FOOTNOTES:

"Those that fly may fight again,Which he can never do that's slain,"

we learn in "Hudibras," and the sentiment re-appears inthe 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 ofprinces 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 theiradage, "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 ofEcclesiastes, 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 isthe 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 inGermany 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." Filialrespect 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 fosze 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 bringback 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 handlecinnabar 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 theunjust 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 mischiefdone 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 proverbis 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 easya 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 thatgoes 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 treestill 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 ofEcclesiastessaw 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.

[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: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."

[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."

[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."

Proverbs that are misunderstood—The Cheese—Raining Cats and Dogs—Cattle-harrying—The Bitter End—By Hook or Crook—Proverbs of Evil Teaching—Necessity has no Law—The Peck of Dirt—Howl with the Wolves—Sarcasm in Proverbs—The Fool—Selfishness—The Praise of Truth—The Value of Time—Death—The Conduct of Life—Occupations that supply Proverbs—The Barber, Tailor, Cobbler, Physician, Lawyer, and others—The Cowl and the Monk—The Long Bow—The Meditative Angler—Sayings associated with particular Individuals—Hobson and his Choice—Plowden's Law—Mortimer's Bow—The Wisdom of Doddipol—The Fear of Mrs Grundy's Opinion—Locality Proverbs—Rustic Humour—Local Products—Tenterden Steeple.

Though in the great majority of cases the significance of a proverb is more or less apparent on consideration, and when discovered is more or less helpful to the conduct of life, we from time to time encounter adages that have achieved some considerable popularity and yet are quite misunderstood, or are entirely unsound in teaching. Comparatively few proverbs reach the highest plane; they are mostly content to supply good work-a-day maxims for a man's prosperity and easy passage through this life, but occasionally self-interest is carried to a point where principle is lost sight of, and the result is wholly evil.

The proverbs that are misunderstood are ordinarily sound enough in their teaching, and are freely used by all—a meaning, not the correct one, having beentacked on to them and found to be a good working one. This is a philological principle that we meet with in all directions. Asparagus, for instance, is so called from the Greek word to tear, many of the species being armed with spines that lacerate,[125:A]but the costermonger knows nothing of this, so he drops the word that has no meaning to him and calls it sparrow-grass, a much more meaningless word really. A somewhat common expression amongst a certain class is "That's the ticket," meaning "that is the proper course to pursue." Why it should carry this significance is not on the face of it obvious, but the whole matter is cleared up when we find that it is a corruption of "C'est l'etiquette." Another popular expression of approval takes the form of "That's the cheese." Familiarity makes such an expression accepted without demur, but one moment's consideration suffices to convince us that what it says cannot really be what it means.[125:B]If we turn it, for instance, into "C'est le fromage," and so get rid of the old formula, we realise this better. What we are to put in its place is quite another matter. One authority suggests that cheese is really the French word "chose," and would bid us accept "C'est le chose" as the true rendering. Another informs us that "chiz" is Bengalee for "thing," and that the expression has been imported from the East; while a third, and he is the man that we would personally pin our faith on, reminds us that "choice" was in Anglo-Saxon times "chese." In the "Vision of Piers Plowman," for example, we read—

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