Bargaines maid in
speid are comonlie repented at leasure," "Thair is no smoke but quhair
thair is sum fyre," "In grettest charge ar grettest cares," "A kyndome
is more esilie gotten than keipit," "Quhen the sone schyneth the cloudis
wanish away," "The fyne golde must be purified in the flamyng fyre,"
"Greiwous woundes must have smarting plasters," "Many thingis happen
betwene the cupe and the lyp,"[98:A] "Thair is no clayth so fine bot
mothes will eit it," "He that lepeth or he looke may hap to leip in the
brook."
Scottish proverbs, despite the assertion that the only way to get a joke
into a Scotchman's head is by a surgical operation, have a strong vein
of humour in them--a feature that is much more characteristic of them
than of those of any other nationality the wide world over. What could
be happier than this caution to those whose presence is not desired: "A
weel-bred dog goes out when he sees them going to kick him out!"
"They're keen o' company that tak' the dog on their back," "Friends are
like fiddle-strings, they maunna be screwed ower tight."
The national shrewdness and mother-wit is naturally reflected in the
national proverb-lore. A very quaint example of this is seen in the
warning that "Ye'll no sell your hens on a rainy day." Drenched and
wretched-looking, no one will look at them; it is not at all making the
best of things. How excellent is this hint against avarice: "Greed is
envy's auldest brither, scraggy wark they mak thegither";[98:B] or this:
"Ne'er let your gear o'ergang you"; or this: "A greedy e'e ne'er got a
gude pennyworth."
How shrewd such adages as: "Changes are lightsome and fools like them";
"He that gets gear before he gets wit is but a short time master of it";
"He is no the fool that the fool is, but he that with the fool deals";
"Oft counting keeps friends lang thegither," the English equivalent
being, "Short reckonings make long friends"; "A wise man gets learning
fra' them that hae nane i' their ain"; "Better a gude fame than a gude
face"; "He that seeks motes gets motes";[99:A] "Ill payers are aye gude
cravers"; "He speaks in his drink what he thinks in his drouth."
Prosperous people can afford to listen to envious remarks, for "A fu'
sack can bear a clout in the side," and be never the worse for it.
There is a sharp touch of sarcasm in many of these northern adages: "The
deil's journeyman ne'er wants wark." How true to life the feeling, yet
how deftly pointed the satire, "They are aye gude that are far awa," or
this very similar utterance, "They're no a' saints that get the name
o't." A valuable lesson, too, to people consumed with a sense of their
own importance is this: "The king lies doun, but the world runs round."
The point becomes sharper yet in the statement that a "Green turf is a
gude mother-in-law"--that is to say, this particular member of the
family is best in the churchyard.
An old English proverb says that "Almost and very nigh save many a lie";
but the Scotch say, "Amaist and very near hae aye been great liars." The
two dicta are in direct opposition, yet both may be accepted.
The power of money to make money is very picturesquely expressed by "Put
twa pennies in a purse and they'll creep thegither." Down south we say
that "Experience is a dear school, but fools will learn in no other";
but the Scottish method is wiser, if practicable, though there is a
touch of selfishness in it: "Better learn frae your neebor's skaith
(misfortune) than frae your ain."
It is very true that "His you are whom you serve,"[99:B] and "They that
work i' the mill maun wear the livery." How full, too, of wise teaching:
"When you dance ken who you tak' by the hand," and realise what the
association involves. The mighty power of influence, and the
responsibility that rests on us for our actions, the impossibility of
arresting the ever-widening circle is well seen in the hint: "If the
laird slight the lady sae will the kitchen boy." The saying, "Ye hae
gude manners, but ye dinna bear them about wi' ye," is a very delicate
way of saving the _amour propre_ of the reproved while indicating
evident shortcomings. How quaintly picturesque the adage, again, "Like a
chip amang parritch, little gude, little ill," to describe some wholly
immaterial thing.
The proverbs of the three great Latin races--French, Italian, and
Spanish--are naturally very similar, and are practically
interchangeable, all having sprung from the same stock, and thrown into
one great store-house. We cannot too distinctly bear in mind that,
because a proverb greets us in French, or Italian, or Danish, we must
not at once class it as a French, an Italian, or a Danish utterance
alone. The inner idea is probably cosmopolitan, and its outer garb is of
very little importance; yet, as we have already said, the idiosyncrasy
of each people affects their borrowing from the common store, and
greatly influences any additions they may make. Instead, therefore, of
classifying certain proverbs as French or German, which ordinarily they
are not, we should really think of such a gathering as merely French or
German individualism, selecting to taste from the general hoard. An old
writer says: "The Spanish and Italian proverbs are counted the most
Curious and Significant--the first are remarkable for Gravity and fine
Instruction, the Latter for Beauty and Elegance, tho' they are a little
tinctured with Levity and have too much of the Amour. This last Variety
is the Imperfection of many of the French, tho' otherwise they are very
Fine and Bright, and solemnly Moral as well as Facetious and Pleasant."
This verdict, though somewhat quaintly worded, is a very discriminating
and just one: we should be inclined to add to it in the case of the
typically French proverbs a rather characteristic touch of conceit and
gasconade. The Frenchman ordinarily studies effect a good deal.
Despite a certain unpleasant sneering at women, as in the proverb, "A
deaf husband and a blind wife make the best couple," and others that
affect to hold feminine virtue, constancy, truthfulness and the like in
poor esteem, the Frenchman appears to preserve a perennial spring of
affection for his mother and a fervent belief in its reciprocity on her
part. Hence, in all proverb-lore, dramatic representation, poetry,
oratory, this special relationship is a sacred one, and we get in an
arid desert of cynicism so sweet an oasis as, "Tendresse maternelle
toujours se renouvelle."
Such proverbs in common use in France as "A cheval donné il ne faut
point regarder à la bouche," "Les murailles ont des oreilles," "Il n'y a
que le premier pas qui coute," "Il ne faut pas parler de corde dans la
maison d'un pendu," are but cosmopolitans in French garb. In England we
find that "A bad workman finds fault with his tools," but in France this
is softened down a little and becomes, "Mechant ouvrier jamais ne
trouvera bons outils." Our picturesque declaration that it is sometimes
advisable to "Throw away a sprat to catch a herring," loses somewhat in
"Il faut hazarder un petit poisson pour prendre un grand." The Gallic "A
beau jour beau retour," is a very pleasant variant of our saying, "One
good turn deserves another." There is in the English version a somewhat
unpleasant suggestion of barter and bargain in this exchange of help,
"Nothing for nothing, and not much for a half-penny."[101:A] On the
other hand, our "Diamond cut diamond" is pleasanter in expression than
the cruder "Ruse contre ruse."
We have already seen how an English playwright once wrote a comedy in
which he introduced English proverbs _ad nauseam_, and we find, in like
manner, in France, a French author, Adrien de Montluc, writing in the
year 1615 or thereabouts, a play called the "Comédie des Proverbës,"
where we find strung together dialogue-wise all the most familiar adages
then current in France.[102:A]
The proverbs of Spain are very numerous, and are often distinguished by
a stately sententiousness, much thoughtfulness, a strong sense of
chivalry and honour, and very frequently, with these good qualities, a
very happy dash of humour or irony. Ford declares that this abounding
proverb-lore "gives the Spaniard his sententious dogmatical admixture of
humour, truism, twaddle, and common-sense." A proverb aptly introduced
is a decisive argument, and is always greeted with approval by high and
low, an essentially national characteristic. It will be recalled how
Sancho Panza has an adage for every emergency. The Don uses his own
words, being a man of fine fancy and good breeding, to express his own
ideas, but the vocabulary of his Squire is almost entirely composed of
the well-nigh inexhaustible proverbs of his country. The Arabs, whose
language is rich in such wisdom, doubtless furnished numerous
contributions to this very marked feature of the national literature.
Many of the Spanish proverbs are of very great antiquity. One
interesting example to the historian is connected with an incident that
happened at the beginning of the twelfth century. It is very rarely
that one can trace the actual birth of a proverb, but in the present
example, "Laws go where kings please to make them," the origin is known.
The Church of Spain was in these early days greatly disturbed by a
contest as to whether the Roman or the Gothic liturgy should be adopted,
and at last the king, Alfonso VI., gave orders for a decisive test and
definite settlement. A fire was lighted and duly blessed by the
Archbishop, and then a copy of each of these liturgies was dropped into
it, it being decided that whichever escaped destruction should be
recognised as the true rite. The Gothic text emerged unconsumed from
this fiery test, but the king, displeased at the way things had gone,
tossed it back again into the fire, and thus arose the proverb, "Alla
van leyes adonde quieren reyes." Many proverbs again will be found in
the "Chronica General," one of the oldest Spanish books.
The Marquis of Santillana collected some 700 proverbs--"such," he says,
"as the old women were wont to use in their chimney-corners." These were
published in the year 1508. The "Cartas" of Blasco de Garay appeared
soon after this, and went through many editions. The author was one of
the cathedral staff at Toledo, and his book was thrown into epistolary
form, almost every sentence being a popular adage. The "cartas"
concluded with a devout prayer that his labours might tend to
edification.
In the year 1549 we have an alphabetical collection of over 4000 adages
compiled by Valles, while a famous scholar and professor at the
University of Salamanca, Hernan Nuñez de Guzman, accumulated over 6000.
These were published in 1555, by a brother professor, two years after
the death of Nuñez. While acting as literary executor he somewhat
ungraciously declared that respect for his friend and not for the
dignity of the task was his motive. In 1568, Mal Lara selected from the
compilation of Nuñez 1000 of the best examples, added some explanatory
or appreciative comments to each, and sent them out into the world under
the title "The Philosophy of the Common People."
Cæsar Oudin published in Paris in 1608 the "Refranes o Proverbios
Castellanos." These were translated into French, and form a very
interesting and valuable book.
While the gleanings of Mal Lara were especially intended to foster a
practical working philosophy of life, Juan Sorapan de Rieros, in his
"Medicina Española en Proverbios Vulgares," took up the medical side,
dealing alone with such utterances of popular wisdom as bore on the
healing art.
Bartolomé Ximinez Paton, in the year 1567, published a collection of
over 1000 Greek and Latin proverbs, with a translation into Spanish,
and, where practicable, the addition of a parallel or illustrative
Castilian proverb. The book passed through many editions. The
translations into the vernacular were in terse rhymes. Other
collections, needless to particularise, though good to see, are those of
Palmerino, Juan de Yriarte, and Cejudo, all of considerable antiquity,
while so recently as 1815 was published in Barcelona the "Refranes de la
Langua Castellana," and to this list others could no doubt be added. It
will have been observed that the word, "Proverbios" is not employed, but
"Refrane," a term derived from _a referendo_, because it describes a
thing that is often repeated, an idea that we are familiar with in our
common word "refrain."
How happily does this Spanish proverb satirise the readiness to resent
what may have been, after all, a quite innocent remark, "He who takes
offence has eaten garlic." The cap, as we say in English, fits. How
happy again the sarcasm against awkward and inexpert helpers, "She
tucked up her sleeves and overturned the kettle." The deference paid to
wealth, the smoothing of the path, is graphically hit off in the adage,
"An ass loaded with gold overtakes everything." The man who can perhaps
scarce write his name will find many to flatter him if his coffers be
full.[105:A] On the other hand how good the counsel, "Seek not for a
good man's pedigree,"[105:B] or this, "Advice whispered is worthless,"
for anything secret may well be regarded with suspicion, and sincerity
needs no veil. How happy again the saying, "I have a good doublet in
France," as applied to those who boast of something that cannot be come
at; or the advice to avoid over-familiarity, "Shut your door and you
will make your neighbour a good one."[105:C] A somewhat similar saying
is this, "When the door is shut the work improves," for gossiping means
distraction and neglect of duty. "Do not go every evening to the house
of your brother." There is sound common-sense in the statement that "An
indolent magistrate will have thieves every market-day," since his
easy-going neglect of his duties will produce a goodly crop of knaves.
Those who solemnly tell as news what all can learn for themselves are
happily ridiculed in the assertion that "When the spouts run the streets
will be wet," or they are described as "guessing at things through a
sieve,"[105:D] making a mystery of what anyone can see at a glance.
"Those that fly may fight again,
Which he can never do that's slain,"
we learn in "Hudibras," and the sentiment re-appears in the Spanish
adage, "It is better they should say, here he ran away, than here he
died." The English dictum "Charity begins at home," is paralleled in
this, "My teeth are nearer to me than my kindred," while our "Well begun
is half done" re-appears in "A beard well lathered is half shaved." The
well-known English proverb, "One cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's
ear," is happily rendered in Spain by the assertion, "A pig's tail will
not make a good arrow"; while our advice to the cobbler to stick to his
last, to attend to what he understands, has its counterpart in
"Fritterman, to thy fritters."
The temptation to quote is great, but we will, in conclusion, set down
but half-a-dozen more, leaving their interpretation to the sapience of
our readers. "A friend to everybody and to nobody is the same thing,"
"Truth and oil are ever above," "Words and feathers are carried away by
the wind," "A little gall makes bitter much honey," "It is better to
accept one than to be promised two," "When we have crossed the sea the
saint is forgotten."
The proverbs of fair Italy are very numerous. While not a few are sound
in teaching and justly extol the ways of truth and uprightness, of
honour and righteous dealing, others are too often merely the advocates
of unmitigated selfishness, are strongly imbued with cynicism, and teach
a general distrust and suspicion and the glorification of revenge. The
political condition of the country, split up for so many centuries into
petty principalities and republics, in an almost constant state of
jealousy and feud, has no doubt greatly influenced its proverb-lore.
Thus, "Who knows not to flatter, knows not to reign," tells of a
government at the mercy of cabals, while the saying, "An open
countenance, but close thoughts," indicates the wisdom in an atmosphere
of suspicion of a seeming content and the importance of great reticence
of speech; while the ingratitude of princes is summed up in the adage,
"He who serves at court dies on straw."[107:A] Fierce insurrection and
sanguinary suppression have fed the fiery Southern temperament with
burning hatred. Hence we get utterances so terrible in their
vindictiveness as these: "He who cannot revenge himself is weak, he who
will not is contemptible"; "Revenge of a hundred years old hath still
its sucking teeth"--is yet but at its commencement. What internecine
strife becomes under such influence is seen in the utterance, "When war
begins hell opens."
The soft Italian tongue lends itself readily to musical rhythm and
pleasing alliteration, features that are ordinarily entirely lost in
translation. This attractive cadence may be seen, for instance, in "Chi
piglia leoni in assenza suol temer dei topi in presenza," or "Chi ha
arte da per tutto ha parte." There is often, too, a pregnant brevity, as
"Amor regge senza legge," and a very happy use of hyperbole.
The proverb-literature of Italy is very extensive. In the year 1591
Florio, by birth an Englishman, by extraction an Italian, published in
London "Il giardino di Ricreatione," a collection of some 6000 Italian
adages; and a little later another Italian, Torriano, followed his
example, he also being resident in England. Angelus Monozoni, in the
year 1604, published in Italy another book on the subject, and in 1642
Julius Varini gave to the world his "Scuola del Vulgo." A much more
recent and altogether excellent series is the "Raccolta di Proverbi
Toscani" of Guiseppe Guisti, issued at Florence in 1853, and containing
over 6000 examples.
"It is a foolish bird," we say, "that fouls its own nest," a sentiment
that the Italians reproduce in their adage, "Mad is the priest who
blasphemes his own relics." A higher point is reached in this, "We are
all clay and God is the potter," and this, "Who has God for a friend has
the saints in his pocket." Their intervention is needless. Another fine
proverb is found in "Who doth not burn doth not inflame"--he must
himself be on fire who would kindle ardour in others. "The favour
gained, the saint derided," appears needlessly strong--"neglected" would
have been truer to human nature.[108:A] "Sin confessed is half pardoned"
is true and good. "Everyone cannot have his house on the piazza," all
cannot expect the best position, is quaint and of sound philosophy. "He
who flings gold away with his hands seeks it with his feet," wandering
forth in beggary and want. To such we may commend the warning, "Work in
jest, want in earnest." In every nation the virtue of silence is upheld,
and the Italians have many proverbs that deal with this: thus the gain
of quiet listening is seen in this--"Talkers sow, the silent reap," reap
rich wisdom from the words of the wise, prudence and caution from the
loquacity of the thoughtless. The undignified flow of explanation, the
lack of reserve in face of misfortune, are rebuked in the saying, "Words
in plenty when the cause is lost."
In that mine of wisdom, the book of _Ecclesiastes_, we are warned that
"He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the
clouds shall not reap," and the Italians in like manner declare that "He
that looks at every cloud never makes the journey." The intuitive gift
of womankind to realise the best course of action is the subject of
proverbs the wide world over. In Italy it appears as "Women, wise on a
sudden, fools on reflection." Every nation, too, appears to have some
little tinge of self-righteousness, some sarcasm to spare for those
outside its borders. Thus we are told that if one scratches a Russian we
get at once to the Tartar beneath; and the Spaniard says, "Take away
from a Spaniard his good qualities and there remains a Portuguese." The
Italian in like manner has a proverbial rebuke for those who "drink wine
like a German--in the morning, neat; at dinner without water; at supper,
as it comes from the bottle"; and says, "May my death come to me from
Spain," for so it will be long in coming--a hit at the Spanish habit of
procrastination and the wearisome delays that thwart the despatch of
business in that easy-going land where "manana" (to-morrow) is one of
the commonest of expressions.[109:A]
Many of the proverbs of Italy are, naturally, not exclusively Italian,
but when the Florentine declares that "Arno swelleth not without
becoming turbid," we have a distinctly local application of the broad
truth that they who would acquire riches quickly may fall into a snare,
and that a sudden prosperity may be achieved at the expense of a soiled
conscience. "Il remedio e peggio del male" is but an Italian version of
the generally-accepted adage, "The remedy is worse than the disease,"
and "Una rondina non fa primavera" is their rendering of a truth
familiar to us in the statement that "One swallow does not make a
summer," a proverb of wide acceptance. In France it is "Une hirondelle
ne fait pas le printemps"; in Holland, "Een swaluw maakt geen zomer"; in
Spain, "Una golondrina no hace verano." We find it, too, equally at home
in Germany, Sweden, and many other lands. Its significance is repeated
in another Italian proverb that tells us that "One flower does not make
a garland." A very characteristic utterance is that "Summer is the
mother of the poor," life in sunny Italy being then less arduous to the
indigent, and the problems of existence appear by no means so exacting.
The thorough-going character of German work is itself almost proverbial,
and the treatment of the national proverbs in the "Deutsches
Sprichwörter-Lexicon" is an excellent illustration of this German
thoroughness, the editor having managed to gather in over 80,000.
Another excellent compilation is that of Dr. Wilhelm Körte.
The proverbs, native or imported, that find most favour in the
Fatherland are ordinarily excellent in quality and full of sterling good
sense. We occasionally meet with rhyming examples, as in "Mutter treu
wird täglich neu," a mother's love is ever fresh; or the less tender
"Ehestand, wehestand," marriage state, mournful state; or "Stultus und
Stolz wachset aus einem Holz," stupidity and pride grow on one bush; or
again, in "Wie gewonnen so zerronen"; our "Lightly come, lightly go."
But these rhyming adages do not appear to be so characteristic a feature
in German proverb-lore as in some other nationalities. The English
protest as to the absurdity of carrying coals to Newcastle[110:A] is in
Germany the equally needless task of carrying water to the sea--"Wasser
ins Meer tragen." Another picturesque proverb is "Die süssessten Trauben
hangen am höchsten," the sweetest grapes hang the highest. The greedy
are rebuked in the adage--"The eyes here are bigger than the stomach,"
and the thoughtless and thriftless are warned that "One may in seeking a
farthing burn up three candles." The difficulty in pleasing some people
is felt as much in Germany as elsewhere and is expressed in the
proverb, "No tree will suit the thief to be hung on"; and there is the
equally true remark, "There are many more thieves than gallows," many
escape detection and punishment. "Woman and the moon," we are told,
"shine with borrowed light," and the wife, in "die Hausfrau soll nit
sein eine Ausfrau," is advised that her duties lie within the home and
not outside it. It is, however, evident that to treat at any length on
the proverbial lore even of Europe would mean not a volume alone but a
shelf of goodly folios, a prospect much too overpowering. We pass then
at once to a quite different sphere, and seek in widely different
peoples some expression of their modes of thought and principles of
action, as revealed to us in their popular dicta, and we may at once say
that the search will result in the decision that, however much the outer
envelope may differ, the inner thought will reveal to us that man,
wherever we find him, is swayed by much the same impulses and guided by
much the same motives, as he thinks over the problems of life. The
resident in a mansion in Mayfair, in a kraal in Zululand, in a sanpan on
some Chinese river, differ widely enough in externals and in much else,
but we would venture to say that any good collection of proverbs, if
rendered in the vernacular of each district, might travel round the
world and find appreciation in every land. The burnt child dreads the
fire in Samoa as in Salisbury, and that prosperity makes friends, and
adversity proves them, is a piece of world-wide experience.
Chinese proverbs do not appear to be very numerous, but they are often
very happily phrased and thought out. "As the twig is bent so the tree
is inclined," we say, and in China they have the same idea, "The growth
of the mulberry tree is as its youth." Filial respect and the duties of
friendship and hospitality are often enforced in this Celestial
teaching. Thus, "At home respecting father and mother, what need at a
distance to burn incense?" so only the heart be right, no need of
ceremonial and formal observance. "To meet an old friend is as the
delightfulness of rain after drought." On the other hand, "If a man does
not receive guests at home he will meet with very few hosts abroad." The
upholders of the "spare the rod and spoil the child" system of education
of which Solomon was so distinguished an exponent will be in full
sympathy with the Chinese view, "Pitying your child, give him much
cudgel."
On our journey through life we may find, as they have done in the far
East, that "If you do not entreat their assistance all men will appear
good-natured," but "The sincerity of him who assents to everything must
be small." "Master easy, servant lazy," is only too true. It is again a
common experience that, as we say in England, "One man may steal a horse
while another may not look over the gate," a state of things that they
yet more forcibly express in China as "One man may set the town in a
blaze, another may not light his lantern." What graceful lessons of
trust in a Higher Power are these: "Every blade of grass has its share
of the dews of heaven," "Though the birds of the forest have no garners
the wide world is before them." To avoid even the semblance of evil we
are quaintly told, "In melon patch tie not shoe, under plum-tree touch
not cap," actions innocent in themselves, but possibly giving rise to
misapprehensions!
The exigencies of the Chinese language make a literal translation often
scarcely endurable or possible, while a lengthened paraphrase gives a
wordiness that is not a true reflection of the epigrammatic pithiness of
the original. Thus in Chinese "Yaou chi sin fo sze tau ting kow chung
yen" is "Wishing to know heart's thoughts listen to mouth"--that is to
say, if you would desire to find out what most engages a man's thoughts
you have only to listen to his conversation, for a man's words reflect
his disposition, and he will thus, surely though unconsciously, reveal
himself to you. The wisdom of knowing oneself, of offering something
more than a formal service, are admirably enforced in these two heathen
proverbs, redolent with the teaching of the New Testament: "If a man be
not enlightened within, what lamp shall he light?" "If a man's
intentions are not upright, what sacred book shall he recite?" "By a
long journey we know a horse's strength, and length of days shows a
man's heart." How beautiful, again, the imagery in this description of
the swift flight of the days and years of human life: "Time is like an
arrow, days and months as a weaver's shuttle."
How excellent the lesson of contentment with one's lot, "All ten fingers
cannot be of the same length," yet all have their work to do. How good
the lesson of forethought, of prevision of coming needs in this: "The
tiles which protect thee in the wet season were fabricated in the dry."
How prudent the advice: "He who wishes to know the road across the
mountains must ask him who has trodden it," must be willing to profit by
the experience of the experienced, and take counsel. There is a rich
mine of wealth for the social economist, for the agitator who would set
one class against another, in the following: "Without the wisdom of the
learned the clown could not be governed, without the labour of the clown
the learned could not be fed."
The mischief that may be wrought by evil speaking, the impossibility of
recalling a hasty word, of cancelling a false judgment, is emphasised in
the picturesque declaration that "A coach and horses cannot bring back
a spoken word." How true the economic warning, "Who borrows to build
builds to sell." How equally true the moral warning, "The forming of
resentments is the planting of misery." How needful often the caution,
"A single false move loses the game," a single false step may wreck a
life.
Nothing can afford a better insight into the character and thoughts of a
people than a consideration of their every-day utterances. If we were
told a hundred things that a man had said we should have an excellent
knowledge of the man, and if we read a hundred sayings that a nation
accepts as guides, the nation stands revealed before us. Judged by this
standard, and it is an entirely reasonable and just one, the Japanese
come excellently out of the ordeal. Many suffer much in translation--the
beauty of their outward presentment, as apart from their inner meaning,
their manner as apart from their matter, consists often in an
untranslatable play of words. Many are like ours, for God made of one
blood all nations, thus: "Cows to cows, horses to horses," is
practically our "Birds of a feather flock together." We append some few
illustrations of the wealth and beauty of this Japanese proverb-wisdom;
and while we forbear to make any comment, we would ask our readers to
ponder on each one: "The frog in the well knows nothing of the great
sea"; "Overdone politeness is but rudeness"; "A famous sword may be made
from an iron scraper"; "The mouth is the door of mischief";
"Impossibility is a good reason"; "More words, less sense"; "Making an
idol does not give it a soul"; "To submit is victory"; "The spawn of
frogs will become but frogs"; "Sword-wounds may be healed, word-wounds
are beyond healing"; "Enquire seven times before you doubt anyone";
"Good medicine may yet be bitter to the taste"; "If you handle cinnabar
you will become red"; "Too much done is nothing done"; "Who steals money
is killed, who steals a country is a king"; "Good doctrine needs no
miracle."
The Arabs delight in figurative language and happy comparisons and
allusions; hence proverbs are constantly in use. Many of them have a
strong touch of humour and sarcasm. John Lewis Burckhardt, after a very
long residence in Cairo, made a collection of these, and they were
published under the title of "The Manners and Customs of the Modern
Egyptians, illustrated from their proverbial sayings." In this he was
greatly assisted by native helpers, and the book is a most valuable one.
The examples are 999 in number, the author adopting a notion prevalent
amongst the Arabs that even numbers bring misfortune, and that anything
perfect in its quantity is especially affected by the evil-eye. By this
means he doubtless received much valuable help from the natives that
would otherwise have been withheld. Many of these proverbs are
rhythmical in structure in their original form, but this feature is lost
ordinarily in a translation. Long centuries of misrule have had their
influence on the people, and the oppression of the strong, the
insecurity of the weak, the power of bribery, the denial of justice, the
imprudence of any independence of spirit, are revealed in these maxims.
Such a saying as "What does heaven care for the cries of the dogs?" has
a sadly hopeless ring about it, while the depth of servility is reached
in this: "When the monkey reigns dance before him," in utter abasement
of spirit. "If thou seest a wall inclines run from under it"--that is to
say, shout ever on the stronger side, and fly from him whose rule is
tottering. Another striking adage is "He strikes me, and says why does
he cry out?" the surprise of the unjust overseer that anyone should
presume to raise any objection to his injustice and tyranny; while the
prudence of being on the stronger side is seen again in this: "If the
moon be with thee thou needest not to care about the stars." We would
fain hope that a brighter day has now risen on this ancient land.
We have in the adage, "Truly the sword inspires dread even in its
scabbard," a further suggestion of the fear inspired by those in
authority; while the depth of misery, of callous brutality, is seen in
"Thou takest from the sore-footed his sandal," the man is hopelessly
crippled. Double-dealing and the evil of a sham friendship inspires the
idea in "He said to the thief, steal, and to the householder, take care
of thy goods"; while the selfish man is warned that in the day of
trouble he need look for no assistance from others, for "He who eats
alone chokes alone." "Three," another proverb tells us, "if they unite
against a town, will ruin it," for while "Union is strength" for good,
it is no less powerful for harm.
A quaint and delightful humour, as we have said, is a frequent attribute
of these Arab utterances; thus the generosity of those who only give
away what they have no need for is very happily satirised in the saying
that "The dogs had enough, and then made presents to each other out of
their leavings." How pithily, too, the braggart is brought before us in
the saying, "If they had not dragged me from underneath him I should
have killed him!" The sense of supreme self-importance is capitally
illustrated in the saying, "They came to shoe the pacha's horses, and
the beetle stretched out his leg." The liberties that some people
venture on with impunity when they think it safe are very happily
brought home to us in the saying, "The captain loves thee, wipe thy hand
on the sail." There is a good deal of quiet humour, too, in this, "He
fled from the rain and sat down beneath the waterspout," a case of what
in England we should call "Out of the frying-pan into the fire." How
true, again, the proverb, "The camel has his schemes, and the
camel-driver has his schemes," the interests of the driven and the
driver being ordinarily very different; or this again, "The barber
learns his art on the orphan's face," on the poor and the friendless who
cannot resent an indignity or adequately protect themselves from
maltreatment.[117:A] Of people who receive a piece of good fortune that
they neither desire nor appreciate, the proverb, "A rose fell to the
share of the monkey," holds good. It is also a warning against a
thoughtless distribution of good things without heed to their
appropriateness.
The picturesque expression, "Hunting dogs have scratched faces," is a
wholesome recognition of the honour of the scars gained in honest
labour; while the adage, "He walks on top of the wall and says I trust
in God," is a reproof to those who needlessly and deliberately place
themselves in positions of peril or temptation and then expect
providence to step in and save them from the consequences of their
folly. "God grant us no neighbour with two eyes" is the cry of the knave
who would prefer that those around him should be a little blind to his
proceedings.
"If they call thee reaper, whet thy scythe"; endeavour so far as may be
to rise to the position, and show the title deserved. Inculcating the
lesson of gratitude, we read, "A well from which thou drinkest, throw
not a stone into it." Our proverb that declares that "The shoemaker's
wife is the worst shod" has its Arab counterpart in the adage, "She went
to sleep hungry, though her husband is a baker." The mischief done by
careless speech in the land of the scimitar is enforced in the saying,
"The tongue is the neck's enemy." "A single grain makes the balance
heavier," and when two courses of action seem of almost equal
importance, a very slight difference will turn the scale in favour of
one or the other. The lesson of interdependence, the power of the small
to assist the great, is indicated in "The date-stone props up the
water-jar." "He left off sinning but never asked forgiveness" very
graphically describes those who think reformation sufficient, and take
no heed of bygone days, make no atonement for the old wrongs, solicit no
pardon from those they have injured. "It is a fire, to-morrow it will be
ashes," the fierce heat of passion will have subsided, the glowing sense
of wrong will have burnt itself out, and calm or apathy will take its
place. The stronger the emotion the less likely is it to be lasting.
The delight in stories is a very marked feature of the Arab, and many of
their proverbs are the pith and point of some narrative that their use
at once recalls. Thus, when they say "Dust is good for the eyes of the
wolf," it recalls the hypocrisy of the wolf who was asked why he was
following after those poor sheep? He explained that he had found that
the cloud of dust they created was good for his poor eyes! When a
business is found to be somewhat risky they tell how one said to the
mouse, "Take these two pounds of sugar and go carry this letter to the
cat." "The fee is good enough," she replied, "but the business is
tiresome." The wisdom of keeping one's own counsel is seen in the
dialogue between master and servant. The former said, "O slave, I have
bought thee." "That is thy business," he replied. "Wilt thou run away?"
"That is my business," he answered--a policy of non-committal.
Even amongst the savage tribes of Africa the proverb is greatly
esteemed, and many of the maxims in common use are abundantly shrewd,
while not a few of them have a very homely ring in them. Our English
experience that "Fine words butter no parsnips" runs on all-fours with
the West African savage's discovery that "The best words give no food";
while our bad exchange from the frying-pan to the fire is paralleled in
the saying, "He fled from the sword and hid in the scabbard." The
desirability of not too hastily trusting plausible strangers is very
effectively taught in "Make not friends by the way, lest you lose your
knife."
Over 2000 of these popular proverbs were collected by Richard Burton and
given to the world as "Wit and Wisdom from West Africa," and a very
interesting collection it is. Another good store will be found in the
"Dahomey and the Dahomans" by Commander Forbes, R.N., and various
missionaries have added to our fund of knowledge,[119:A] so that even
stay-at-home people have abundance of interesting material brought
within their ken.
That unreachable date of classic folk-lore, the Greek Calends, has its
quaint counterpart in the African saying, "I will pay thee when the
fowls cut their teeth." A lesson on the importance of keeping up one's
dignity, even in Yoruba circles, is given in the hint, "If thou husketh
corn with the fowl it will not esteem thee." The animal life all around
the village is naturally pressed into the service and made to contribute
its share of proverb-lore. How quaintly happy, for instance, is this,
"If stretching were wealth, the cat would be rich." How many a man in
West Africa and elsewhere would be well content to find so easy a road
to affluence. How equally happy this, "If there were no elephant in the
jungle the buffalo would be a great animal"; or this, "One who has
elephant's flesh does not search for crickets." What a shrewd humour
again in the statement that "When the mouse laughs at the cat there is a
hole near." By continuous effort much may be accomplished,[120:A] for
"String added to string will bind a leopard"--a lesson taught again in
this saying, "By going and coming the bird builds its nest."[120:B] How
true again the statement that "One cannot deceive a baboon by tricks";
in all such he is more than one's match, and the trickster must be
foiled by quite other methods. To try and outwit a knave is a hopeless
task and is, moreover, bad for one's self-respect. It is well to see
some return for one's outlay; it is bad enough to "buy," in English
parlance, "a pig in a poke," but in Africa they carry the idea yet
further and declare that "It is not well to buy the foot-prints of a
bullock," while another caution as to the disposal of one's property is
very aptly given in the reminder that "No one gives his pig to the hyena
to keep," this keeping being in such case all too thoroughly seen to.
The Akra-man tells us that "The thread follows the needle"; in other
words, certain consequences will naturally follow certain actions, and
these results, good or bad, may be confidently anticipated when we have
once set the machinery to work. He tells us, too, that "Food you will
not eat you do not boil"; people will not willingly work at any task
unless in some way or other they see their advantage in it. Another
illustration of consequences following upon a certain line of action is
seen in the proverb, "A stick that goes into the fire begins to burn";
a deliberate entry into any temptation will scarcely leave one
unscathed. Another quaint little piece of worldly wisdom is that "If you
lay your snare in company you go in company to look at it"--if you avail
yourself of the help of others, they in turn will expect a share of any
resulting good fortune.
The Yoruba-man warns you that "When a man says he will give you a gun,
ask his name"--that is to say, when a stranger displays a quite
unexpected interest in you, and develops a quite unlooked-for
generosity, it would be well before you accept his gift to find out
something about him, and what his motive may be for this sudden
friendship. "Lay on, lay on, makes a load," a fact that the man or beast
that has to carry it realises sooner than the person packing. The
repeated addition of small things soon mounts into a considerable
burden. "A canoe is paddled on both sides,"--no half-measures, no want
of unanimity, will suffice when some joint task has to be formed; it
must be "a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether," if any good
is to come of it. We see the sudden impulse, the overmastering
temptation, forcibly expressed in this, "When gold comes near you it
glistens"; the eye and the desire are strained and dazzled, the desire
to possess it is overmastering and "opportunity makes the thief."
Another very characteristic utterance is that "A slave does not show the
timber." This at first sight is enigmatical, but Burton in his comment
on it explains clearly enough that if the slave points out suitable
trees that he knows of in the dense forest, his only return would be
that on him would fall the labour of felling them and dragging them to
where they were wanted; he therefore maintains a discreet silence.
Another woodman proverb is that "The split tree still grows," calamity
is not so crushing but that much good may yet be done in the life.
The importance of being on good terms with the ruler is as great in West
Africa as elsewhere; hence we get the happy saw, "To love the king is
not bad, but to be loved by the king is better." In the last that we
shall quote, though the temptation to extend our list is great, we find
ourselves quite in the opposite scale of savage society, in the touching
proverb, "When a poor man makes a proverb it does not spread." This is
Oji experience, but it is certainly not Oji alone. The man is poor and
friendless, overridden and despised. The writer of _Ecclesiastes_ saw
the matter as clearly, for he tells us that "There was a little city and
few men within it, and there came a great king against it and besieged
it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now, there was found in it a
poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city, yet no man
remembered that same poor man. Then said I, wisdom is better than
strength; nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words
are not heard." As it was in Palestine in the days of old, so it is in
Oji-land to-day, and so in all lands will it ever be. The jokes of the
judge will convulse the court and his wisdom enthral it, but no meaner
authority therein, either as humorist or sage, will be heard, under pain
of expulsion.
Another valuable store of proverb-philosophy will be found in the pages
of the Talmud. The teaching is excellent: "A myrtle among nettles is
still a myrtle"; "He who prays for his neighbour will be heard for
himself"; "Prepare thyself in the hall, that thou mayest be admitted
into the palace"; so pass through these things temporal that a welcome
may be thine in the presence of the King. If offence must come, "Be thou
the cursed, not he who curses," and "Let the honour of thy neighbour be
to thee as thine own."
Scorn ingratitude and "Throw no stone into the well whence thou hast
drunk," and bear ever in mind the difficult lesson, "Teach thy tongue to
say I do not know." He who professes to know all things shuts himself
out of much opportunity for gaining knowledge. "In two cabs of dates is
one cab of stones," much that is profitless will ever be mixed with the
good. How true too the caution, "He who is suspicious should be
suspected." To the pure all things are pure, and the honest man thinks
no evil, but the man of evil heart lives in a beclouded atmosphere and
sees all things through a distorted medium. How wise and charitable, how
just, the counsel, "Do not judge thy neighbour until thou hast stood in
his place." The Arab proverb about standing on the wall and trusting to
Allah is re-echoed in this Talmudic precept, "Do not stand in a place of
danger, trusting in miracles."
Others, and these we must simply put down without comment, are--"One
thing acquired with pain is better than fifty with ease"; "When the
thief has no opportunity of stealing he thinks himself honest"; "Let the
grapes pray for the welfare of the branches"; "Who is strong? he who
subdues his passion"; "If I had not lifted the stone you had not found
the jewel"; "Whosoever does too much does too little"; "In his own house
the weaver is a king"; "Iron sharpens iron, and scholar scholar"; "The
way man wishes to go, thither his feet will carry him." It will, we
trust, be seen from these examples that our commendation of the Talmud
as a mine of proverbic wealth has full justification.
FOOTNOTES:
[91:A] The warning, "We know not under which stone lurks the scorpion,"
could not, for example, have had its birth in England, as it points to a
peril from which we are wholly exempt.
[92:A] Or in less classic phrase--"It's dogged as does it."
[93:A] "The preaching of the Word is in some places like the planting of
woods, where, though no profit is received for twenty years together, it
cometh afterwards. And grant that God honoureth not thee to build His
Temple in thy parish, yet thou mayest, with David, provide metals and
materials for Solomon, thy successor, to build it with."--THOMAS FULLER,
_Holy State_.
[95:A]
"But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair."--"Henry IV."
[95:B]
"Festina lente, not too fast;
For haste, the proverb says, makes waste."--"Hudibras."
[96:A] The Portuguese is identical: "Mais valle um passaro na mao do que
dous voando."
[98:A] In French: "Entre la bouche et le verre, le vin souvent tombe à
terre."
[98:B] Yet it must be remembered that--
"When I hae saxpence under my thumb,
Then I get credit in ilka toon,
But when I hae naethin' they bid me gang by,
Hech! poverty parts gude company."
[99:A] He who mixes with unclean things becomes unclean.
[99:B] "Quien sirve no est libre," say the Spaniards--"He who serves is
not free"; while an old English proverb reminds us that "He who rides
behind another does not saddle when he pleases."
[101:A] "Donner est mort et prêter est bien malade."
[102:A] Those interested may turn for fuller treatment of the proverbs
of France to the "Six mille proverbes" of C. Cahier, published in Paris
in 1836, to the "Livre des proverbes Français" of Le Roux de Lincy,
1859, or the "Petite Encyclopédie des proverbes Français" of Hilaire le
Gais, 1860.
[105:A] In France they say, "Clef d'or ouvre toutes sortes de serrures."
[105:B] "I weigh the man, not his title: 'tis not the king's stamp can
make the metal better."--WYCHERLEY, _The Plain Dealer_.
[105:C] The Germans happily say, "Liebe deinen Nachbar, reiss, aber den
Zaun nicht ein"--"Love your neighbour, but do not pull down the hedge."
[105:D] The sieve re-appears very graphically again in this: "A grain
does not fill a sieve, but it helps its companion to do so."
[107:A] Another expressive proverb tells that, "Courtiers are shod with
watermelon rind," a somewhat slippery and uncertain foot-gear, rendering
one's footing not particularly safe.
[108:A] "In prosperity no altars smoke" is like unto it. This too is
Italian.
[109:A] The old English proverb declares that "By the Street of
By-and-by one arrives at the House of Never."
[110:A] "To send you any news from hence were to little purpose, ours
being little else but the translation of English or French; and to send
you our news from England were to carry coals to Newcastle."--"Thoresby
Correspondence," 1682.
[117:A] The French adage, "À barbe de fou on apprendre à raire" is very
similar.
[119:A] As, for instance, "The Oji Language, with a Collection of Native
Proverbs," by the Rev. H. N. Riis. The sketch of the Akra language by
the Rev. J. Zimmerman, of the Efik language by the Rev. Hugh Goldie, of
the Yoruba by the Rev. J. Bowen, all give many examples of proverbs.
[120:A] The Italians say, "Piuma a piuma se pela l'occha," feather by
feather the goose was stripped.
[120:B] This recurs in the French, "Petit à petit l'oiseau fait son
nid."