In such an investigation, we naturally turn, first of all, to that great
collection of proverbs, with which the name of Solomon has become
identified. They do not, however, represent his genius alone, although we
shall frequently use his name as representative of the whole class of
philosophers. They are the productions of many wise men through many
generations. They are, indeed, the outcome of the life of a whole people,
put into definite shape by those who had insight sufficiently keen and
power of expression sufficiently terse to formulate the lessons of human
experience. "The wise men," says Canon Driver, "took for granted the main
postulates of Israel's creed, and applied themselves rather to the
observation of human nature as such, seeking to analyze character,
studying action in its consequences, and establishing morality upon the
basis of principles common to humanity at large. On account of their
prevailing disregard of national points of view, and their tendency to
characterize and estimate human nature under its most general aspects,
they have been termed, not inappropriately, the _Humanists_ of Israel.
Their teaching had a practical aim; not only do they formulate maxims of
conduct, but they appear also as moral advisers, and as interested in the
education of the young."
The Book of Proverbs is a perfect mine of cunning and glittering
sentences, many of which are witty as well as wise, and none the less wise
because they are witty. There are swords that pierce the hidden motives of
men, and whips that lacerate the backs of their open follies and sins.
_1. The Fool._
There is a personage, or more exactly, an assemblage of certain qualities,
constantly held up to ridicule under the general title of _The Fool_.
Ruskin says that "folly and sin are to some extent synonymous." The Fool
in the Book of Proverbs is one who combines mental stupidity with moral
obtuseness. He has a hard time of it at the hands of the proverbialists.
"He that begetteth a fool doeth so to his sorrow; the father of a fool
hath no joy."
Foolish persons have always been noted for parading their folly, and
sounding a trumpet to proclaim their lack of understanding. So Solomon
says: "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of
his soul." "The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright; but the mouth
of fools poureth out foolishness." "When he that is a fool walketh in the
way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a
fool,"--his scanty supply of sense is not enough to last him to the end of
his journey. There is a modern proverb to the same effect: "He has not wit
enough to last him over night." Everything the fool undertakes comes to
grief. "He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the
feet and drinketh damage." "The labor of the fool wearieth every one,
because he knoweth not how to go to the city." "The simple believeth every
word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going." "Let a bear robbed
of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly." No discipline
can be too severe for the fool. "Judgments are prepared for scorners and
stripes for the back of fools." "A whip for the horse, a bridle for the
ass, and a rod for the fool's back." But Solomon is not sanguine that the
most rigorous course will produce extraordinary results. "A reproof
entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool." "Wisdom
is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the
ends of the earth." "Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to
get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" One can almost see that
picture--the fool wandering about the city with money in his hand,
inquiring where a person in need of it might purchase a commodity of good
common sense. "Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat
with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." In many
other proverbs is the fool gibbeted. "As snow in summer, and as rain in
harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool." "The legs of the lame are not
equal; so is a parable in the mouth of fools." "As he that bindeth a stone
in a sling, making a dangerous weapon, so is he that giveth honor to a
fool." "As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable
in the mouth of fools." "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than
for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under
a pot, so is the laughter of the fool." In one chapter Solomon describes a
group of foolish persons. "For three things the earth is disquieted and
for four which it can not bear; for a servant when he reigneth"--the
modern instance is the "beggar on horseback,"--"and a fool when he is
filled with meat; for an odious woman when she is married; and a handmaid
that is heir to her mistress." These four characters "play such fantastic
tricks before high heaven," that whether the "angels weep" or not, the
earth groans and is "disquieted." And yet Solomon seems to have found a
more grotesque and incorrigible character than the fool: "Seest thou a man
wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him." The
contempt of the proverbialists for the class of persons here described was
quite as strong as that of Dr. Samuel Johnson. When some one hoped that
the good doctor might meet in heaven a certain person whose conduct had
aroused his ire, he retorted with some warmth, "Madam, I am not fond of
meeting fools anywhere."
_2. The Idler._
How these writers love to castigate laziness! They toss the sluggard on
all manner of sharp-pointed epigrams. "He that gathereth in summer is a
wise son; he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." "The
way of a slothful man is as a hedge of thorns,"--he walks as slowly and
painfully as if avoiding thorns on either hand. "As vinegar to the teeth
and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him." "The
slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting." "The sluggard
will not plough by reason of the cold, therefore he shall beg in harvest
and have nothing." "Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." "He that
tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread; but he that followeth vain
persons"--those who teach him that there is any other way to success than
honest industry,--"is void of understanding." "The slothful man says,
There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets." "As the door
turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed." "The slothful
hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his
mouth." Too lazy to eat! This is the very acme of indolence.
_3. The Babbler._
These wise men recommend, in pithy terms, the judicious control of the
tongue. They commend the value of silence. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and
his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." "The beginning of strife is as
when one letteth out water; therefore leave off contention before it be
meddled with." "It is an honor to a man to cease from strife, but every
fool will be meddling." "Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is
accounted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of
understanding." This is the same idea which we find, in more elaborate
form, in Shakespeare:
"There are a sort of men, whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond;
And do a wilful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be drest in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit;
As who should say, 'I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!'
Oh, my Antonio, I do know of these,
That therefore only _are reputed wise
For saying nothing_: Who, I am very sure,
If they should speak, would almost damn these ears,
Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools."
In point of condensation, the wit of the proverb has the advantage.
Coleridge relates an incident which illustrates that "even a fool when he
holdeth his peace is accounted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is
esteemed a man of understanding." He once saw, at a dinner table, "a
dignified man with a face as wise as the moon's." The awful charm of his
manner was not broken until the muffins appeared, and then the imp of
gluttony forced from him the exclamation--"Them's the jockeys for me!"
There is a passage concerning the tongue in the Book of James, full of
sayings quite as terse and striking as any in the Book of Proverbs. "If
any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to
bridle the whole body." "The tongue is a little member and boasteth great
things; behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." "Every kind of
beasts and birds and serpents is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind;
but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison. * * * Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. * * *
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?"
This passage from James may be placed side by side with the familiar story
of AEsop. His master, Xanthus, sent him to market to procure the best
things it afforded. When the dinner hour arrived, Xanthus discovered that
nothing but tongues had been provided. "What," he exclaimed in a rage,
"did I not tell you to procure the best things the market afforded?" "And
have I not obeyed your orders? Is there anything better than a tongue? Is
it not the bond of civil society, the organ of truth and reason, the
instrument of our praise and adoration of the gods?" The next day AEsop was
directed to go to the market and purchase the worst things it afforded. He
did so and again purchased nothing but tongues. "What!" cried Xanthus,
"tongues again?" "Certainly; for the tongue is surely the worst thing in
the world; it is the instrument of all strife and contention, the inventor
of law-suits, and the source of all division and wars; it is the organ of
errors, of lies, of calumnies, and blasphemies."
"Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, and therewith curse we men who
are made after the likeness of God; out of the same mouth cometh forth
cursing and blessing."
_4. The Scold._
To return to the proverbs. Solomon had some unhappy domestic experiences,
and such proverbs as these may have been the outcome: "As a jewel of gold
in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman without discretion." "A continual
dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike. Whosoever
hideth her, hideth the wind." "It is better to dwell in the wilderness
than with a contentious and angry woman." "Better is a dinner of herbs
where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." "It is better to
dwell in the corner of a house top than with a brawling woman in a large
house."
_5. The Power of Money._
The proverbialists had been close observers of human nature, and of the
ways of the world. "Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of a
man are never satisfied." "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh
merry; but money answereth all things." "The rich ruleth over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender." These wise men had seen much
to justify the sharp arrows they shot at those "who crook the pregnant
hinges of the knee where thrift may follow fawning." "The poor is hated
even of his own neighbor, but the rich hath many friends." "Many will
entreat the favor of a prince, and every man is a friend to him that
giveth gifts." "A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before
great men." There is an incident in the second Book of Kings, that
exemplifies, with touches of humor, the truth of these proverbs. "And the
king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, (king of Israel,) for he had
sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and _brought no present to the king
of Assyria_, as he had done year by year." The king of Assyria is greatly
shocked at this sign of disrespect. His feelings are outraged and wounded
at receiving no present. It is suspicious, very suspicious! Let this
Hoshea be looked to. The man who fails to bring the usual present is fit
for "treasons, stratagems and spoils." There is no telling what evil he
may be plotting. Surely there is "conspiracy in him." "Therefore, the king
of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison." Solomon was right--"A
man's gift bringeth him before great men," but the absence of it bringeth
him into prison as a traitor!
_6. Miscellaneous._
Many other examples of wit and wisdom might be given. Let us add a few
miscellaneous ones. Solomon advises against making long calls. Busy men
would do well to hang this motto up in their offices: "Withdraw thy foot
from thy neighbor's house, lest he weary of thee and so hate thee." In
Solomon's wide and varied experiences, there had evidently been occasional
encounters with "bores."
It may sometimes be well to present a stern front to the slanderer: "The
North wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a back-biting
tongue."
Excellent advice this for those who indorse other people's notes: "Be not
one of them that strike hands, or one of them that are sureties for debts;
if thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under
thee?" "He that hateth suretyship is sure."
There were those in that day, as well as in our own, who tried to beat
down the price of an article by depreciating its quality: "It is naught,
it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he hath gone his way, then he
boasteth." Donald G. Mitchell, in his charming book, _My Farm at
Edgewood_, has a chapter on "Dickering" which is, in effect, an
elaboration of the proverb last quoted. "Sometime or other, if a man enter
upon farm life--and it holds in almost every kind of life--there will come
to him a necessity for bargaining. It is a part of the curse, I think,
entailed upon mankind at the expulsion from Eden, that they should sweat
at a bargain. * * * If I were to take the opinions of my excellent
friends, the purchasers, for truth, I should be painfully conscious of
having possessed the most mangy hogs, the most aged cows, the scrubbiest
veal, and the most diseased and stunted growth of chestnuts and oaks with
which a country-liver was ever afflicted. For a time, in the early period
of my novitiate, I was not a little disturbed by these damaging
statements; but have been relieved by learning on further experience that
the urgence of such lively falsehoods is only an ingenious mercenary
device for the sharpening of a bargain."