PROVERBS.
Every child knows what a proverb is, though every child may not,
perhaps, be able to say in its own words just what makes a proverb. A
proverb has been defined as "a wise saying in a few words." At any
rate, if it is not always wise, the person who first said it and the
people who repeat it think it is. Most proverbs are very old, and take
us back, just as we saw that words formed from the names of animals
do, to the early days before the growth of large towns.
In those days life was simple, and people thought chiefly of simple
things. When they thought children or young persons were going to do
something foolish they gave them good advice, and tried to teach them
a little lesson from their own experience of what happened among the
common things around them.
A boy or a girl who was very enthusiastic about some new thing was
warned that "new brooms sweep clean." When several people were anxious
to help in doing one thing, they were pushed aside (just as they are
now) with the remark that "too many cooks spoil the broth." The people
who use this proverb now generally know very little about broth and
still less about cooking. They say it because it expresses a certain
truth in a striking way; but the first person who said it knew all
about cooks and kitchens, and spoke out of the fullness of her (it
must have been a woman) experience.
Again, a person who is discontented with the way in which he lives and
is anxious to change it is warned lest he jump "out of the frying-pan
into the fire." Again the wisdom comes from the kitchen. And we may
remark that these sayings are difficult to contradict.
But there are other proverbs which contain statements about birds and
animals and things connected with nature, and sometimes these seem
only half true to the people who think about them. We sometimes hear
it said of a person who is very quiet and does not speak much that
"still waters run deep." This is true in Nature. A little shallow
brook will babble along, while the surface of a deep pool will have
hardly a ripple on it. But a quiet person is not necessarily a person
of great character or lofty thoughts. Some people hardly speak at all,
because, as a matter of fact, they find nothing to say. They are
quiet, not because they are "deep," but because they are shallow.
Still, the proverb is not altogether foolish, for when people use it
about some one they generally mean that they think this particular
quiet person is one with so much going on in his or her mind that
there is no temptation to speak much. "Empty vessels make most sound"
is another of these proverbs which is literally true, but is not
always true when applied to people. A person who talks a great deal
with very little to say quite deserves to have this proverb quoted
about him or her. But there are some people who are great talkers just
because they are so full of ideas, and to them the proverb does not
apply.
Another of these nature proverbs, and one which has exasperated many a
late riser, is, "The early bird catches the worm." Many people have
inquired in their turn, "And what about the worm?" But the proverb is
quite true, all the same.
Again, "A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a proverb which has been
repeated over and over again with many a headshake when young people
have refused to settle down, but have changed from one thing to
another and roamed from place to place. And this is quite true. But we
may ask, "Is it a good thing for stones to gather moss?" After all,
the adventurous people sometimes win fortunes which they could never
have won if they had been afraid to move about. And the adventurous
people, too, win other things--knowledge and experience--which are
better than money. Of course the proverb is wise to a certain degree,
for mere foolish changing without any reason cannot benefit any one.
But things can gather _rust_ as well as moss by keeping still, and
this is certainly not a good thing.
"Where there's a will there's a way." So the old proverb says, and
this is probably nearly always true, except that no one can do what is
impossible. "Look before you leap" is also good advice for impetuous
people, who are apt to do a thing rashly and wonder afterwards whether
they have done wisely.
The most interesting thing about proverbs to the student of words is
that they are always made up of simple words such as early peoples
always used. But we go on repeating them, using sometimes words which
we should never choose in ordinary speech, and yet never noticing that
they are old-fashioned and quaint.
It is true that there are some sayings which are so often quoted that
they seem almost like proverbs. But a line of poetry or prose, however
often it may be quoted, is not a proverb if it is taken from the
writings of a person whom we know to have used it for the first time.
These are merely quotations. No one can say who was the first person
to use any particular proverb. Even so long ago as the days of the
great Greek philosopher Aristotle many proverbs which are used in
nearly every land to-day were ages old. Aristotle describes them as
"fragments of an elder wisdom."
Clearly, then, however true some quotations from Shakespeare and Pope
and Milton may be, and however often repeated, they are not proverbs.
"A little learning is a dangerous thing."
This line expresses a deep truth, and is as simply expressed as any
proverb, but it is merely a quotation from Pope. Again,
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"
is true enough, and well enough expressed to bear frequent quotation,
but it is not a "fragment of elder wisdom." It is merely Pope's
excellent way of saying that foolish people will interfere in delicate
matters in which wise people would never think of meddling. Here,
again, the language is not particularly simple as in proverbs, and
this will help us to remember that quotations are not proverbs. There
is, however, a quotation from a poem by Patrick A. Chalmers, a
present-day poet, which has become as common as a proverb:--
"What's lost upon the roundabouts
We pulls up on the swings."
The fact that this is expressed simply and even ungrammatically does
not, of course, turn it into a proverb.
Though many of the proverbs which are repeated in nearly all the
languages of the world are without date, we know the times when a few
of them were first quoted. In Greek writings we already find the
half-true proverb, "Rolling stones gather no moss;" and, "There's many
a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," which warned the Greeks, as it
still warns us, of the uncertainty of human things. We can never be
sure of anything until it has actually happened. In Latin writings we
find almost the same idea expressed in the familiar proverb, "A bird
in hand is worth two in the bush"--a fact which no one will deny.
St. Jerome, who translated the Bible from Greek into Latin in the
fourth century and wrote many wise books besides, quotes two proverbs
which we know well: "It is not wise to look a gift horse in the
mouth," and, "Liars must have good memories." The first again deals,
like so many of the early proverbs, with the knowledge of animals. A
person who knows about horses can tell from the state of their mouths
much about their age, health, and general value. But, the proverb
warns us, it is neither gracious nor wise to examine too closely what
is given to us freely. It may not be quite to our liking, but after
all it is a present.
The proverb, "Liars must have good memories," means, of course, that
people who tell lies are liable to forget just what tale they have
told on any particular occasion, and may easily contradict themselves,
and so show that they have been untruthful. It is necessary, then, for
such a person, unless he wishes to be found out, to remember exactly
what lies he has told.
Many proverbs have remained in the English language, not so much for
the wisdom they contain as for the way in which they express it. Some
are in the form of a rhyme--as, "Birds of a feather flock together,"
and "East and west, home is best." These are always favourites.
Others catch the ear because of their alliteration; that is to say,
two or three of their words begin with the same letter. Examples of
this are: "Look before you leap." The proverb "A stitch in time saves
nine" has something of both these attractions, though it is not
exactly a rhyme. Other examples of alliteration in proverbs are:
"Delays are dangerous," "Speech is silvern, silence is golden."
A few proverbs are witty as well as wise, and these are, perhaps, the
best of all, since they do not, as a rule, exasperate the people to
whom they are quoted, as many proverbs are apt to do. Usually these
witty proverbs are metaphors.