' m - 536*1 1 A COLLECTION BY WALTER K. KELLY. ANDOVER: WARREN F. DRAPER, MAIN STREET. 1869. "Even the best proverb, though often the expression of the widest experience in the choicest language, can be thoroughly misapplied. It can not embrace the whole of the subject, and apply in all cases like a mathematical formula. Its wisdom lies in the ear of the hearer." FEIEXDS ts COUXCIL. PREFACE. ENGLISH literature, in most departments the richest in Europe, is yet the only one in which there has hitherto existed no com- prehensive collection of proverbs adapted to general use. To supply this deficiency is the object of the present attempt. Dean Trench, in the preface to his " Proverbs and their Les- sons," adverts to "the immense number and variety of books bearing on the subject;" but adds, that among them all he knows not one which appears to him quite suitable for all readers. " Either," he says, " they include matter which cannot fitly be placed before all or they address themselves to the scholar alone; or, if not so, arc at any rate inaccessible to the mere Eng- lish reader or they contain bare lists of proverbs, with no endeavor to compare, illustrate, or explain them or, if they do seek to explain, they yet do it without attempting to sound the depths or measure the real significance of that which they attempt to unfold." My own experience in this department of literature is entirely in accordance with these views. I have, therefore, during the preparation of the following pages, kept constantly before my mind the Dean of Westminster's precise statement of things to be done, and things to be avo ided. British proverbs, for the most part, form the basis of this collec- tion. They are arranged according to their import and affinity, VI PREFACE. and under each of them are grouped translations of their principal equivalents in other languages, the originals being generally ap- pended in footnotes. By this means are formed natural families of proverbs, the several members of which acquire increased sig- nificance from the light they reflect on each other. At the same time, a source of lively interest is opened for the reader, who is thus enabled to observe the manifold diversities of form which the same thought assumes, as expressed in different times and by many distinct races of men'; to trace the unity in variety which pervades the oldest and most universal monuments of opinion and sentiment among mankind; and to verify for himself the truth of Lord Bacon's well-known remark, that " the genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs." Touching as they do upon so wide a range of human concerns, proverbs are necessarily associated with written literature. Some- times they are created by it; much oftener they are woven into its texture. Personal anecdotes turn upon them in many instances; and not unfrcquently they have figured in national history, or have helped to preserve the memory of events, manners, usages, and ideas, some of which have left little other record of their existence. From the wealth of illustration thus inviting my hand, I have sought to gather whatever might elucidate and enliven my subject without overlaying it. In this way I hope to have overcome the general objection alleged by Isaac Disraeli against collections of proverbs, on the ground of their " unreadableness." It is true, as he says, that " taking in succession a multitude of insulated prov- erbs, their slippery nature resists all hope of retaining one in a hundred; " but this remark, I venture to believe, does not apply to the present collection, in which proverbs are not insulated, but presented in orderly, coherent groups, and accompanied with appropriate accessories, so as to fit them for being considered with some continuity of thought. CONTENTS. PAO WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. ..... 1 PARENTS AND CHILDREN - - 24 YOUTH AND AGE - - - - - - - 27 NATURAL CHARACTER .... 30 HOME ...-..---34 PRESENCE. ABSENCE, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE - - - 37 FRIENDSHIP .-.-----40 CO-OPERATION, RECIPROCITY, SUBORDINATION - - 46 LUCK, FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE - - - - 49 FORETHOUGHT, CARE, CAUTION - - - - - 58 PATIENCE, FORTITUDE, PERSEVERANCE - - 63 INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS - - - - - - 68 THRIFT ----.. -70 MODERATION, EXCESS ....... 74 THOROUGH-GOING, THE WHOLE HOO - - - - 81 WILL, INCLINATION, DESIRE - . - - - - 86 CUSTOM, HABIT, USE -..---- 93 SELF-CONCEIT, SPURIOUS PRETENSIONS - - - - 98 SELF-LOVE, SELF-INTEREST, SELF-RELIANCE - - 101 SELFISHNESS IN GIVING, SPURIOUS BENEVOLENCE - - - 110 INGRATITUDE - - - - . -113 VIII CONTENTS. PACK THE MOTE AND THE BEAU .... Jig FAUTL8, EXCUSES, UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS - - 118 FALSE APPEARANCES AND PRETENCES, HrPOCKISY, DOUBLE DEALING, TIME-SERVING ...... 123 OPPORTUNITY .... . 134 UNCERTAINTY OP THE FUTURE, HOPE - - - 13" EXPERIENCE ..... ---144 CHOICE, DILEMMA, COMPARISON , - 148 SHIFTS, CONTRIVANCES, STRAINED USES ... 151 ADVICE ..... .-155 DETRACTION, CALUMNY, COMMON FAME, GOOD REPUTE ' - 157 TRUTH, FALSEHOOD, HONESTY ...... 161 SPEECH, SILENCE ....... 164 THREATENING, BOASTING -----.- 167 SECRETS - - - -,- . - - - 173 RETRIBUTION, PENAL JUSTICE ...... 178 WEALTH, POVERTY, PLENTY, WANT .... 183 BEGINNING AND END ....... 187 OFFICE - - - - - - - - - 191 LAW ASD LAWYERS - - - - . - . 196 PHYSIC, PHYSICIANS, MAXIMS RELATING TO HEALTH - - 199 CLERGY ..--.-..-204 SEASONS, WEATHER - ... . . -207 NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS, LOCAL ALLUSIONS - 212 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. THIS is an Englishwoman's proverb. The Italian sisterhood complain that " In men every mortal sin is venial; in women every venial sin is mortal." 1 These are almost the only proverbs relating to women in which justice is done to them, all the rest being manifestly the work of the unfair sex. If a woman were as little as she is good, A peascod would make her a gown and a hood. This is Ray's version of an. Italian slander. 2 The Germans say, " Every woman would rather be hand- some than good;" 3 and that, indeed, "There are only two good women in the world: one of them is dead, 1 A gli uomini ogni peccato mortale fe veniale, alle donne ogni veniale e mortale. 2 Se la donna fosse piccola come e buona, la minima foglia la farebbe una veste e una corona. 3 Jedes Weib will lieber schon als fromm sein. 1 2 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. and the other is not to be found." 1 The French, in spite of their pretended gallantry, have the coarseness to declare that " A man of straw is worth a woman of gold;" 2 and even the Spaniard, who sometimes .speaks words of stately courtesy towards the female sex, advises you to " Beware of a bad woman, and put no trust in a good one." 3 " The crab of the wood is sauce very good For the crab of the sea ; But the wood of the crab is sauce for a drab, That will not her husband obey." A spaniel, a woman, and a walnut tree, The more they 're bsaten the better they be. There is Latin authority for this barbarous distich. 4 The Italians say, "Women, asses, and nuts require rough hands." 5 Much wiser is the Scotch adage, Ye may ding the deil into a wife, but ye '11 ne'er ding him out o' her. Take your wife's first advice, and not her second. The French make the rule more general " Take a woman's first advice, etc." 6 There is good reason for this if the Italian proverb is true, " Women are wise 1 Es giebt nur zwei gute Weiber auf der Welt : die Eine L>t gestorben, die Andere nicht zu finden. 2 Un homme de paille vaut une femme d'or. 3 De la mala muger le guarda, y dc la buena no fics nada. 4 Nux, asinus, mulier simili sunt lege ligata, Hrec tria nil recte faciunt si verbera cc.ssaut. 5 Donne, asini, e noci voglion le mani atroci. 6 Prends le premier conseil d'une femme, et non le second. WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 3 offhand, and fools on reflection." 1 They have less logical minds than men, but surpass them in quickness of intuition, having, says Dean Trench, " what Mon- taigne ascribes to them in a remarkable word, Fesprit prime-sautier the leopard's spring, which takes its prey, if it be to take it at all, at the first bound." " Summer-sown corn and women's advice turn out well once in seven years," 2 say the Germans; and the Spaniards hold that "A woman's counsel is no great thing, but he who does not take it is a fool." 3 In Servia they say, " It is sometimes right even to obey a sensible wife;" and they tell this t-tory in elucidation of the proverb. A Ilerzegovinian pnce asked a Kadi whether a man ought to obey his wife, whereupon the Kadi an- swered that he needed not to do so. The Herzegovin- ian then continued: "My wife pressed me this morning to bring thee a pot of beef suet, so I have done well in not obeying her." Then said the Kadi, " Verily, it is sometimes right even to obey a sensible wife." It 's nae mair ferlio to see a woman greet than to see a guse gang barefit. Scotch. That is, it is no more wonder to sec a woman cry than to see a goose go barefoot. " Women laugh when they can, and weep when they will." 4 This is a French proverb, translated by Ray. Its want of rhyme makes it probable that it was never naturalized in England. 1 La donna savia 6 all' impensata, alia pensata e matta. 2 Sommersaat und Weibernith gcrath allc sicben J.ilr.x- ein;nul. 3 El consejo de la muger es poco, y quien no le toma cs loco. 4 Feinnie rit quand clle pent, et pleurc quand elle veut. 4 PKOVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. The Italians say, " A woman complains, a woman 's in woe, a woman is sick, when she likes to be so," 1 and that " A woman's tears are a fountain of craft." 2 A woman's mind and winter wind change oft. "Women are variable as April weather" (German). 3 " Women, wind, and fortune soon change" (Spanish). 4 Francis I. of France wrote one day with a diamond on a window of the chateau of Chambord, " Souvent femme varie : Bien fou qui s'y fie." " A woman changes oft : Who trusts'her is right soft." His sister, Queen Margaret of Navarre, entered, the room as he was writing the ungallant couplet, and, pro- testing against such a slander on her sex, she declared that she could quote twenty instances of man's fickle- ness. Francis retorted that her reply was not to the point, and that he would rather hear one instance of woman's constancy. " Can you mention a single in- stance of her inconstancy ? " asked the - Queen of Na- varre. It happened that a few weeks before this con- versation a gentleman of the court had been thrown into prison upon a serious charge ; and his wife, who was one of the queen's ladies in waiting, was reported 1 Donna si lagna, donna si duole, donna s'ammala qnando la vuole. 2 Lagrime di donna, fontana di malizia. 3 Weiber sind veranderlich wie Aprilwctter. 4 Muger, viento, y ventura presto se muda. WOMEN, LOVE, MAREIAGE, ETC. to have eloped with his page. Certain it was that the page and the lady had fled, no one could tell whither. Francis triumphantly cited this case ; but Margaret warmly defended the lady, and said that time would prove her innocence. The king shook his head, but promised that if, within a month, her character should be reestablished, he would break the pane on which the couplet was written, and grant his sister whatever boon she might ask. Many days had not elapsed after this, when it was discovered that it was not the lady who had fled with the page, but her husband. During one of her visits to him in prison they had exchanged clothes, and he was thus enabled to deceive the jailer, and effect his escape, while the devoted wife remained in his place. Margaret claimed his pardon at the king's hand, who not only granted it, but gave a grand fete and tournament to celebrate this instance of conjugal affection. He also destroyed the pane of glass, but the calumnious saying inscribed on it has unfortunately survived. A woman's tongue wa^s like a lamb's tail. A woman's strength is in her tongue. Welsh. Arthur could not tana a woman's tongue. Welsh. " Three women and three geese make a market," J according to the Italians. " Foxes are all tail, and women are all tongue;'' at least, it is so in Auvergne. 2 " All women are good Lutherans," say the Danes ; 1 Tre oche c t'rc donne fann\un mercato. 2 Lcs femmcs sont faites de languc, comnic les renards de queue. 6 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. "they would rather preach than hear mass." 1 "A woman's tongue is her sword, and she does not let it rust," is a saying of the Chinese. Swine, women, and bees are not to be turned. "Because" is a woman's answer. And not so unmeaning an answer as flippant critics imagine. It is an example of that much-admired figure of speech, aposiopesis, and means because I will have it* so. " What a woman wills, God wills " (French). 2 " Whatever a woman will she can " (Italian). 3 " The man 's a fool who thinks by force or skill To stem the torrent of a woman's will ; For if she will, she will, you may depend on 't, And if she jwon't, she won't, and there 's an end on 't." The cunning of the sex is equal to their obstinacy. "Women know a point more than the devil" (Italian). 4 What wonder, then, if " A bag of fleas is easier to keep guard over than a woman"? (German) 5 The wilful- ness of woman is pleasantly hinted at in the Scotch proverb, " ' Gie her her will, or she '11 burst,' quoth the gudeman when his wife was dinging him." A woman conceals what she does not know. Women and bairns lein [conceal] what they kenna. Scotch. " To a woman and a magpie tell what you would 1 Alle Quinder ere gode Lutherske, de predike heller end de bore Messe. 2 Ce que femme veut, Dieu le veut. 3 Se la donna vuol, tutto la pnol. 4 Le donne sanno un punto piu del diavolo. 5 Ein Sack voll Flohe ist leichter /u hiiten wie ein Weib. AVOilEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 7 speak in the m:irket-place " (Spanish). 1 Hotspur says to his wife, " Constant you are, But yet a woman, and for secrecy No lady closer ; for I well believe Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know, And so far I will trust thee, gentle Kate." But, if there is truth in proverbs, men have no right to reproach women for blabbing. A woman can at least keep her own secret. Try her on the subject of her age. Beauty draws more than oxen. " One hair of a woman draws more than a bell-rope " German). 2 " And beauty draws us with a single hair." Beauty buys no beef. Beauty is no inheritance. In spite of these curmudgeon maxims, let no fair maid despair whose face is her fortune, for " She that is born a beauty is born married" (Italian). 3 Beauty is but skin deep. The saying itself is no deeper. It is physically un- true, for beauty is not an accident of surface, but a nat- ural result and attribute of a fine organization. A man may sneer, like Ralph Xickleby, at a lovely face, be- 1 A la rauger y a la picaza loque dirias en la plaza. 2 Ein Frauenhaar zieht mehr als ein Glockenseil. 3 Chi nasce bella, nasce maritata. 8 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. cause he chooses rather to see " the grinning death's head beneath it;" but Ralph was a heartless villain, and that is only another name for a fool. " Beauty is one of God's gifts," says Mr. Lewes, "and every one really submits to its influence, whatever platitudes he may think needful to issue How, think you, should we ever have relished the immortal fragments of Greek literature, if our conception of Greek men and Greek women had been formed by the contemplation of figures such "as those of Chinese art? Would any pulse have throbbed at the Labdacidan tale had the des- cendants of Labdacus risen before the imagination with obese rotu::dity, large ears, gashes of mouths, eyes lurch- ing upwards towards the temples, and no nose to speak of? Could we with any sublime emotions picture to ourselves Fo-Ti on the Promethean rock, or a Congou Antigone wailing her unwedded death?" Fins faathers make fine fowls. Therefore, " If you want a wife, choose her on Satur- day, not on Sunday " (Spanish) ; * i. e., choose her in undress. " Xo woman is ugly when she is dressed " (Spanish) ; 2 at least, she is not so in her own opinion. " The swarthy darne, dressed fine, decries the fair one " (Spanish). 3 The fairer the hostess the fouler the reckoning. "A handsome landlady is bad for the purse" (French) ; 4 1 Si quicrcs hcinbra, escogc la el sabado, y no el domingo. 2 Compuesta no hay muger feu. 3 Baza compuesta la blanca denuesta. * Belle hotesse, c'est un inal pour la bourse. WOMEN, LOVE, MAKRIAGE, ETC. 9 for this among other reasons that " If the landlady is fair, the wine too is fair" (German). 1 A bonny bride is sune buskit. Scotch. Buskit dressed. She needs little adornment to enhance her charms. Joan is as good as my lady in the dark. When candles are all out cats are gray. " Blemishes are unseen by night," 2 says an ancient Latin proverb ; and the Greeks held that " When the lamp is removed all women are alike." 8 Opinions may differ on that point, but all agree that " The night Shows stars and women in a better light." Hence the Italian warning, to choose " Neither jewel, nor woman, nor linen by candlelight ; " 4 and the French hyperbole, " By candlelight a goat looks a lady." 5 If Jack is in love he is no judge of Jill's beauty. "Nobody's sweetheart is ugly" (Dutch). 6 "Never seemed a prison fair or a mistress foul" (French). 7 " Handsome is not what is handsome, but what pleases " (Italian). 8 " He whose fair one squints says she ogles" 1 1st die Wirthin schb'n, ist auch der Wein schon. 2 Nocte latent mendse. 8 Ai/x^oO ap&ei/Tos iraffa yvv^i T\ aur^j. 4 Ne gioia, ne donna, ne tela al lume de candela. 5 A la chandelle la chovrc semble demoiselle. 6 Niemands lief is lelijk. 7 II n'est point de belles prisons ni de laides amours. 8 Non e bello quel che e bello, ma quel che piace. 10 I'KOVKUBS OF ALL NATIONS. (German). 1 "'Red is Love's color,' said the wooer to his foxy charmer" (German). 8 Love is blind. Blind to all imperfections in the beloved object ; blind al.-o to everything around it to facts, consequences, and prudential considerations. " People in love think that other people's eyes are out" (Spanish). 3 It is hard to keep flax from the lowe [fire]. Scotch. " Man is fire, woman tow, and the devil comes and blows" (Spanish). 4 Glasses and lasses are bruckle [brittle] wares. Scotch. A pretty girl and a tattered gown are sure to find some hook in the way. Italy appears to be the original country of this prov- erb, though it is popularly current in Ulster. " A hand- some woman and a pinked or slashed garment " are the things mentioned in the Italian proverb. 5 The French form c corresponds with the Irish. Whers love fails we espy all faults. Faults are thick where love is thin. Welsh. 1 Wessen Huldin schielt, dcr sagt sie liebaugele. 2 " Roth ist die Farbe der Liebe," sagte der Buhler zu seincm fuchs farbenen Schatz. 8 Piensan los cnamorados que ticnen los otros los ojos quebrados. 4 El hombre es el fuego, la muger la estopa ; viene el diablo y sopla. 5 Bella donna e veste tagliazzata sempre s'imbatte in qualche uneino. 6 Belle fille et me'chante robe trouvent toujours qui les accroche. WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 11 Hot love is soon cold. Love me little, love me long. Love of lads and fire of chats are soon in and soon out. -Derbyshire. Chats, i. e., chips. Lads' love 's a busk of broom, hot a whila and soon done. Cheshire. Love is never without jealousy. " He that is not jealous is not in love," says St. Augustin ; l but that depends not only upon the dispo- sition of the lover, but upon the point arrived at in the history of his love. Doubts and fears are excusable in one who has not yet had assurance that his passion is returned, but afterwards "Love expels jealousy" (French), 2 or, at least, it ought to do so. "Love de- mands faith, and faith steadfastness" (Italian) ; 3 but too often " Love gives for guerdon jealousy and broken faith" (Italian). 4 It is an Italian woman's belief that " It is better to have a husband without love than with jealousy." 5 No folly to being in love. Welsh. " To love and to be wise is impossible " (Spanish) ; 6 or, as an antique French proverb says, the two things have not the same abode. 7 This is the creed of those 1 Qui non zclat non amat. 2 Amour chasse jalousie. 8 Amor vuol fcde, e fede vuol fermezza. 4 Amor dk per mercede gelosia c rotta fcde. 5 Meglio e aver il marito senza amore che con gelosia. 6 Amar y saber,, no pucdc ser. 7 Aimer et savoir n'ont meme manoir. [For this last word some modern collections substitute muniere, which makes nonsense] 12 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. who have not themselves been lovers. As Calderon sings, in lines admirably rendered by Mr. Fitzgerald, " He who far off beholds another dancing, Even one who dances best, and all the time Hears not the music that he dances to, Thinks him a madman, apprehending not The law which moves his else eccentric action ; So he that 's in himself insensible Of love's sweet influence, misjudges him Who moves according to love's melody; And knowing not that all these sighs and tears, Ejaculations and impatiences, Are necessaiy changes of a measure Which the divine musician plays, may call The lover crazy, which he would not do, Did he within his own heart hear the tune Played by the great musician of the world." They that lie down [i. e., fall sick] for love, should rise for hunger. Scotch. The presumption being that, if they had not been too well fed, they would not have been troubled with that disease. " Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes " (Latin). 1 "No love without bread and wine" (French). 2 Old pottage is sooner heated than new made. An old flame is sooner revived than a new one kin- dled. "One always returns to one's first love" (French). 8 "True love never grows hoary" (Italian). 4 1 Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus. 2 Sans pain, sans vin, amour n'est rien. 8 On revient toujours & ses premieres amours. 4 Amor vero non diventa mai canuto. WOMEX, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 13 Love and light cannot be hid. Love and a cough cannot be hid. The French add smoke to these irrepressible things. 1 La gale is sometimes enumerated with them ; and the Danes say, " Poverty and love are hard to hide." 2 Love and lordship like not fellowship. Kindness comes awill. Scotch. That is, love cannot be forced. The Germans couple it in that respect with singing. 3 " Who would be loved must love," 4 say the Italians ; and " Love is the very price at which love is to be bought." 5 Our English proverbs on love are for the most part sarcastic or jocular, and few of them can be compared, for grace and elevation of feeling, with those of Italy. AVe have no parallels in our language for the following: 'Love knows no measure" 6 there are no bounds to its trustfulness and devotion; ' ; Love warms more than a thousand fires ; " " - He who has love in his heart has spurs in his sides;" 8 " Love rules without law ; " " Love rules his kingdom without a sword ; " 10 1 Amour, toux, et fiimee en secret ne font demeuree. 2 Armod OL_ r Kiivrliglied ere onde at doige. 3 Lielx; und Sin^en liisst sich nicht zwingen. 4 Chi vuol esser amato, convien ch'il ami. 5 Amor e il vero prezio, per che si compra amor. c Amor non conosce misura. 7 Scaldapiu amore die mille fuochi. 8 Clii ha I'amor nel petto, ha lo sprone a' franchi. 9 Amor rebre, 6 es muy rico. FRIENDSHIP. 43 a lamb everybody says to me, ' Good day, Peter ' " ( Spanish). 1 Everybody looks kindly on the thriving man. A friend in need is a friend indeed. But, as such friends are rare, the Scotch proverb counsels not amiss, Try your friend afore ye need him. On the other hand, "He that would have many friends should try few of them " (Italian). 2 " Let him that is wretched and beggared try everybody, and then his friend" (Italian). 8 A friend is never known till one have need. "A friend cannot be known in prosperity, and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity " (Ecclesiasticus). "A sure friend is known in a doubtful case" (Ennius). 4 When good cheer is lacking, friends will be packing. "The bread eaten, the company departed" (Spanish). 5 "While the pot boils, friendship blooms" (German). 8 " In time of prosperity friends will be plenty ; In time of adversity not one in twenty." No longer foster, no longer friend. Help yourself, and your friends will like you. " Give out that you have many friends, and believe 1 Ahora que tengo ovcja y borrego, todos me dicen : En bora buena estais, Pedro. 2 Chi vuol aver amici assai, ne prcvi pochi. 8 Chi e misero e senza denari, provi tutti, e poi 1'amico. 4 Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur. 6 El pan comido, la compania deshecha. 6 Siedet der Topf, so bliihet die Freundschaft. 44 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. that you have few " (French). 1 By that means you will not expose yourself to be bitterly disappointed, and you will secure the favors which the world is ready to bestow on those who seem to have least need of them. A friend at court is better than a penny in the purse. Kissing goes by favor. Every one makes it his business to " Take care of Dowb." "They are rich," therefore, "who have friends" (Portuguese, Latin). 2 "It is better to have friends on the market than money in one's coffer" (Spanish). 8 Every one dances as he has friends in the ball-room " (Portuguese). 4 "There's no living without friends" (Portuguese). 5 1 II faut se dire beaucoup d'amis, et s'en croire pen. 2 Aquellos sao ricos quo tern amigos. Ubi amici, ibi opes. 8 Mas valen amigos en la pla^a que dineros en el area. 4 Cada hum dancja como tern os amigos na sala. 5 Nao se pode viver sera amigos. CO-OPERATION. RECIPROCITY. SUBORDINATION. One beats the bush and another catches the birds. Sic vos non vobis. The proverb is derived from an old way of fowling by torchlight in the winter nights. A man walks along a lane, carrying a bush smeared with birdlime and a lighted torch. He is preceded by another, who beats the hedges on both sides and starts the birds, which, flying towards the light, are caught by the limed twigs. An imprudent use of this proverb by the Duke of Bedford, regent of France during the minority of our Henry VI., has given it historical celebrity. When the English were besieging Orleans, the Duke of Burgundy, their ally, intimated his desire that the town, when taken, should be given over to him. The regent replied, " Shall I beat the bush and another take the bird ? No such thing." These words so offended the duke that he deserted the English at a time when they had the greatest need of his help to resist the efforts of Charles VII. Here the proverb was used to imply an unfair division of spoil, or what was called, in the duchy of Bretragne, " A Montgomery distribution all on one side, and 46 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. nothing on the other." 1 (The powerful family of Mont- gomery were in the habit of taking the lion's share). It may also be applied to the manner in which confed- erates play into each other's hands. "The dog that starts the hare is as good as the one that catches it" (German). 2 The receiver is as bad as the thief. " He sins as much who holds the sack as he who puts into it" (French). 8 " He who holds the ladder is as bad as the burglar" (German). 4 Lie for him and he' 11 swear for you. Speir at Jock Thief if I be a leal man. Scotch. " Ask my comrade, who is as great a liar as myself " (French). 6 The lion had need of the mouse. The grateful mouse in the fable rescued her bene- factor from the toils by gnawing the cords. " Soon or late the strong needs the help of the weak" (French). 6 " Every ten years one man has need of another " (Italian). 7 1 Partage de Montgomery tout d'un cote, rien de 1'autre ; like " Irish reciprocity, all on one side." 2 Der Hund, der den Hasen ausspurt, ist so gut wie der ilm fangt. 8 Autant peche celui qui tient le sac que celui qui met dedans. 4 Wer die Leiter halt, ist so schuldig wie der Dicb. 5 Demandez-le a mon compagnon, qui est aussi menteur que moi. 6 Ou tot ou tard, on pres ou loin, Le fort du faible a besoin. 7 Ogni died anni un uomo ha bisogno dell' altro. CO-OPERATION, RECIPROCITY, SUBORDINATION. 47 % Two to one are odds at football. "Not Hercules himself could resist such odds" (Latin). 1 "Three helping each other are as good as six" (Spanish). 2 "Three brothers, three castles" (Italian). 8 "Three, if they unite against a town, will ruin it" (Arab). When two ride the same horse one must ride behind. And, furthermore, he must be content to journey as the foremost man pleases. " He who rides behind does not saddle when he will " (Spanish). 4 The question of precedence is settled in this case by another English proverb : He that hires the horse must ride before. The man who hires or owns the horse is Capital, and Labor must ride behind him. In other cases the ques- tion will often have to be decided by force. You stout and I stout, who shall carry the dirt out? "You a lady, I a lady, who is to drive out the sow?" (Gallegan). 5 Tarry breeks pays no fraught Scotch. Pipers don't pay fiddlers. "One barber shaves another" (French). 6 "One 1 Ne Hercules contra duos. 2 Ayudandose tres, para peso de seis. 3 Tre fratelli, tre castelli. * Quien tras otro cabalga, no ensella quando quiere. 5 Vos dona, yo dona, quen botara a porca foro ? 8 Un barbier rase 1'autre. 48 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. hand washes the other" (Greek). 1 "One ass m scratches another" (Latin). 2 Ka me, ka thee. Scntch. Turn about is fair play. Giff-gaff is good fellowship. Like master like man. " The beadle of the parish is always of. the opinion of his reverence the vicar" (French). 3 1 Xip 2 Asinus asinum fricat. 3 Le bedeau de la paroisse est toujours de 1'avis de monsieur le cure. I LUCK. FORTUNE. MISFORTUNE. Luck is all. A DESPERATE doctrine, based on that one-sided view of human affairs which is expressed in Byron's parody of a famous passage in Addison's Goto: " 'Tis not in mortals to command success ; But do you more, Sempronius, don't deserve it ; And, take my word, you '11 have no jot the less." "The worst pig gets the best acorn" (Spanish). 1 "A good bone never falls to a good dog" (French) ; 2 and "The horses eat oats that don't earn them" (German). 3 But this last proverb has also another application. " Other rules may vary," says Sydney Smith, " but this is the only one you will find without exception, that in this world the salary or reward is always in the in- verse ratio of the duties performed." The more rogue the more luck. The devil's children have the devil's luck. But their prosperity is false and fleeting. "The devil's meal runs half to bran " (French). 4 1 Al mas ruin pucrco la mejor bellota. 2 A un bon chien n'e'chet jamais un bon os. 3 Die Rosse fressen den Ilaber die ihn nicht verdienen. 4 La farine du diable s'en va moitie' en son. 4 50 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. God sends fools fortune. It is to this version of the Latin adage, Fortuna favet fatuis ("Fortune favors fools"), that Touchstone al- ludes in his reply to Jacques: " ' Xo sir,' quoth he ; ' Call me not fool till Heaven hath sent me fortune.' " The Spaniards express this popular belief by a striking figure : " The mother of God appears to fools." l The Germans say, " Fortune and women are fond of fools ;" 2 and the converse of this holds good likewise, since " Fortune makes a fool of him whom she too much favors" (Latin) ; 3 and so do women sometimes. When we consider how much what is called success in life depends on getting into one of "the main grooves of human affairs," we can account for the common remark that blockheads thrive better in the world than clever people, and that "Jack gets on by his stupidity" (Ger- man). 4 " It is all the difference of going by railway and walking over a ploughed field, whether you adopt common courses or set up one for yourself," which is most likely to be done by people of superior abilities. " You will see most inferior persons highly placed in the army, in the church, in office, at the bar. They have somehow got upon the line, and have moved on well, with very little original motive powers of their own. Do not let this make you talk as if merit were 1 A los hobos se les aparece la madre de Dios. 2 Gliick und Weiber haben die Narren licb. 3 Fortuna nimium quern favet stultum tacit. 4 Hans koramt durch seine Dumtnheit fort. LUCK, FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE. 51 utterly neglected in these or other professions, only that getting well into the groove will frequently do in- stead of any great excellence." 1 With this explanation we are prepared to admit that there is some reason in the Spanish adage, " God send you luck, my son, and little wit will serve your turn." 2 It is better to be lucky than wise. It is better to be born lucky than rich. Hap and ha'penny is warld's gear eneuch. Scotch. "The lucky man's bitch litters pigs" (Spanish). 3 Happy go lucky. The happy [lucky] man canna be harried. Scotch. The lucky man cannot be ruined. Seeming disasters will often prove to be signal strokes of good fortune for him. Such a man will have cause to say, " The ox that tossed me threw me upon a good place"(Spanish). 4 He is like a cat, he always falls on his feet. Cast ye owre the house riggen, and ye '11 fa' on your feet. Scotch. Give a man luck, and throw him into the sea. " Pitch him into the Nile," say the Arabs, u and he will come up with a fi?h in his mouth;" and the Ger- mans, " If he threw up a penny on the roof, down would come a dollar to him." 5 What is worse than ill luck? ' " Companions of my Solitude." 2 Ventura te de Dios, liijo, que poco saber te basta. 3 A quien Dios quiere Men, la perra le pare lechones. 4 Kl bncy que me acorno, en bucn lugar me echo 5 Wiirf ereincn Groschen aufs Duch, fiel ihm cin Thaler hcrunter. 52 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. An unhappy man's cart is eith to tumble. Scotch. That is, easily upset. It happens always to some peo- ple, as Coleridge said of himself, to have their bread and butter fall on the buttered side. An Irishman of this ill-starred class is commonly supposed to have been the author of the saying, He that is born under a threepenny planet will never be worth a groat. If my father had made me a hatter men would have been born without heads. But the thought is not original in our language : an unlucky Arab had long ago declared, "If I were to trade in winding-sheets no one would die." A man of this stamp " Falls on his back and breaks his nose " (French). 1 The Basques say of him, "Maggots breed in his salt-box;" the Proven9als, "He would sink a ship freighted with crucifixes ;" the Italians, " He would break his neck upon a straw." 2 Misfortunes seldom come single. Misfortunes come by forties. Welsh. Ill comes upon waur's back. Scotch. " Fortune is not content with crossing any man once," says Publius Syrus. 3 " After losing, one loses roundly," say the French. 4 The Spaniards have three remarkable proverbs to express the same conviction : " Whither goest thou, Misfortune? To where there is more." 5 1 II torabe sur le dos, et se casse le nez. 2 Si romperebbe il collo in un filo de paglia 3 Fortuna obesse nulli contenta est semel. 4 Apres perdre, perd-on bien. 5 Adonde vas, mal ? Adondc mas hay. LUCK, FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE. 53 "Whither goest thou, Sorrow? Whither I am wont." 1 "Welcome, Misfortune, if thou comest alone." 2 The Italian equivalents are numerous : e. g., " One ill calls another." 3 "One misfortune is the eve of another." 4 "A misfortune and a friar are seldom alone." 5 It can't rain but it poors. Good fortune, as well as bad, is said to come in floods. "If the wind blows it enters at every crevice" (Arab). It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. There is a local version of this proverb : It is an ill wind that blows no good to Cornwall. On the rock-bound coasts of that shire almost any wind brought gain to the wreckers. We have seen it some- where alleged that the general proverb grew out of the local one ; but this is certainly not the fact, for the former exists in other languages. Its Italian equivalent 6 agrees closely with it in form as well as in spirit. The French say, " Misfortune is good for something ; 7 " the Spaniards, "There is no ill but comes for good:" 8 and "I broke my leg. perhaps for my good." 9 Our worst misfortunes are those that never befall us. 1 Ado vas, duelo? Ado suclo. 2 Bien vengas, mal, si vienes solo. 3 Un mal chiama 1'otro. 4 Un mal e la vigilia dell' altro. 5 Un male e un frate di rado soli. 6 Cattivo e quel vento che a nessuno e prospero. 7 A quelque chose malheur cst bon. 8 No hay mal qne por bien no venga. 9 Quebreme el pie, quiza por bien. 54 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. " Never give way to melancholy : nothing encroaches more. I fight vigorously. One great remedy is to take short views of life. Are you happy now ? Are you likely to remain so till this evening ? or next week ? or next month? or next year? Then why destroy pres- ent happiness by a distant misery which may never come at all, or you may never live to see ? For every substantial grief has twenty shadows, and most of them shadows of your own making." Sydney Smith. Ye 're fleyed [frightened] o' the day ye ne'er saw. Scotch. You cry out before you are hurt. Never yowl till you're hit. Ulster. Let your trouble tarry till its own day comes. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. In French, " A chaque jour suffit sa peine," wo::ds which were frequently in Napoleon's mouth at 8.'. Helena. An eastern proverb says, " He is miserable once who feels it, but twice who fears it before it comes." When bale is highest, boot is nighest. " Bale " is obsolete as a substantive, but retains a place in current English as the root of the adjective " baleful." The proverb means that When the night 's darkest the day 'a nearest. The darkest hour is that before dawn. When things come to the worst they '11 mend. They must change, for that is the law of nature, and any change in them must be for the better. Thus, " By dint of going wrong all will come right" (French). 1 1 A force de mal allcr tout ira bien. LUCK, FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE. OO "III is the eve of well" (Italian); 1 and "It is at the narrowest part of the defile that the valley begins to open" ( Persian). " When the tale of bricks is doubled Moses comes" (Hebrew). He that 's down, down with him. Such is the way of the world " the oppressed oppressing." "Him that falls all the world run over" (German). 2 " He that has ill luck gets ill usage " (Old French). 3 "All bite the bitten dog" (Portuguese). 4 " When a dog is drowning everybody brings him drink " (French). 5 Knock a man down, and kick him for falling. A sort of treatment like what they call in France " The custom of Lorris : the beaten pay the fine." It was enacted by the charter of Lorris in the Orleanais, conferred by Philip the Fair, that any man claiming to have money due to him from another, but unable to pro- duce proof of the debt, might challenge the alleged debtor to a judicial combat with fists. The beaten com- batant had judgment given against him, which always included a fine to the lord of the manor. The puir man is aye put to the warst. Scotch. "The ill-clad to windward" (French). 7 1 II male e la vigtlia del bene. 2 Wcr da fullt, iiber ihm laufen alle Welt. 3 A qui il meschet, on lui meffaict. 4 Ao cao rnordido, todos o mordera. 5 Qur.nd le chien se nove, toute le monde lui porte u boire. 6 Ooutnme de Lorris ; Ics battus payent Taracnde. 7 Les mul vetus dcvers le %'ent. 56 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. The weakest goes to the wall, which is the worst place in a crowd and a crush. Also, Where the dyke is lowest men go over. "Where the dam is lowest the water first runs over" (Dutch). 1 People overrun and oppress those who are least able to resist. When the tree falls every man goes with his hatchet. " When the tree is down everybody gathers wood " (Latin). 2 "If my beard is burnt, others try to light their pipes at it" (Turkish). Where the carcass is, the eagles will be gathered together. "'We are, then, irremediably ruined, Mr. Oldbuck?' (The speaker is Miss Wardour, in the 'Antiquary.') "'Irremediably? I hope not; but the instant demand is very large, and others will doubtless pour in.' " ' Ay, never doubt that, Monkbarns,' said Sir Arthur ; ' where the slaughter is, the eagles will be gathered together. I am like a sheep which I have seen fall down a precipice, or drop down from sickness : if you had not seen a single raven or hooded crow for a fort- night before, he will not be on the heather ten minutes before half a dozen will be pecking out his eyes (and he drew his hand over his own), and tearing out his heart- strings before the poor devil has time to die.' " Put your finger in the fire and say it was your fortune. Scotch. Blame yourself only for the consequences of your 1 Waar de dam het laagst is, loopt hct water bet eerst over. 2 Arbore deject^ qnivis colligit ligna. LUCK, FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE. 57 own folly. Edgar, in Lear, says, " This is the excellent foppery of the world ! That when we are sick in for- tune we make guilty of our disasters, the sun, the moon, and the stars ; as if we were villains on necessity ; fools by heavenly compulsion ; knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance ; drunkards, liars, and adul- terers by a forced obedience of planetary influence ; and all that we are evil in by a divine thrusting on : an admirable evasion ! " FORETHOUGHT. CARE. CAUTION. Look before you leap. Don't buy a pig in a poke. A POKE is a pouch or bag. The word, which is still current in the northern counties of England, corresponds to the French poche, as " pocket " does to the diminu- tive, pochette. Bouge and bougette are other forms of the same word ; and from these we get " budget," which, curiously enough, has gone back from us to its original owners with a newly-acquired meaning; for the French Minister of Finance presents his annual Budget like our own Chancellor of the Exchequer. The French say, Acheter chat en poche : " To buy a cat in a poke," or game bag ; and the meaning of that proverb is explained by this other one, " To buy a cat for a hare." * So also the Dutch, 2 the Italian, 8 etc. The pig of the Eng- lish proverb is chosen for the sake of the alliteration at some sacrifice of sense. No safe wading in unknown waters. Therefore, " Swim on, and trust them not '\ (French). 4 1 Acheter le chat pour le lievre. 2 Een kat in een zak toopen. 3 Non comprar gatta in sacco. * Nage toujours, er ne t'y fie pas. FORETHOUGHT, CARE, CAUTION. 59 " "Who sees not the bottom, let him not pass the water " (Italian). 1 Beware of had I wist. "Had I wist," quoth the fooL " It is the part of a fool to say, ' I should not have thought it'" (Latin). 2 Stretch your arm no farther than your sleeve will reach. Never put out your arm further than you can easily draw it back again. Cautious Nicol Jarvie attributes to neglect of this rule the commercial difficulties of his correspondent, Mr. Osbaldistone, " a gude honest gentleman ; but I aye said he was ane of them .wad make a spune or spoil a horn." Perhaps it is to ridicule the folly of attempting things beyond the reach of our powers that the Germans tell us, " Asses sing badly because they pitch their voices too high." 3 Measure twice, cut but once. An irrevocable act should be well considered before- hand. Dean Trench quotes this as a Russian proverb, but it is to be found in James Kelly's Scottish collection, and is common to many European languages. Second thoughts are best. Therefore it is well to " take counsel of one's pillow." "The morning is wiser than the evening" (Russian), sometimes because in Russia especially the evening 1 Chi non vede il fondo, non passa 1'acqua. 2 Stulti est dicere non putarim. 3 Esel singen schlccht, weil sie zu hoch anstiramen. 60 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. is drunk and the morning is sober, but generally because the night affords time for reflection. " The night brings counsel" (French, Latin, German). 1 "Night is the mother of thoughts" (Italian). 2 "Sleep upon it, and you will take counsel" (Spanish). 3 Raise nae mair deils than ye can lay. Scotch. Do not rip up old sores. "Nor stir up an evil that has been fairly buried" (Latin). 4 Don't wake a sleeping dog. " When misfortune sleeps let no one wake her " (Spanish). 5 To lock the stable door when the steed is stolen. "The wise Italians," says Poor Richard [Benjamin Franklin], " make this proverbial remark on our nation : ' The English feel, but they do not see ; ' that is, they are sensible of inconveniences when they are present, but do not take sufficient care to prevent them ; their natural courage makes them too little apprehensive of danger, so that they are often surprised by it unpro- vided with the proper means of security. When it is too late they are sensible of their imprudence. After great fires they provide buckets and engines ; after a 1 La nuit porte conseil. In nocte consilium. Outer Rath kommt iiber Nacht. 2 La notte e la madre di piensieri. 3 Dormireis sobre ello, y tomareis acuerdo. 4 Malum bene conditum ne moveris. 5 Quando la mala ventura sc duerme, nadie la despierte. FORETHOUGHT, CAKE, CAUTION. 61 pestilence they think of keeping clean their streets and common sewers ; and when a town has been sacked by their enemies they provide for its defence," etc. Other nations have their share of this after-wisdom, as their proverbs testify : e. g., " To cover the well when the child is drowned" (German). 1 "To stop the hole when the mischief is done" (Spanish). 2 "When the head is broken the helmet is put on " (Italian). 3 The Chinese give this good advice : " Dig a well before you are thirsty." Be prepared for contingencies. Be bail and pay for it. Afttimes the cautioner pays the debt. Scotch. "He that becomes responsible pays" (French). 4 ' Whoso would know what he is worth let him never be ;i surety" (Italian). 5 In trust is treason. " In this world," said Lord Halifax, " men must be saved by their want of faith." " He will never prosper who readily believes" (Latin). 6 "Trust was a good man ; Trust not was a better " (Italian). 7 He should hae a lang-shafted spune that sups kail wi' the deil. Scotch. A fidging [skittish] mare should be weel girthed. Scottish. 1 Den Brunnen decken so das Kind ertrunken ist. 1e. " Why, then," said Hackerton. " your ox must go for my heifer the law provides that." " No," said the man, your cow killed my ox." " The case alters there," said SELF-LOVE. SELF-INTEREST. SELF-RELIANCE. 109 Hackerton. Many a one exclaims in secret with the Spaniard, "Justice, but not brought home to myself"! 1 "Nobody likes that" (Italian). 2 Close sits my shirt, but closer my skin. That i*, I love my friends well, but myself better ; or, my body is dearer to me than my goods. Near is my petticoat, but nearer is my smock. Some friends are nearer to me than others. There are many proverbs in various languages similar to the last two in meaning and in form, but with different terms of comparison. They are all modelled upon the Latin adage, " The tunic is nearer than the frock." 3 1 Justicia, mas no por mi casa. 2 A nessuno place la giustizia a casa sua. 3 Tunica pallio propior. SELFISHNESS IN GIVING. SPURIOUS BENEVOLENCE. Throw in a sprat to catch a salmon. To give an apple where there is an orchard. The hen's egg aft gaes to the ha' To bring the guse's egg awa'. Scotch. " He gives an egg to get a chicken" (Dutch). 1 " Giv- ing is fishing" (Italian). 2 "To one who has a pie in the oven you may give a bit of your cake" (French). 8 Have a horse of thine own, and thou may'st borrow another's. Wdsh. "People don't give black-puddings to one who kills no pigs" (Spanish). 4 In Spain it is usual, when a pig is killed at home, to make black-puddings, and give some of them to one's neighbors. There is thrift in this ; for black-puddings will not keep long in that cli- mate, and each man generally makes more than enough for his own consumption. " People lend only to the 1 Hij geeft een ci, om ccn kncken te krijgen. 2 Donare si chiama pescare. 3 A celui qui a son pate au four, on pent donner dc son gateau. 4 A quien no mata pucrco, no le dan morcilla. SELFISHNESS IN GIVING, ETC. Ill 4. rich" (French). 1 "People give to the rich, and take from the poor" (German). 2 " He that eats capon gets capon" (French). 3 He that has a goose will gat a goose. When the child is christened you may have godfathers enough. Offers of service abound when a man no longer needs them. "..When our daughter is married sons-in-law turn up" (Spanish). 4 When I am dead make me caudle. When Tom's pitcher is broken I shall get the sherds, Tom's generosity is like the charity of the Abbot of Bamba, who " Gives away for the good of his soul what he can't eat" (Spanish). 5 The dying bequest of another worthy of the same nation is proverbial. One of his cows had strayed away and been long missing. His last orders were, that if this cow were found it should be for his children ; if otherwise, it should be for God. Hence the proverb, " Let that which is lost be for God.'* They are free of fruit that want an orchard. They are aye gudewilly o' their horse that hae nane. Scotch. Their good-natured willingness to lend it is remark- able. "No one is so open-handed as he who has nothing 1 On ne prcte qu'aux riches. 2 Reichen gieht man, Armen nimmt man. 3 Qui chapon manjjje, chapon lui vient. 4 A liijn casada salen nos yernos. 5 El abad de Bambn, lo qne no pucde comer, da lo por su alma. 112 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. to give" (French). 1 "He that cannot is always will- ing" (Italian). 2 Hens are free o' horse corn. Scotch. People are apt to be very liberal of what does not belong to them. " Broad thongs are cut from other men's leather" (Latin). 3 "Of ray gossip's loaf a large 'slice for my godson" (Spanish). 4 Steal the goose, and give the giblsts in alms. " Steal the pig, and give away the pettitoes for God's sake" (Spanish). 5 1 Nul n'est si large quo celui qui n'a rien a dormer. 2 Chi non puole, sempre vuole. 3 Ex alieno tergore lata secantur lora. 4 Del pan de mi compaclre buen zatico a mi ahijado. 5 Hurtar el puerco, y dar los pies por Dios. INGRATITUDE. Save a thief from the gallows, and he will be the first to cut your throat. The galley-slaves whom Don Quixote rescued repaid the favor by pelting him and his squire with stones, and stealing Sancho's ass. The French have two parallels for the English proverb. "Take a churl from the gibbet, and he will put you on it;" 1 and, "Unhang one that is hanged, and he will hang thee." 2 Observe the comprehensiveness of this second proposition ; it seems to embody an old superstition not yet quite extinct, for it warns us against the danger of rescuing any man from the rope, no matter how he may have come to have his neck in the noose. An incident curiously illustrative of this doctrine was thus narrated in a Belgian newspaper, the Constitutionnel of Mons, .of July 4th, 1856 : " The day before yesterday a rhan hanged himself at "Wasmes. Another man chanced to come upon him be- fore life was extinct, and cut him down in a state of in- sensibility. Presently up came some women, who clam- orously protested against the rashness, not of the would- 1 Otcz un vilain du gihet, il vous y mcttra. 2 Depends le pendard, il te pendra. 8 114 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. be suicide, but of his rescuer, and assured the latter that his only chance of escaping the dangers to which his imprudent humanity exposed him was to hang the poor wretch up again. The man was so alarmed that he was actually proceeding to do as they advised him, when fortunately the burgomaster arrived just in time to prevent that act of barbarous stupidity." This incident will at once remind the reader of the wreck scene in The Pirate. Mordaunt Merton is hast- ening to save Cleveland, when Bryce Snailsfoot thus remonstrates with him : " Are you mad ? You that have lived sae lang in Zetland to risk the saving of a drowning man ? Wot ye not, if you bring him to life again, he will be sure to do you some capital injury ?" Put a snake in your bosom, and when it is warm it will sting you. "Bring up a raven, and it will peck out your eyes" (Spanish, German). 1 "Do good to a knave, and pray God he requite thee not" (Danish). 2 I taught you to swim, and now you'd drown me. A's tint that's put into a riven dish. Scotch. All is lost that is put into a broken dish, or that is be- stowed upon a thankless person. The Arabs say, " Eat the present, and break the dish" (in which it was brought). The dish will otherwise remind you of the obligation. 1 Cria cl cuervo, y sacarte.ha los ojos. Erziehst du clir einen Raben, so wird er dir die Augen ausgraben. 2 Gior vel imod en Skalk, og bed til Gud ban lonner dig ikke. INGR ATITTJD E. 115 Eaten bread is soon forgotten. " A favor to come is better than a hundred received " (Italian). 1 Who was it that first defined gratitude as a lively sense of future favors? "When I confer a favor" said Louis XI V., " I make one ingrate and a hundred malcontents." 1 Val piii un piacere da farsi, che cento di quelli fatti. THE MOTE AND THE BEAM. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. In Timbs's " Things not Generally Known " it is re- lated that, " In the reign of James I. the Scotch adven- turers who came over with that monarch were greatly annoyed by persons breaking the windows of their houses, and among the instigators was Buckingham, the court favorite, who lived in a large house in St. Martin's Fields, which, from the great number of windows, was termed the Glass House. Now the Scotchmen, in retali- ation, broke the windows of Buckingham's mansion. The courtier complained to the king, to whom the Scotchmen had previously applied, and the monarch re- plied to Buckingham, ' Those who live in glass houses, Steenie, should be careful how they throw stones.' Whence arose the common saying" It did not arise thence, nor was King James its inven- tor. This is one of a thousand instances in which a story growing out of a proverb has been presented as that proverb's origin. " Let him that has glass tiles [panes] not throw stones at his neighbor's house " is a maxim common to the Spaniards 1 and Italians, 2 and 1 El que tiene tejados de vidrio no tire picdras al de su vicino. 2 Chi ha tegoli di vetro non tiri sassi al vicino. THE MOTE AND THE BEAM. 117 older than the time of James I. The Italians say also, " Let him that has a glass skull not take to stone-throw- ing." 1 The kiln calls the oven burnt house. The pot calls the kettle black bottom. When negroes quarrel they always call each other "dam niggers." "The pan says to the pot, 'Keep off, or you'll smutch me' " (Italian). 2 "The shovel makes game of the poker" (French). 8 "Said the raven to the crow, ' Get out of that, blackamoor '" (Spanish). 4 "One ass nicknames another Longears" (German). 5 " Dirty-nosed folk always want to wipe other folks' noses" (French). 6 " Crooked carlin ! " quoth the cripple to his wife. Scotch. " God help the fool ! " said the idiot. Who more ready to call her neighbor "scold" than the arrantest scold in the parish ? " A harlot repented for one night. ' Is there no police officer,' she exclaimed, ' to take up harlots ? ' ' (Arab.) Point not at others' spots with a foul finger. Physician, heal thyself. " Among wonderful things," say the Arabs of Egypt, is a sore-eyed person who is an oculist." 1 Chi ha testa di vetro non faccia a' sassi. 2 La padella dice al pajuolo, Fatti in la che tu mi tigni. 3 La pele se moque du fourgon. 4 Dijo la corneja al cuervo, Quitate alia, negro. 5 Ein Esel schimpft den andcrn, Langohr. 6 Les morvenx vulent toujours moiu-her les autres. FAULTS. - EXCUSES. UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS. Lifeless, faultless. It is a good horse that never stumbles. To which some add, "And a good wife that never grumbles." None are immaculate. "Are there not spots on the very sun?" (French). 1 A member of the parliament of Toulouse, apologizing to the king or his minister for the judicial murder of Galas perpetrated by that body, quoted the proverb, "II riy a si bon cheval qui ne bronche" ("It is a good horse," etc.). He was answered, ''Passe pour un cheval, mais toute Vecurie!" ("A horse, granted ; but the whole stable !") He that shoots always right forfeits his arrow. Welsh. But in no instance was the forfeit ever exacted, for the best archer will sometimes miss the mark, just as "The best driver will sometimes upset" (French). 2 "A good fisherman may let an eel slip from him" (French); 3 and " A good swimmer is not safe from all chance of 1 Le soleil lui-meme, n'a-t-il pas des taches ? 2 II n'est si hon charrctier qui ne verse. 2 A bon pechcur ec-happe ivnguille. FAULTS. EXCUSES. UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS. 119 drowning" (French). 1 "The priest errs at the altar" (Italian). 2 They ne'er beuk [baked] a glide cake but may bake an ill. Scotch. He rode sicker [sure] that ne'er fell. Scotch. It is a sound head that has not a soft piece in it. Every rose has its prickles. Every bean has its black. Every path has its puddle. There never was a good town but had a mire at one end of it. " He who wants a mule without fault may go afoot " (Spanish). 3 A' things wytes [blames] that no weel fares. Scotch. "When a man fails in what he undertakes he will be sure to lay the blame on anything or anybody rather than on himself. " He that does amiss never lacks ex- cuses " (Italian). 4 " He is a bad shot who cannot find an excuse" (German). 5 "The archer that shoots ill has a lie ready" (Spanish). 6 That is rather a strong expression : the Italians, with a more refined apprecia- tion of the eloquence displayed by missing marksmen, declare that " A fine shot never killed a bird." 7 1 Bon nngcur de n'etre noyc n'est pas sure. 2 Erra il prete all' altarc. 3 Quien quisiere mula sin tae-hn, andese a pie. 4 A chi fa male mat mancano scuse. 5 Ein schlechter Schiiz der kcinc Ausredc findet. c Yallestero que mal tira, presto tiene la mentira. 7 Bel colpo non ammazzb mai uccello. 120 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. A bad workman always complains of his tools. A bad excuse is better than none. This, of course, is ironical. The Italians hold that " Any excuse is good provided it avails " (Italian) ; l and, " Any excuse will serve when one has not a mind to do a thing." 2 We may easily guess what the Span- iards mean by " Friday pretexts for not fasting." 3 "Who can help sickness?" quoth the drunken wife, when she lay in the gutter. Guilt is jealous. A guilty conscience needs no accuser. Touch a galled horse, and he '11 wince. A galled horse will not endure the comb. " Let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung," cries Hamlet, mockingly, as he reads the effect of the play in the fratricide's countenance. " He that is in fault is [steeped] in suspicion" (Italian), 4 and his uneasy conscience betrays itself at every casual touch. He is like " One who has a straw tail," and " is always afraid of its catching fire" (Italian). 5 He that has a muckle [big] nose thinks ilka ane is speaking o't. Scotch. " Hair is not to be mentioned in a bald man's house " 1 Ogni scusa e buona, pur che vaglia. 2 Ogni scusa e buona, quando non si vnol far alcuna cosa. 3 Achaques al viernes por no le ayunar. 4 Chi e in difetto, e in sosp*etto. s Chi ha coda di paglia ha sempre paura che gli pigli fuoco. FAULTS. EXCUSKS. " UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS. 121 (Livonian). " Xever speak of a rope in the house of one who was hanged" (Italian) ; ! or, as the Hebrew form of the precept runs, " He that hath had one of his family hanged may not say to his neighbor, ' Hang up this fish.' " Formerly the French used to say, " It is not right to speak of a rope in presence of one who has been hanged;" 2 and they could say this without ap- parent absurdity, because it was customary to pardon a culprit if the rope broke after he had been tied up to the gallows, and therefore it was not an uncommon thing to meet with living men who had known what it was to dance upon nothing. The memory of this usage is pre- served in a proverbial expression " The hope of the man that is hanging, that the rope may break" 3 to signify an exceedingly faint hope. But so much was this indulgence abused that it was abolished by all the parliaments, that of Bordeaux setting the example in 1524, by an edict directing that the sentence should al- ways be, " Hanged until death ensue." If the cap fits you, wear it. " Let him that feels itchy, scratch " (French). 4 " Let him wipe his nose that feels the need of it" (French). 5 Nothing was ever ill said that was not ill taken. " He who takes [offence] makes [the offence] " 1 Xon rccordar il capestro in casa dell' irapiccato. 2 II ne faut pas parler de corde devant un pendu. 3 L'espoir du pendu, que la corde casse. 4 Qui se sent galeux, se gratte. 6 Qui se sent morveux, se raouche. 122 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. (Latin). 1 "What do you say 'Hem!' for when I pass?" cries an angry Briton to a Frenchman. " Monsieur Godden," replies the latter, " what for pass you when me say 'Hem?'" Te 're busy to clear yourself when naebody files you. Scotch. That is, you defend yourself when nobody accuses you ; and that looks very suspicious. " He that excuses himself accuses himself" (French). 2 1 Qui capit, ille facit. 2 Qui s'excuse, s'accuse. FALSE APPEARANCES AND PRETENCES, HYPOCRISY, DOUBLE DEALING, TIME- SERVING. Appearances are deceitful. 1 "Always judge your fellow passengers to be the oppo- site of what they strive to appear to be. For instance, a military man is not quarrelsome, for no man doubts his courage ; but a snob is. A clergyman is not over strait- laced, for his piety is not questioned ; but a cheat is. A lawyer is not apt to be argumentative ; but an actor is. A woman that is all smiles and graces is a vixen at heart : snakes fascinate. A stranger that is obsequious and over-civil without apparent cause is treacherous : cats that purr are apt to bite and scratch. Pride is one thing, assumption is another ; the latter must always get the cold shoulder, for whoever shews it is no gentleman : men never affect to be what they are, but what they are not. The only man who really is what he appears to be is a gentleman." 2 The Livonians say, " The bald pate talks most of hair;" and, "You may freely give a rope to one who talks about hanging." 1 Fronti nulla fides. Schein betragt. - " Maxims of an Old Stager," by Judge Halliburton, 124 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. All is not gold that glitters. Yellow iron pyrite is as bright as gold, and has often been mistaken for it. The worthless spangles have even been imported at a great cost from California. " Every glowworm is not a fire" (Italian). 1 "Where you think there are flitches of bacon there are not even hooks to hang them on " (Spanish). 2 Many a reputed rich man is insolvent. Much ado about nothing. "Great cry and little wool," as the fellow said when he sheared the pig. "Meikle cry and little woo'," as the deil said when he clipped the sow. Scotch. " The mountain is in labor, and will bring forth a mouse " (Latin). 3 Likely lies in the mire, and unlikely gets over. Scotch. Some from whom great things are expected fail miser- ably, while others of no apparent mark or promise surprise the world by their success. Tou must not hang a man by his looks. He may be one who is Like a singed cat, better than likely. " Under a shabby cloak there is a good tippler " (Spanish). 4 1 Ogni lucciola non e fuoco. 2 Ado pensas que hay tocsinos, no hay estacas. 3 Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. * Debajo de una mala capa hay un buen bebedor. FAULTS. EXCUSES. UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS. 125 "Care not" would have it. Affected indifference is often a trick to obtain an object of secret desire. " I don't want it, I don't want it," says the Spanish friar ; " but drop it into my hood." 1 " 'It is nought, it is nought,' saith the buyer; but when he is gone he vaunteth." The girls of Italy, who know how often this artifice is employed in affairs of love, have a ready retort against sarcastic young gentlemen in the adage, " He who finds fault would fain buy." 2 He that lacks [disparages) my mare would buy my mare. Scotch. " Sour grapes," said the fox when he could not reach them. Empty vessels give the greatest sound. Shaal [shallow] waters mak the maist din. Scotch. Smooth waters run deep ; or, Still waters are deep. This last proverb, we are told by Quintus Curtius, was current among the Bactrians. 3 The Servians say, "A smooth river washes away its banks ;" the French, " There is no worse water than that which sleeps." 4 "The most covered fire is the strongest ".(French) ;" 5 and " Under white ashes there is glowing coal " (Italian). 6 1 No lo quiero, no lo quiero, mas echad lo en mi capilla. 2 Chi biasima vuol comprare. 3 Altissima flumina minimo sono labuntur. 4 II n'y a pire eau que 1'cau qui dort. 5 Le feu Ic plus couvcrt est le plus ardent. 6 Sotto la bianca cenere sta la brace ardente. 126 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. Where God has his church the devil will have his chapel. So closely does the shadow of godliness hypocrisy wait upon the substance. " Very seldom does any good thing arise but there comes an ugly phantom of a . caricature of it, which sidles up against the reality, mouths its favorite Avords as a third-rate actor does a great part, under-mimics its wisdom, over-acts its folly, is by half the world taken for it, goes some way to suppress it in its own time, and perhaps lives for it in history." l Defoe says : " Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there ; And 'twill be found upon examination The latter has the largest congregation." The proverb is found in nearly the same form in Italian. 2 The French say, " The devil chants high mass," 3 which reminds us of another English adage, applied by Antonio to Shylock : The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose. " The devil lurks behind the cross," 4 say the Span- iards ; and, "'By the vicar's skirts the devil gets up into the belfry." s " O, the slyness of sin," exclaim the 1 " Friends in Council." 2 Non si tosto si fa un tempio a Dio, che il diavolo ci fabbrica una cappella appresso. 8 Le diable chante la grande messe. 4 Detras de la cruz csta el diablo. 5 For las haldas del vicario sube el diablo al campanario. HYPOCRISY. 127 Germans, "that puts an angel before every devil!" 1 The same thought is expressed by the Queen of Navarre in her thirteenth novel, where she speaks of "covering one's devil with the fairest angel." 2 When the fox preaches beware of the geese. " The fox preaches to the hens " (French). 3 " When the devil says his paternosters he wants to cheat you " (French). 4 '' Never spread your wheat in the sun before the canter's door " (Spanish). 5 A honey tongue, a heart of gall. Mouth of ivy, heart of holly. Irish. He can say, "My jo," an' think it na. Scotch. Too much courtesy, too much craft. " The words of a saint, and the claws of a cat " (Spanish). 6 " The cat is friendly, but scratches " (Spanish). 7 " Many kiss the hands they would fain see chopped off" (Arab and Spanish). 8 He looks as if butter would not melt in his mouth. Said of a very demure person, sometimes with this addition, " And yet cheese would not choke him." Of 1 O iiber die schlaue Sunde, die einen Engel vor jeden Teufcl stellt ! 2 Couvrir son diable dn pins bel ange. 3 Le renard preche aux ponies. 4 Quand le diable dit ses patenotres, in velt te tromper. ' Ante la pnerta del rezador nunca echcs tu trigo al sol. 6 Pulubras de santo, y uiias de gato. 7 Bucn amijro es el gato, sino que rascuna. * Mudios lic>an munos qnc qnierian ver cortadas. 128 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. such a person the Spaniards say, " He looks as if he would not muddy the water." L " Nothing is more like an honest man than a rogue " ( French). ~ They 're no a' saints that get holy water. Scotch "All are not saints who go to church" (Italian). 3 " Not all who go to church say their prayers " (Italian). 4 "All are not hunters who blow the horn" (French). 5 "All are not soldiers who go to the wars" (Spanish). 6 " All are not princes who ride with the emperor " (Dutch). 7 The chamber of sickness is the chapel of devotion. The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be ; The devil grew well, the devil a monk was he ! & " All criminals turn preachers when they are under the gallows " (Italian). 9 " The galley is in a bad way when the corsair promises masses and candles " (Spanish). 10 Satan rebukes sin. 11 1 Parece que no enturbia el agua. 2 Kicn ne ressemblc plus a un lionnete homme qu'un fripon. 3 Non son tutti santi quelli che vanno in cliiesa. 4 Non tutti chi vanno in chiesa fanno ora/ione. 5 Ne sont pas tous chasseurs qui sonnent du cor. 6 Non son soldados todos los que van a la guerra. 7 Zig zijn niet alien gelijk die met den keizer rijden. 8 JEgrotat dannon, monachus tune esse volebat ; Daemon convaluit, daemon iit ante fuit. "Tutti i rei divengono predicatori quando stanno sotto la forca. 10 Quando el corsario promote misas y cera, con mal anda la galera. 11 Claudius accusat moechos. HYl'OCKIsY DOUBLE-DEALING. 129 The friar preached against stealing when he had a pudding in his sleeve. According to the Italian account of the affair the friar had a goose in his scapulary on that occasion. 1 " Do as the friar says, and not as he does " (Spanish). 2 To carry two faces under one hood. To be what the Romans called " double-tongued," 3 or, in French phrase, " To wear a coat of two parishes." 4 Formerly the parishes in France ;vere bound to supply the army with a certain number of pioneers fully equipped. Every parish claimed the right of clothing its man in its own livery, whence it followed that when two parishes jointly furnished only one man, he was dressed in parti-colored garments, each parish being rep- resented by a moiety which differed from the other in texture and color. To hold with the hare, and hunt with the hounds. To be " Jack o' both sides," true to neither. The Romans called this " Sitting on two stools." 5 Liberius Mimus was one of a new batch of senators created by Caesar. The first day he entered the august assembly, as he was looking about him for a seat, Cicero said to him ' I would make room for you were we not so crowded 1 II frate predicava che non si dovesse robbare, e egli aveva 1'occa nel scapulario. 2 Haz lo que dice el frayle, y no lo que hace. 3 Homo bilinguis. 4 Porter un habit do deux paroisses. 5 Dualius fcllis sedcrc. 9 130 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. together." This was a sly hit at Caesar, who had packed the senate with his creatures. Liberius replied, " Ay, you always "liked to sit on two stools." The Arabs say of a double dealer, " He says to the t,hief, ' Steal ; ' and to the house-owner, ' Take care of thy goods.' " " He howls with the wolves when he is in the wood, and bleats with the sheep in the field (Dutch). If the devil is vicar, you '11 be clerk. If the deil be laird, you '11 be tenant. Scotch. The deil ne'er sent a wind out of hell but he wad sail with it- Scotch. Ths vicar of Bray will be vicar of Bray still. Simon Aleyn, or Allen, held the vicarage of Bray, in Berkshire, for fifty years, in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, and was always of the religion of the sovereign for the time being. First he was a Papist, then a Protestant, afterwards a Papist, and a Protestant again ; yet he would by no means admit that he was a turncoat. " No," said he, " I have always stuck to my principle, which is this to live and die vicar of Bray." His consistency has been celebrated in a song, the burden of which is " For this is law I will maintain Unto my dying day, sir, Whatever king in England reign, I'll be the vicar of Bray, sir." ' Hij huilt met de wolven waarmede hij en het bosch is, en blaat met de schapen in het veld. TIME-SERVING. lol " Such are men, now o' days," says Fuller, " who, though they cannot turn the wind, they turn their mills, and set them so that wheresoever it bloweth, their grist should certainly be grinded." During the Peninsular war many signboards over shops and hotels in Spanish towns had on one side the . arms of France, and on the other those of Spain, which were turned as best suited the interests of their owners and the feelings of the troops which alternately occupied the place. It is hard to sit at Rome and fecht wi' the pope. Scotch. Prudence forbids us to engage in strife with those in whose power we are. Oriental servility goes further than this. Bernier tells us that it was a current proverb in the dominions of the Great Mogul, " If the king saith at noonday, ' It is night,' you are to say, ' Behold the moon and stars ! ' ' The Egyptians say, " "When the monkey reigns dance before him." The philosopher desisted from controversy with the Emperor Hadrian, confessing himself unable to cope in argument with the master of thirty legions. There 's nae gude in speaking ill o' the laird within his ain bounds. Scotch. On this principle Baillie Nicol Jarvie thinks it well, when passing the Fairies' Hill, to call them, as others do, men of peace, meaning thereby to conciliate their good-will. " Speak not ill of a great enemy," says Selden, "but rather give him good words, that he may 132 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. use you the better if you chance to fall into his bands. The Spaniard did this when he was dying. His con- fessor told him (to work him to repentance) how the devil tormented the wicked that went to hell. The Spaniard replying, called the devil ' my lord.' ' I hope my lord the devil is not so cruel.' His confessor re- proved him. ' Excuse me,' said the don, ' for calling him so. I know not into what hands I may fall ; and if I happen into his, I hope he will use me the better for giving him good words.' " It is good to have friends everywhere. It's gude to hae friends baith in heaven and hell. Scotch. Brantome relates that Robert de la Mark had a painting executed in which were represented St. Mar- garet and the devil, with himself on his knees before them, a candle in each hand, and a scroll issuing from his mouth, containing these words : " If God will not aid me, the devil surely will not fail me." This is quite in the spirit of Virgil's line, " If I cannot bend the celestials to my purpose, I will move hell." 1 Others besides De la Mark have thought it prudent " To offer a candle to God and another to the devil" (French); 2 or, " A candle to St. Michael and one to his devil " (French), 3 lest the time might come when the devil under the archangel's feet should get the upper hand. 1 Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheron ta raovebo. 2 Donncr une chandelle a Dicu, et une au diable. 8 Donncr une chandelle a Saint Michel, et une a son diable. TIME-SERVING. 133 Upon the same principle a discreet person in the early Christian times took care never to pass a prostrate statue of Jupiter without saluting it. Cne must scmstimcs hold a candle to the devil. OPPORTUNITY. What may be done at any time, will be done at no time. " By the street of By-and-by, one arrives at the house of Never" (Spanish). 1 Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. " One to-day is worth ten to-morrows " ( German). 2 " To-day must borrow nothing of to-morrow" (German). 3 " When God says to-day, the devil says to-morrow" (German). 4 Talleyrand used to reverse these maxims : by never doing to-day what he could put off till to- morrow, he avoided committing himself prematurely. Strike while the iron is hot. This proverb is cosmopolitan : but Make hay while the sun shines, is peculiar to England, and, as Trench remarks, could have had its birth only under such variable skies as ours. 1 For la calle de despues se va a la casa de nunca. 2 Ein Heute ist besser als zehn Morgen. 3 Heute muss dem Morgen nichts borgen. 4 Wenn Gott sagt : Heute, sagt der Teufel : Morgen. OPPORTUNITY. 135 Take the ball at the hop. Take time while time is, for time will away. Time and tide wait for no man. "God keep you from 'It is too late'" (Spanish). 1 " A little too late, much too late" (Dutch). 2 " Stay but a while, you .lose a mile " (Dutch). 3 After a delay comes a let. Delays are dangerous. Especially in affairs of love and marriage. Therefore, " When thy daughter's chance comes, wait not her father's coming from the market" (Spanish). 4 Close with the offer on the spot. " When the fool has made up his mind, the market has gone by" (Spanish). 5 He that will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay. " Some refuse roast meat, and afterwards long for the smoke of it" (Italian). 6 The nearer the church, the farther from God. " Next to the minister, last to mass" (French). 7 " The 1 Guanlc te Dios de heclio es 2 Ecn wcnig tc laat, veel te laat. 3 Sta maar cen wijl, gij verliest een mijl. 4 Quaiulo a tu hija le veniere su hado, no aguardes que vienga su padre del raercado. 5 Quando el necio es acordado, el mercado es ya pasado. . 6 Tal lascia 1'arrosto, chi poi ne brama il fumo. Qui refuse, muse. " IV's du monstier, a messe le dernier. 136 PROVERBS OK ALL NATIONS. nearer to Rome, the worse Christian " (Dutch). 1 The buyer of many books will probably read few of them ; and somebody has said that he never was afraid of engag- ing in a controversy with the owner of a large library. Many a Londoner would never see half its lions but for the necessity of showing them to country cousins. The shoemaker's wife goes worst shod. Where the best wine is made, the worst is commonly drunk. Better fish is to be had in Billingsgate than on the seacoast. ^ 1 Hoe digter bij Rom, hoe slechter Christ. UNCERTAINTY OF THE FUTURE. HOPE. Man proposes, God disposes- 1 " There's a divinity that shapes men's ends, Hough hew them how they will." He that reckons without his host must reckon again. Don't reckon your chickens before they are hatched. Some of the eggs may be addled. Remember the story of Alnaschar. Sune enough to cry " chick " when it's out o' the shell. Scotch. Gut nae fish till ye get them. Scotch. " Cry no herring till you have it in the net " (Dutch). 2 " First catch your hare," says Mrs. Glasse, and then you may settle how you will have it cooked. The Greeks and Romans thought it not wise " To sing triumph be- fore the victory." 3 It is a rash bargain " To sell the bird on the bough" (Italian) ; 4 or, "The bearskin be- 1 In French, L'homme propose, Dieu dispose ; in German, Man denkt's, Gott lenkt's. The Spanish form is a little different : Los dichos en nos, los hechos en Dios. 2 Roep geen haring eer hij in't net is. 8 Ante victoriam canere triumphum. * Vender 1'uccello in su la frasca. 138 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. fore you have caught the bear " (Italian), 1 as -ZEsop has demonstrated. Finally, " Unlaid eggs are uncertain chickens " (German). 2 Praisa a fair day at night. It is not good praising a ford till a man be over. Don't halloo till you are out of the wood. " Don't cry ' Hey ! ' till you are over the ditch " (German). 3 "Look to the -end" (Latin). 4 "No man can with certainty be called happy before his death," as the Grecian sage told Croesus. " Call me not olive till you see me gathered " (Spanish). 5 To build castles in the air. To let imagination beguile us with visionary prospects. The metaphor is intelligible to everybody, but that in the French equivalent, " To build castles in Spain." s requires explanation. The Abbe Morrellet ascribes the origin of this phrase to the general belief in the bound- less wealth of Spain after she had become mistress of the mines of Mexico and Peru. This is plausible, but wrong ; for the " Roman de la Rose," which was pub- lished long before the discovery of America, contains this line, Lor s f eras chasteaulx en Espagne. M. Quitard 1 Non A r ender la pellc dell' orso prima di pigliarlo. 2 Ungelegte Eier sind nngewisse Hiinnlein. 3 Rufe nicht " Juch ! " bis du iibcr den Graben bist. 4 Rcspicc fincm. 5 No me dignas oliva hasta que me veas cogida. 6 Faire des chateaux en Espagne. UNCERTAINTY OF THE FUTURE. 139 says that the proverb dates from the latter part of the eleventh century, when Henri de Bourgogne crossed the Pyrenees, at the head of a great number of knights, to win glory and plunder from the Infidels, and received from Alfonso, king of Castile, in reward for his services, the hand of that sovereign's daughter, Theresa, and the county of Lusitania, which, under his son Alfonso Hen- riquez, became the kingdom of Portugal. The success of these illustrious adventurers excited the emulation of the warlike French nobles, and set every man dreaming of fiefs to be won, and castles to be built, in Spain. Similar feelings had been awakened some years before by the conquest of England by William of Normandy, and then the French talked proverbially of " Building castles in Albany," l that is, in Albion. It is worthy of remark that previously to the eleventh century there were hardly any castles built in Christian Spain, or by the Saxons in England. The new adventurers had to build for themselves. Don't tell the devil too much of your mind. Be not too forward to proclaim your intentions. " Tell your business, and leave the devil alone to do it for you " (Italian). 2 " A wise man," Selden tells us, "should never resolve upon anything at least, never let the world know his resolution ; for if he cannot arrive at that, he is ashamed. How many things did 1 Faire des chasteaulx en Albanie. 2 Dl il fatto tuo, e lascia far al diavolo. 140 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. the king resolve, in his declaration concerning Scotland, never to do, and yet did them all ! A man must do according to accidents and emergencies. Never tell your resolutions beforehand, but when the cast is thrown play it as well as you can to win the game you are at. 'Tis but folly to study how to play size ace when you know not whether you shall throw it or no." " Muddy though it be, say not, ' Of this water I will not drink,' " (Spanish). 1 " There is no use in saying, ' Such a way I will not go, or such water I will not drink ' " (Italian). 2 There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. " Between the hand and the mouth the soup is often spilt" (French). 3 '"Wine poured out is not swallowed " (French). 4 These three proverbs are derived from the same Greek original, the English one being nearest to it in form. A king of Samos tasked his slaves unmercifully in laying out a vineyard, and one of them, exasperated by this ill usage, prophesied that his master would never drink of the wine of that vine- yard. Eager to confute this prediction, the king took the first grapes produced by his vines, pressed them into a cup in the slave's presence, and derided him as a false prophet. The slave replied, " Many things happen 1 For tubia qne este', no digas desta agna no bebere. 2 Non giova a dire per tal via non passero, ni di tal acqua bevero. 3 De' la main & la bouche se perd souvent la soupe. 4 Vin verse' n'est pass avale. UNCERTAINTY OF THK FUTURE. 141 between the cup and the lip;" and these words became a proverb, for just then a cry was raised that a wild boar had broken into the vineyard, and the king, setting down the untasted cup, went to meet the beast, and was killed in the encounter. God send you readier meat than running bares. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Better a wren in the hand than a crane in the air. Irish and french.i Cranes were in much request for the table down to the end of the fourteenth century, if not later. " Better a leveret in the kitchen than a wild boar in the forest " (Livonian). " Better is an egg to-day than a pullet to- morrow " (Italian). 2 " One here-it-is is better than two you-shall-have-it's " (French). 3 Possession is nine points of the law. And there are only ten of them in all. Others reckon possession as eleven points, the whole number being twelve. " Him that is in possession God helps " (Italian). 4 " Possession is as good as title " (French). 5 I'll not change a cottage in possession for a kingdom in reversion. Better baud by a hair nor draw by a tether. Scotch. 1 Moineau en main vaut mieux que grue qui role. 2 E meglio aver oggi un uovo che domani una gallina. 3 Mieux vaut un tenez que deux vous 1'aurez. 4 A chi e in tenuta, Dio gli aiuta. 5 Possession vaut litre. 142 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. He that waits for dead men's shoes may long go barefoot. He gaes lang barefoot that wears dead msn's shoon- Scotch. " He hauls at a long rope who desires another's death " (French). 1 "He who waits for another's trencher eats a cold meal "(Catalan). 2 Live, horse, and you'll get grass. 3 " Die not, O mine ass, for the Spring is coming, and with it clover" (Turkish). Unfortunately, " For the hungry, wait is a hard word " (German) ; 4 and While ^he grass grows the steed starves. The old horse may die waiting for new grass. Hope holds up the head. Hope is the bread of the unhappy. Were it not for hope the heart would break. He that lives on hope has a slim diet. Aubrey relates that Lord 'Bacon, being in York House garden, looking on fishers as they were throwing their net, asked them what they would take for their draug'it. They answered so much. His lordship would offer them only so much. They dre.w up their net, and in it were only two or three little fishes. His lord- ship then told them it had been better for them to have taken his offer. They replied, they hoped to have had a better draught ; but, said his lordship, 1 A longue corde tire, qui d'autrui mort desire. 2 Qui escudella d'altri espera, frecla la menja. 8 In Italian, Caval non morire, die erba da venire. 4 Dem Hungrigen ist " Harr " ein hart Wort. HOPE. 143 "Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper." " Hope and expectation are a fool's income " (Dan- ish).! Hopes deferred hang the heart on tenter-hooks. "He gives twice who gives quickly" (Latin) ; 2 and "A prompt refusal has in part the grace of a favor granted" (Latin). 3 All is not at hand that helps- We cannot foresee whence help may come to us, nor always trace back to their sources the advantages we actually enjoy. "Water comes to the mill from afar" (Portugese). 4 On the other hand, " Far water does not put out near fire " (Italian) ; 5 and " Better is a near neighbor than a distant cousin" (Italian). 6 "Friends living far away are no friends " (Greek). 7 1 Haahe og vente er Giekerente 2 Bis dat, qui cito dat. 3 Pars est beneficii quod petitur si cito ncges. Pitblius Syrus. * De lomge vem agoa a o momho. 6 Acqua lontana non spegne il fuoco vicino. Mcu r lio un prossimo vicino che un lontano cugino. ' TTJA.OV vcuovrts tpi\oi OVK fifft (f>i\oi. EXPERIENCE. Bought wit is best. Wit once bought is worth twice taught. Hang a dog on a crabtree, and he'll never love verjuice. A burnt child dreads the fire- Fear is so imaginative that it starts even at the ghost of a remembered danger. " A scalded dog dreads cold water " (French, Italian, Spanish). 1 " A dog which has been beaten with a stick is afraid of its shadow " (Ital- ian). 2 "Whom a serpent has bitten, a lizard alarms" (Italian). 3 " One who has been bitten by a serpent is afraid of a rope " (Hebrew). " The man who has been beaten with a firebrand runs away at the sight of a fire- fly " (Cingalese). " He that has been wrecked shudders even at still water" (Ovid). 4 Experience is the mistress of fools. She keeps a dear school, says Poor Richard ; but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that. " An 1 Chat echaude craint 1'eau froide. 2 II can battuto dal bastone, ha paura dell' ombra. 3 Chi della serpa e punto, ha panra della lucertola. 4 Tranquillas etiam naufragus horret aquas. EXPERIENCE. 145 ass does not stumble twice over the same stone " (French). 1 " Unfairly does he blame Neptune who suffers shipwreck a second time " (Publius Syrus). 2 He that will not be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock. Cornish. Better learn frae your neebor'g scathe than frae your ain. Scotch. Wi-e men learn by others' harms, fools by their own, like Epimetheus, the Greek personification of afterwit. 3 " Happy he who is made wary by others' perils " (Latin). 4 Old birds are not to be caught with chaff. "Old crows are hard to catch ".(German). 5 "New nets don't catch old birds " (Italian). I'm ower auld a cat to draw a. strae [straw] afore my nose. Scotch. That is, I am not -to beguiled. A kitten will jump at a straw drawn before her, but a cat that knows the world is not to be fooled in that way. Don't tell new lies to. old rouges. He that cheats me ance, shame fa' him ; if he cheats me twice, shams fa' me. Scotch. It is a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait. The French have a numerous equivalent for this 1 Un &ne ne tre'buche pas deux fois sur la meme pierre. 2 Improbc Neptunutn accusat qui iterum naufragium facit. 3 *Os firfi Ka.ul/i/ %xf v6r]fff. 4 Felix quern faciunt alieua pericula cautum. 5 Alte Krahen sind schwer zu fangen. 6 Nuova retc r.on pi^lia uccello vecchio. 10 1-16 PIIO VERBS OF ALL NATIONS. proverb, growing out of the following story : A young rustic told hi.s priest at confession that he had broken down a neighbor's hedge to get at a blackbird's nest. The priest asked if he had taken away the young birds. " No," said he ; " they were hardly grown enough. I will let them alone until Saturday evening." Xo more was said on the subject, but when Saturday evening came, the young fellow found the nest empty, and readily guessed who it was that had forestalled him. The next time he went to confession he had to tell something in which a young girl was partly concerned. " Oh ! " said his ghostly father ; " how old is she ? " "Seventeen." "Good-looking?" "The prettiest girl in the village." " What is her name ? Where does she live ? " the confessor hastily inquired ; and then he got for an answer the phrase w r hich has passed into a proverb, " A d'autres, denicheur de merles ! " which may be paraphrased, " Try that upon somebody else, Mr. filcher of blackbirds," When an old dog barks, look out. " An old dog does not bark for nothing " (Italian). 1 "There is no hunting but with old hounds " (French). 2 Live and learn. The longer we live the mair ferlies [wonders] we see. Scotch. Adversity makes a man wise, not rich. 1 Cane vccc-hio non baia indarno. 2 II n'cst cliRssc quo dc vlcux cliicns. EXPEDIENCE. 147 " Wind in the face makes a man wise " (French). 1 A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner. I; is hard to halt before a cripple. It is hard to counterfeit lameness successfully in pres- ence of a real cripple. " He who is of the craft can discourse about it" (Italian). 2 "Don't talk Latin be- fore clerks " (French), 3 or " Arabic in the Moor's house " (Spanish). 4 The proof of the pudding is in the eating. " Do not judge of the ship while it is on the stocks " (Italian). War's sweet to them that never tried it. 1 Vent au visage rend tin hommc sage. 2 Chi c dcll'artc, pro rugionnr dclla. 3 II nc faut pas parlcr latin dcvant les clercs. * In casa del moro no hahlnr algarabia. 6 Xon giudicar la nave stando in terra. CHOICE. DILEMMA. COMPARISON. Pick and choose, and take the worst. The lass that has mony wooers aft wales [chooses] the warst. Scotch. Refuse a wife with one fault, and take one with two. Welsh. "He that has a choice has trouble" (Dutch). 1 *" He that chooses takes the worst" (French). 2 Of two evils choose the least. Where bad is the best, naught must be the choice. A traveller in America, inquiring his way, was told there were two roads, one long, and the other short, and that it mattered not which he took. Surprised at such a direction, he asked, " Can there be a doubt about the choice between the long and the short ? " and the an- swer was, " Why, no matter which of the two you take, you will not have gone far in it before you will wish from the bottom of your heart that you had taken t'other." " There's ne'er a best among them," as the fellow said of the fox cubs. ' J Die kenr hecft, heeft angst. 2 Qui choisit prcnd Ic pire. CHOICE, DILEMMA, COMPARISON. 149 As good eat the davil as the broth he's boiled in. Cut of tho fryinjpan into the firs- To escape from one evil and incur another as bad or worse is an idea expressed in many proverbial meta- phors ; e.g., " To come out of the rain under the spout " ( German). 1 " Flying from the bull, I fell into the river" (Spanish). 2 "To break the constable's head and take refuge with the sheriff" (Spanish). 3 " To shun Charybdis and strike upon Scylla " is a well- known phrase, which almost everybody supposes to have been current among the ancients. It is not to be found, however, in any classical author, but appears for the first time in the Alexandrjad of Philip Gaultier, a me- dieval Latin poet. In his fifth book he thus apostrophizes Darius when flying from Alexander : " Ncscis, hcu ! pcrditc, ncscis Quern fugias : Ijostes incurris' dum fu^is hostcm ; Incidis in Soy-Ham cupiens vitare Charybdim." Go forward, and fall ; go backward, and mar all. "A precipice ahead, wolves behind" (Latin). 4 "To be between the hammer and the anvil" (French). 5 You may go farther and fare worse. To be between the devil and the deep sea. 1 Aus dcm hcgcn untcr die Traufe kommen. 2 Iluycndo del toro, cayo en el arroyo. 3 Descalabrar el nlguucil, y accogersc al corregidor. 4 A fronte praecipitmm, a tergo lupi. 6 Eire entre le marteau et 1'enclume. 150 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. The one-eyed is a king in the land of the blind. " A substitute shines brightly as a king Until a king be by." " Where there are no dog.s the fox is a king " (Italian). 1 They that be in hell think there is no other heaven. It is good to have two strings to one's bow. It is good riding at two anchors. He is no fox that hath but one hole. The mouse that has but one hole is soon caught. 2 Do not put all your eggs in one basket ; nor "too many of them under one hen" (Dutch). 3 " Hang not all upon one nail " (German), 4 nor risk your whole fortune upon one venture. Comparisons are odious. 1 Dove non sono i cani, la volpe e re. 2 Mus uni non fidit antro.-^PIautus. 8 Man moot niet te viel eijeren onder eene hen leggcn. * Henke nicht alles auf einen Nagel. SHIFTS. CONTRIVANCES. STRAINED USES. A bad shift is better than none- Better sup wi' a cutty nor want a spune. Scotch. A cutty is a spoon with a stumpy handle or none at all. It is not a very convenient implement, but it will serve at a pinch. A bad bush is better than the open field. A wee bush is better nor nae bield. Scotch. Bield, shelter. A man's present occupation may not be lucrative, or his connections as serviceable as he could wish, but he should not therefore quit them until he has better. Half a loaf is better than no bread. I will make a shaft or a bolt of it. A shaft is an arrow for the longbow, a bolt is for the crossbow. If I canna do it by might I'll do it by slight. Scotch. " It's best no to be rash," said Edie Ochiltree Sticking disna gang by strengh, but by the guiding o' the gully. Scotch. 152 PllOVEUBS OF ALL NATIONS. A gully id a butcher's knife. There is a knack even in slaughtering a pig. There goes reason to the roasting of eggs. Many ways to kill a dog besides hanging him. A story told by the African traveller, Richardson, supplies an apt illustration of this proverb. An Arab woman preferred another man to her husband, and frankly confessed that her affections had strayed. Her lord, instead of flying into a passion and killing her on the spot, thought a moment, and said, " I will consent to divorce you if you will promise me one thing." " What is that? " the wife eagerly asked. "You must looloo to me only on your wedding day." This looloo is a peculiar cry with which it is customary for brides to salute any handsome passer-by. The woman gave the promise required, the divorce took place, and the marriage followed. On the day of the ceremony the ex-husband passed the camel on which the bride rode, and gave her the usual salute by discharging his iirelock, in return for which she loolooed to him accord- ing to promise. The new bridegroom, enraged at this marked preference for he noticed that she had not greeted any one else and suspecting that he was duped, instantly fell upon the bride and slew her. He had no sooner done so than her brothers came up and shot him dead, so that the first husband found himself amply avenged without having endangered himself in the slightest degree. *' Contrivance is SHIFTS, CONTRIVANCES, STRAINED USES. 153 better than force " (French). 1 Lysander of Sparta was reproached for relying too little on open valor in war, and too much on ruses not always worthy of a de- scendant of Hercules. He replied, in allusion to the skin of the Nemsean beast worn by his great ancestor, " Where the lion's skin conies short we must eke it out with the fox's." It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog ; or, It is easy to find a stone to throw at a dog. It is easy for the strong to find an excuse for mal- treating the weak. " On a little pretext the wolf seizes the sheep" (French), 2 or the lamb, as the fable shows. ' ; If you want to flog your dog say he ate the poker" (Spanish). 3 "If a man wants to thrash his wife, let him ask her for drink in the sunshine " (Spanish), 4 for then what can be easier for him than to pick a quarrel with her about the motes in the clearest water? A handsaw is a good thing, but not to shave with. Everything to its proper use. In Italy they say, " "With the gospel sometimes one becomes a heretic." Disraeli, and after him Dean Trench, have given to this proverb an erroneous interpretation, founded on a false reading. Their version of it is " Coll ' Evangelo si diventa heret- 1 Mieux vaut engin quc force. 2 A petite achoison le loup prcnd le mouton. 8 Para axotar el perro, que se come el hierro. 4 Quien quiere dar palos a sa muger, pidele al sol A. bever. 154 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. ico." Here there is no qualifying "sometimes;" the proposition is put absolutely, and the two English writers consider it to be a popular confession that the mainten- ance of the Romish system and the study of Holy Scrip- ture cannot go together." It would certainly be " not a little remarkable," if it were true, " that such a confession should have embodied itself in the popular utterances of the nation ; " but the fact is that nothing more is meant by the proverb than what the Inquisition itself might sanction, It is only a pointed way of saying that anything, however good, is liable to be used mischievously. 1 1 " Con 1' Evangelo talvolta si diventa crerico" is the original, as given by Toriano in bis folio collection of Italian proverbs, London, 1 666. In Giusti's " Kaccolta," etc., Firenza, 1853, wo read, " Col Vangclo si puo diventar cretici," to which the editor appeands this gloss, " Ogni cosa puo torcersi male." ADVICE. He that will not be counselled cannot be helped. " He who will not go to heaven needs preaching" (German). 1 "He thr.t will not hear must feel" (Ger- man). 2 Two heads are better than ons. " Four eyes see more than two " (Spanish) ; 3 and " More know the pope and a peasant than than the pope alone," * as they say in Venice. Come na to the counsel unca'd. Scotch. " Never give advice unasked " (German). 5 Every one thinks himself able to advise another- "Nothing is given so freely as advice" (French).* 5 " Of judgment every one has a stock for sale" (Italian). 7 1 Wer nicht in di-n Himmel will, braucht keiue Prcdigt. 2 "Wer nicht horen will, muss fiihlen. 3 Mas veen quatro ojos que dos. 4 Sa piii il papa e un contadino che il papa solo. 5 Rathe Miemand ungebeten. 6 Rien ne se donne aussi liberaletnent quo lea conseils. ' Del judizio ognun ne vende. 156 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. He that kisseth his wife in the market-place shall have people enough to teach him. " He who builds according to every man's advice will have a crooked house " (Danish). 1 He that speers a' opinions comes ill speed. Scotch. " If you want to get into the bog ask five fools the way to the wood " (Livonian). " Take help of many, coun- sel of few" (Danish). 2 A fool may put something in a wise man's head. It was a saying of Cato the elder, that wise men learnt more by fools than fools by wise men. 1 Hvo som bygger efter hver Hands Baad, bans Huser kommer krogct at staae. 2 Tag Mange til Hielp og Faa til Had. DETRACTION. CALUMNY. COMMON FAME. GOOD REPUTE. The smoke follows the fairest. 'The original of this is in Aristophanes: it means that " Envy doth merit like its shade pursue." " The best bearing trees are the most beaten " (Ital- ian). 1 " It is only at the tree laden with fruit that people throw stones" (French). 2 "Towers," say the Chinese, "are measured by their shadows, and great men by their calumniators." An old French proverb compares detraction to dogs that bark only at the full moon, and never heed her in the quarter. " If the fool has a hump," say the Livonians, " no one notices it; if the wise man has a pimple, everybody talks about it." Slander leaves a slur. " A blow of a fryingpan smuts, if it does not hurt " 1 1 tncgliori alberi sono i piii battuti. 2 On ne jette dcs pierres qu'ii Parbrc charge de fruits. 158 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. (Spanish). 1 The Arabs say, " Take a bit of mud, dab it against the wall: if it does not stick it will leave its mar'.; ;" and we have a similar proverb derived from the Latin : 2 Throw much dirt, and some will stick. Fortunately When the' dirt's dry it will rub out- Ill-will nsver spoke well. The evidence of a prejudiced witness is to be dis- trusted. "He that is an enemy to the bride does not speak well of the wedding" (Spanish) ; 3 and "A run- away monk never spoke in praise of his monastery" (Italian). 4 Givo a dog an ill name and hang him. "I'll not beat thee nor abuse thee," said the Quaker to his dog : '" but I'll give thes an ill name. v Irish. He that hath an ill name is half-hanged. A French proverb declares, witli a still bolder figure, that '' Report hangs the man." 5 The Spaniards say, " Whoso wants to kill his dog has but to charge him with madness." 6 All are not thieves that dogs bark at. The innocent are eometimes cried down. "An honest 1 Y.I glope de la sartcn, aunquc no ducle, tizna. 2 Calumniare audacter, aliquid adhaercbit. 3 El que es enemigo dc la novia no dice bien dc la boda. 4 Monaco vagabondo non disse mai lode del suo monastcro. 5 Le bruit pend I'homme. G Quien a su perro quiere matas, rabia le hu de leva-itar. COMMON FAME. 159 man is not the worse because a dog barks at him" (Danish). 1 "What cares lofty Diana for the barking dog ? " (Latin). 2 Common fame is seldom to blame. What everybody says must be true. It never smokes but there's a fire. " There's never a cry of ' Wolf but the wolf is in the district" (Italian). 3 " There's never much talk of a thing but there's some truth in it " (Italian). 4 This is the sense in which our droll English saying is applied : " Thera was a thing in it ! " quoth the fellow when he drank the dishclout. To accept the last half-dozen of proverbs too absolutely would often lead us to uncharitable conclusions ; we must, therefore, temper our belief in these maxims by means of their opposites, such as this : Common fame is a common liar. " Heresay is half lies" (German, Italian). 5 " Hear the other side, and believe little " (Italian). 6 1 .ZErlig Mancl cr ei disvaerre, at en Hund goer ad ham. 2 Latrantem curatnc alta Diana cancm ? 3 E' non si grida mai al lupo, cho non sia in paese. 4 Non si dice mai tanto una cosa die non sia qualche cosa. 6 Horensagen ist halb gelogen. Aver sentito dire e mezza bug- gia. {i Odi 1'altra parte, e crcdi .poco. 1GO PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. A tale navar loses in the telling. Witness George Colrnan's story of the Three Black Crows. The davil is not so black as he is painted. Nor is the lion so fierce (Spanish). 1 " Report makes the wolf bigger than he is" (German). 2 It is a sin to belie the d.evil. Give the devil his due. If one's name be up he may lie in bed. , "Get a good name and go to sleep" (Spanish). 3 So do many. Hence it is often better to intrust the execu- tion of a work to be done to an obscure man than to one whose reputation is established. Ons man may better steal ahorse than another look over tha h3dge. " A good name covers theft" (Spanish). " The hon- est man enjoys the theft " (Spanish). 5 A gude name is sooner tint [lost] than won. Scotch. "Once in folks' mouths, hardly ever well out of them again" (German). 6 "Good repute is like the cypress: once cut, it never puts forth leaf again" (Italian). 7 1 No es tan bravo el Icon como le pintan. 2 Geschrei macht den Wolf grosser als er ist. 3 Cobra buena fama, y e'chate a dormir. * Buena fama hurto encubre. 5 El buen hombre goza el hurto. 6 Einmal in der Leute Mund, kommt man iibel wieder heraus. 7 La buona fama e come il cipresso : una volta tagliato non rivcrdisce piu. TRUTH. FALSEHOOD. HONESTY. A lie has no legs. A proverb of eastern origin, meaning that a lie has no stability : wrestle with it, and down it goes. The Italians and Spaniards say, " A lie has short legs ; " l and in the same sense, " A liar is sooner caught than a cripple." 2 He trips up his own heels. Liars should have good memories. " Memory in a liar is no more than needs," says Ful- ler. " For, first, lies are hard to be remembered, because many, whereas truth is but one : secondly, because a lie cursorily told takes little footing and settled fatness in the teller's memory, but prints itself deeper in the hear- er's, who takes the greater notice because of the improb- ability and deformity thereof; and one will remember the sight of a monster longer than the sight of a handsome body. Hence comes it to pass that when the liar hath forgotten himself his auditors put him in mind of the lie, and take him therein." 1 La mcntira tiene cortas las piernas. Le bugie hanno corte le gain be. 2 Si arriva piu presto un bujjinrdo che un zoppo. 11 162 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. Fair fall truth and daylight. Speak truth and shame the devil. Truth and honesty keep the crown o' the causey. Scotch. They march boldly along the middle of the roadway which was formerly the place of honor for pedestrians in Scottish towns. " Truth seeks no corners" ( Latin ). J Truth may be blamed, but shall ne'er be ashamed. " It is mighty, and will prevail" ( Latin ). 3 "It is God's daughter" (Spanish). 3 "Truth and oil always come to the surface" (Spanish). 4 " It takes a good many shovel- fuls of earth to bury the truth" (German). 5 Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars. " He that speaks the truth must have one foot in the stirrup," say the Turks, who are a people by no means addicted to lying. " People praise truth, but invite lying to be their guest " (Lettish). " My gossips dislike me because I tell them the truth" (Spanish). 6 Truth has a good face, but ragged clothes. He that follows truth too near the heels will have dirt kicked in his face. 1 Veritas non quserit angulos. 2 Magna est veritas et prajvalebit. 3 La verdad es hija de Dios. 4 La verdad, como el olio, siempre and a en sorao. 5 Zum Begriibniss der Wahrheit gehoren viel Sehaufeln. 6 Mai me quieren mis comadres, porque les digo las verdades. TRUTH, FALSEHOOD, HONESTY. 1G3 Honesty is the best policy. Is it Charles Lamb who says that a rogue is a fool with a circumbendibus ? An honest man's word is as good as his bond. And better than what is called " Connaught security : three in a bond and a book oath." SPEECH. SILENCE. Speech is silvern, silence is golden. " Be silent, or say something that is better than silence" (German). 1 " Better silence than ill speech" (Swedish). 2 " Talking comes by nature, silence of understanding" (German). 3 "Who speaks, sows; who keeps silence, reaps" (Italian). 4 Silence seldom' does harm. Least said, soonest mended. The principle applies still more forcibly to writing. "Words fly, writing remains" (Latin)." A man's spoken words may be unnoticed, or forgotten, or denied; but what he has put down in black and white is tangible ev- idence against him. Therefore " Think much, say little, write less" (Italian). 6 Give Cardinal Richelieu two lines 1 Schweig, oder rede etwas das besser ist denn Schweigen. 2 Battre tjga an ilia tala. 3 Rcden kommt von Natur, Schweigen von Verstunde. 4 Chi parla, semina ; chi tace, raccoglie. 5 Vcrba volant, scripta manent. 8 Pensa molto, parla poco, scrivi meno. SPEECH, SILENCE. 1G5 of any man's writing and he needed no more to hang him. Fabio Merto, an archbishop of the seventeenth century, has oddly remarked, " It is nowhere mentioned in the Gospels that our Lord wrote more than once, and then it was on the sand, in order that the wind might efface the writing." " Silence was never written down" (Italian) ; l and " A silent man's words are not brought into court" (Danish). 2 "Hear, see, and say nothing, if you wish to live in peace" (Italian). 3 A fool's tongue is long enough to cut his own throat. " Let not the tongue say what the head shall pay for" (Spanish). 4 "The sheep that bleats is strangled by the wolf" (Italian). 5 " He that knows nothing knows enough if he knows how to be silent" (Italian). 6 A fool's bolt is soon shot. "A foolish judge passes quick sentence" (French). 7 "He who knows little soon sings it out" (Spanish). 8 When a fool has spoken he has done all. " It is always the worst wheel that creaks" (French, 1 II taccre non fu mai scritto. 2 Ticnde Mands Ord komme ei til Tinge. 3 Odi, vedi, c taci, so vuoi viver in pace. 4 No diga la lengua por do paque la cabe/a. 5 Pccora che bclla, il lupo la strozza. 6 Assai sa, chi non sa, se tacer sa. 7 De fol juge breve sentence. 8 Quien poco sane, presto lo reza. 1G6 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. Italian). 1 The shallowest persons are the most loquacious. " Were fools silent they would pass for wise " (Dutch). 2 Silence gives consent. " Silence answers much" (Dutch). 3 A man may hold his tongue in an ill time. "Amyclae was undone by silence" (Latin). 4 The citizens having been often frightened with false news of the enemy's coming, made it penal for any one to report such a thing in future. Hence, when the enemy did come indeed, they were surprised and taken. There is a time to speak as well as to be silent. Spare to speak and spare to speed. " If the child does not cry the mother does not under- stand it" (Russian). " Him that speaks not, God hears not" (Spanish). 5 1 C'est toujours la plus mauvaisc roue qui crie. E la peggior raota quella che fa piu rumore. 2 Zwcegen de dwazcn zij waren wijs. 3 Zwijgen antwoordt vecl. 4 Amyclas silent! um perdidit. 5 A quien no habla, no le oye Dios. THREATENING. BOASTING. The greatest barkers bite not sorest. Great barkers are nae biters. Scotch. THOSE who threaten most loudly are not the most to be feared. " Timid dogs bark worse than they bite " (Latin ), 1 was a proverb of the Bactrians, as Quintus Curtius in- forms us. The Turks say, " The dog barks, but the caravan passes." " What matters the barking of the dog that does not bite ?" (German); 2 but " Beware of a silent dog and of still water" (Latin). 3 "The silent dog bites first " (German). 4 "A fig for our democrats!" Horace Walpole wrote in 1792: ''Barking dogs never bite. The danger in France arose from silent and in- stantaneous action. They said nothing, and did every- thing. Ours say everything, and will do nothing." Threatened folk live long. " Lonjrer lives he that is threatened than he that is 1 Apud Bactryanos vulgo usurpabant canem tiinidum vehc- mcntius hitrare quam mordere. * \A'as sc-hadct das Hundes Bellen dcr nicht bcisst? 3 Cave tibi cane muto et aqua silente. 4 Sc'iwci'^ender Hund bcisst am erstcn. 168 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. hanged" (Italian). 1 "More are threatened than are stabbed " (Spanish). 2 " Threatened folk, too, eat bread " (Portuguese). 3 " David did not slay Goliath with words " (Icelandic). 4 " No one dies of threats " ( Dutch). 5 " Not all threateners fight" (Dutch). 6 "Some threaten who are afraid" (French). 7 "A curse does not knock an eye out unless the fist go with it " (Danish). 8 " The cat's curse hurts the mice less than her bite " (Livonian). Lang mint, little dint. Scotch. That is, a blow long aimed or threatened has little force ; or, as the Italians and Spaniards say, " A blow threatened was never well given." 9 Silence grips the mouse. " A mewing cat was never a good mouser " (Spanish). 10 "He that threatens, warns" (German). 11 "He that threatens wastes his anger" (Portuguese). 12 " The threat- 1 Vive piu il minacciato chc 1'impiccato. 2 Mas son los amenazados quo los acuchillados. 3 Tambcm os amea9ados comem pao. 4 Ekks Davith Goliat mcd ordum drap. 6 Van drcigcn sterft man nict. Allc dreigers vechtcn niet. 7 Tel menace qni a pear. 8 Bande bider ei Oie ud, uden Naeven folger med. 9 Sclriaffo minacciato, mai ben dato. Bofeton amagado, nunca bicn dado. 10 Gato maublador nunca buen cac.ador. 11 Wer droht, warnt. 12 Qncm amea^a, su ira gasta. THREATENING, BOASTING. 169 ener loses the opportunity of vengeance" (Spanish). 1 "Threats are arms for the threatened" (Italian). 2 Fleying [frightening] a bird is no the way to grip it. Scotch. The way to catch a bird is no to fling your bonnet at her. Scotch. " Hares are not caught with beat of drum " (French). 3 Let not your mousetrap smell of blood. Never show your teeth, when you can't bite. Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is a better. A boaster and a liar are cousins german. "Believe a boaster as you would a liar" (Italian). 4 "Who is the greatest liar? He that talks most of him- self" (Chinese). The greatest talkers are always the least doers. Great boast, small roast. " Great vaunters, little doers" (French). 5 "It is not the hen which' cackles most that lays most eggs" (Dutch). 6 " A long tongue betokens a short hand " (Spanish). 7 1 El amenazador hace pcrder cl lugar de venganza. 2 Lc minaccie son armc del minacciato. 3 On nc prend pas Ic levrc au tambour. 4 Credi al vantatore conic al mentitore. 5 Grands vanteurs ; petits fuiseurs. 6 Het hoen, dat hot meest kakelt, geeft de meeste eijers niet. 7 La lengua luenga cs serial de mano corta 170 rnovKRBs OF ALL NATIONS. Saying gangs cheap. Scotch. Saying and doing are two things. " From saying to doing is a long stretch " (French). 1 " "Words are female, deeds are male " (Italian). 2 " Words will not do for my aunt, for she does not trust even deeds" (Spanish). 3 His wind shakes no corn. Scotch. Harry Chuck ne'er slew a man till he cam nigh him. Scotch. Harry Chuck is understood to have heen a vaporing fellow of the ancient Pistol order, one of those who would give "a great stab to a dead Moor" (Spanish). 4 "It is easy to frighten a bull from the window " (Italian). 5 "Many are brave when the enemy flees " (Italian).* 5 It is well said, but who will ball the cat? Scotch. " The mice consult together how to take the cat, but they do not agree upon the matter " (Livonian). " Ar- chibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, a man remarkable for strength of body and mind, acquired the popular nnme of Bell-the-Cat upon the following remarkable occasion : When the Scottish nobility assembled to deliberate on 1 Du dire au fait il y a grand trait. 2 Le parole son femmine, e i fatti son rrxaschu 3 No son palabras para mi tia, que aim do las obras no sc fia. 4 A moro ruuerto gran lanzada. 5 1) facile far paura al toro dalla fenestra. 6 Molli son bravi quando 1'inimico frigge. THREATENING, BOASTING. 171 putting the obnoxious favorites of James III. to death, Lord Grey told them the fable of the mice, who re- solved that one of their number should put a bell round the neek of the cat, to warn them of its coming ; but no one was so hardy as to attempt it. ' I understand the moral,' said Angus ; ' I will bell the cat. He beard- ed the king to purpose by hanging the favorites over the bridge of Lauder ; Cochran, their chief, being elevated higher than the rest." (Note to Marmion.) Self-praise is no commendation. Self-praise stinks. Ye live beside ill-nsebors. Scotch. Tour trumpeter is dead. The last two are taunts addressed to persons who sound their own praises. A man may love his house weel, and no ride on the riggen o't. Scotch. A man does not prove the depth and sincerity of his sentiments by an ostentatious display of them. Good wine needs no bush. Gude ale needs nae wisp. Scotch. A bunch of twigs, or a wisp of hay or straw hung up at a roadside house, is a sign that drink is sold within. Tliis custom, which still lingers in the cider-making coun- ties of the west of England, and prevails more generally in France, is derived from the Romans, among whom a bunch of ivy, the plant sacred to Bacchus, was appro- priately used as the sign of a wine-shop. They, too, 172 PROVERBS OP ALL NATIONS. used to say, " Vendible wine needs no ivy hung up." l " Good wine needs no crier" (Spanish). 2 " It sells itself" (Spanish). 3 " Bosky" is one of the innumerable euphem- isms for " drunk." Probably the phrase, " he is bosky," originally conveyed an allusion to the symbolical use of the bush, with which all good fellows were familiar in the olden time. 1 Vino vendibili suspensa bedera non cst opus. 2 El vino bueno no ha menester pregonero. 3 El buen vino la venta trae consigo. SECRETS. No secrets but between two. " WHERE could you have heard that ? " said a friend to Grattan. " Why, it is a profound secret." " I heard it," sajd Grattan, " where secrets are kept in the street." Xapoleon I. used to say, " Secrets travel fast in Paris." * Three may keep counsel if two be away. We are told in several languages that "The secret of two is God's secret the secret of three is all the world's ; " 2 and the Spaniards hold that " What three know every creature knows." 3 The surest plan is, of course, not to trust to anybody ; and this was the plan pursued by Alva and by Q. Metellus Macedonicus, whose maxim, " If my tunic knew my secret I would burn it forthwith," has been turned by the French into a rhyming proverb of their own : " Let the shirt next your skin not know what 's within." 4 The Chinese say, " What is whispered in the ear is often heard a hundred 1 Les confidences vont vite a Paris. 2 Secret de deux, secret de Dieu ; secret de trois, secret do tous. 3 Lo que saben tres, sabe toda res. 4 Quc ta chemise ne sachc U guise. 174 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. ** miles off." Truly, " Nothing is so burdensome as a se- cret" (French). 1 The Livonians have this humorous hyperbole, " Confide a secret to a dumb man and it will make him speak." King Midas's barber scraped a hole in the earth, and, lying down, poured into it the tremen- dous secret that oppressed him ; but the earth did not keep it close, for it sprouted up with the growing corn, which proclaimed, with articulate rustlings, " King Mi- das hath the ears of an ass." Tom Noddy's secret. Or, "The secret of Polichinelle " (French); 2 that is to say, one which is known to everybody. This is what the Spaniards call " The secret of Anchuelos." 3 The town of that name lies in a gorge between two steep hills, on one of which a shepherd tended his flock, on the other a shepherdess. This pair kept up an amorous converse by bawling from hill to hill, but always with many mutual injunctions of secrecy. Murder will out. "And a man's child cannot be hid," adds Lancelot Gobbo. The English proverb is used jocosely, though derived from an awful sense of the fatality, as it were, with which bloody secrets are almost always brought to light. It seems to us as though the order of nature were inverted when the perpetrator of a murder escapes de- 1 Rien Tie pese tant qu'um secret. 2 Le secret de Polichinelle. 3 El secreto de Anchuelos. SECRETS. 175 tection. This faith in Nemesis was expressed in the an- cient Greek proverb, " The cranes of Ibycus," of. v/hich this is the story : The lyric poet Ibycus was murdered by robbers on his way to Corinth, and with his last breath committed the task of avenging him to a flock of cranes, the only living things in sight besides himself and his murderers. The latter, some time after, sitting in the theatre at Corinth, saw a flock of cranes overhead, and one of them said, scoffingly, " Lo, there the aveng- ers of Ibycus ! " These words were caught up by some near them, for already the poet's disappearance had ex- cited alarm. The men being questioned, betrayed them- selves, and were led to their doom, and " The cranes of Ibycus " passed into a proverb. This story may serve to show how Daylight will peep through a small hole. " Eggs are close things," say the Chinese, " but the chicks come out at last." " A secret fire is discovered by the smoke" (Catalan). 1 To let the cat out of the bag. To betray a secret inadvertently. I cannot tell what is the origin of this phrase. Can it be that it alludes to the practice of selling cats for hares ? A fraudulent vendor, while pressing a customer " to buy a cat in a bag" (see p. 58), might in an unguarded moment let him see enough to detect the imposition. 1 For secreto,.lo fumo lo descovre. 176 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. When rogues fall out honest men come by their own. They peach upon each other. " Thieves quarrel, and thefts are discovered " ( Spanish) . T " Gossips fall out, and tell each other truths" (Spanish). 2 "When the cook and the butler fall out we shall know what is be- come of the butter" (Dutch). Tell your secret to your servant, and you make him your master. Juvenal notes the policy of the Greek adventurers in Rome to worm out the secrets of the house, and so make themselves feared. " To whom you tell your secret you surrender your freedom " (Spanish). 3 " Tell your friend your secret, and he will set his foot on your throat " (Spanish). 4 Walls have ears. " Hills see, walls hear" (Spanish). 5 " The forest has ears, the field has eyes" (German). 6 What soberness conceals drunkenness reveals. " What is in the heart of the sober man is on the tongue of the drunken man" (Latin). 7 "In wine 1 Pelean los ladrones, y dcscubriense los hurtos. 2 Rinen las comadres, y duense las verdadcs. 3 A quien dices tu puridad, a esc das tu libcrtad. 4 Di a tu amigo tu secreto, y tenerte ha el pie en el pescuezo. 6 Montes veen, paredes oyen. 6 Der Wald hat Ohren, das Feld hat Augen. 7 Quod est in corde sobrii cst in ore ebrii. SECRETS. 177 is truth " (Latin). 1 " Wine wears no breeches " (Spanish). 2 When wine sinks, words swim. 3 When the wine is in the wit is out. 1 In vino vcritas. 2 El vino anda sin cal^as. 3 This is in Herodotus : "Oivov Kartovros c shower and rain, Winter is gone, and will not come again." Another version of this proverb current in the north of England is " If Candlemas day be dry and fair, The half of winter 's to come and mair ; If Candlemas day be wet and foul [pronouncedybo/j, The half of winter 's gone to Yule." March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. March comes in with adder heads and goes out with peacock tails. Scotch. A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom. A dry March never begs its bread. A peck of March dust and a shower in May Make the corn green and the fields gay. March winds and Ap-il showers Bring forth May flowers. SEASONS, WEATHER. 209 March wind and May sun Make clothes white and maids dun. So many mists in March" you see, So many frosts in May will be. March grass nsver did good. " When gnats dance in March it brings death to sheep" (Dutch). 1 When April blows his horn it 's good bath for hay and corn. " That is," says Ray, " when it thunders in April, for thunder is usually accompanied with rain." A cold April the barn will fill. April and May are the keys of the year. A May flood never did good. This applies to England. In Spain and Italy they say, " Water in May is bread for all the year." 2 To wed in May is to wed poverty. - There were fewer, marriages in Scotland in May, 1857, than in any other month of the year : it is an " unlucky month." The proverb is recorded by Wash- ington Irving. A swarm of bses in May is worth a load of hay, A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon, But a swarm in July is not worth a fly. A shower in July, when the corn begins to fill, Is worth a plough of oxen and all belongs theretill. 1 Als de muggen in Maart danssen, dat doet hot schaap den dood aan. 2 Acqiui di Magyio, pane per tutto 1'anno. H 210 PUOVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. A dry summer never made a dear pack. Drought nsver brsd dearth ia Enjlani. The same thing, and no more, is meant by the fol- lowing enigmatical rhyme : " When the sand doth feed the clay, England woe and well-a-day ; But when the clay doth feed the sand, TRen is it well with old England." The first of these two contingencies occurs after a wet summer the second after a dry one ; and, as there is more clay than sand in England, there is a better harvest in the second case than in the first. Dry August and warm doth harvest no harm. They think differently on this point in the south of Europe. "A wet August never brings dearth" (Italian). 1 " When it rains in August it rains honey and wine " (Spanish). 2 September blow soft till the fruit 'a in the loft. November take Sail, let ships no more sail. A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard. It is a popular notion that a mild winter is less healthy than a frosty one ; but the Registrar- General's returns prove that it is quite the contrary. The mor- tality of the winter months is always in proportion to the intensity of the cold. The proverb, therefore, must 1 Agosto humido non mena mai carestia. 2 Quando llueve en Agosto, llueve miel y mosto. SEASONS, WEATHER. 211 be given up as a fallacy. There is some truth in this of the Germans, " A green Christmas, a white faster." The probability is that a very mild whiter will be fol- lowed by an inclement spring. A snow year, a rich year. Under water, dearth ; under snow, bread. Winter's thundsr and summer's flood Never boded an Englishman good. NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTER- ISTICS. LOCAL ALLUSIONS. A right Englishman knows not when a thing is well. IT would seem, too, that he does not know when a thing is ill ; for the French say the English were beaten at Waterloo, but had not the wit to know it. A Scotsman is aye wise ahint the hand. Scotch. A Scotsman aye taks his mark frae a mischief. Scotch. Scotsmen reckon aye frae an ill hour. Scotch. That is, they always date from some untoward event. " A Scottish man," says James Kelly, " solicited the Prince of Orange to be made an ensign, for he had been a sergeant ever since his Highness ran away from Groll." The Englishman weeps, the Irishman sleeps, but the Scotsman gaes till he gets it. Scotch. Such, according to Scotch report, is the conduct of the three when they want food. The Welshman keeps nothing till he has lost it. Welsh. The older the Welshman, the more madman. Welsh: As long as a Welsh pedigree. NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 213 The Italianised Englishman is a devil incarnate. Italian. 1 This is the testimony of Italians. Of our country they say England is the paradise of women, the purgatory of purses, and the hell of horses. Italian* War with all the world, and peace with England. Spanish. 3 Beware of a white Spaniard and of a swarthy Englishman. Dutch.* Apparently because they are out of kind, and there- fore presumed to be uncanny. He has more to do than the ovens of London at Christmas. Italian. They agree like the clocks of London. French, Italian. Which clocks disagree to this day. (See Household Words, No. 410.) " The city time measurers are so far behind each other that the last chime of eight has hardly fallen on the ear from the last church, when another sprightly clock is heard to begin the hour of nine. Each clock, however, governs, and is believed in by its own immediate neighborhood." Shake a bridle over a Torkshireman's grave, and he will rise and steal a horse. He is Yorkshire. He is a keen blade. " He 's of Spoleto " (E. Spo- letino), say the Italians. J L'Inglcse italianizzato, un diavolo incarnate. 2 Inghilterra paradise di donne, purgatorio di borse, e inferno di cavalli. 3 Con todo el mondo guerra, y paz con Inglaterra. * Op een witten Spanjaard en op ecn zwarten Engelschman moet men acht geven. 214 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. The devil will not come into Cornwall for fear of being put into a pie. Cornish housewives make pies of such unlikely ma- terials as potatoes, pilchards, etc. By Tre, Pol, and Pen, You shall know the Cornish men. Surnames beginning with these syllables e.g., Tre lawney, Polwhele, Penrose are originally Cornish. A Scottish man and a Newcastle grindstone travel all the world over. Newcastle grindstones were long reputed the best of their kind. ' Another version of the proverb associates them with rats and red herrings, things which are very widely diffused over the globe, but not more so than Scotchmen. Three great evils corns out of the north a cold wind, a cunning knave, and a shrinking cloth. He Vs an Aberdeen's man ; he may take his word again. Scotch. An Aberdeen's man ne'er stands to the word that hurts him. Scotch. The people of Normandy labor under the same im- putation : "A Norman has his say and his unsay." 1 This proverb is said to have arisen out of the ancient custom of the province, according to which contracts did not become valid until twenty-four hours after they had been signed, and either party was at liberty to retract during that interval. 1 Un Nonnand a son dit et son dedit. NATIONAL AXD LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 215 Wis3 men of Gotham. Gotham is a village in Nottinghamshire,, declared by universal consent, for reasons unknown, to be the head- quarters of stupidity in this country, on whose inhab- itants all sorts of ridiculous stories might he fathered. The convenience of having such a butt for sarcasm has been recognized by all nations. The ancient Greeks had their Boeotia, which was for them what Swabia is for the modern Germans. The Italians compare foolish people to those of Zago, " who sowed needles that they might have a crop of crowbars, and dunged the steeple to make it grow." 1 The French say, " Ninety-nine sheep and a Champenese make a round hundred," 2 the man being a stupid animal like the rest. The Abbe Tuct traces back the origin of this story to Caesar's conquest of Gaul. Before that period the wealth of Champagne consisted in flocks of sheep, which paid a rate in kind to the public revenue. The conqueror, wi -hing to favor the staple of the province, exempted from taxation all flocks numbering less than a hundred head, and the consequence was that the Champenese always divided their sheep into flocks of ninety-nine. But Caesar was soon even with them, for he ordered that in future the shepherd of every flock should be counted as a sheep, and pay as one. 1 Piu pazzi di quei da Zago, che scminavano gucchie per raccogher poi pali di ferro, e davano del letame al campanile pLTche cresccsse. - Quutre-vingt-dix-neuf moutons et un Champcnois font cent bCtes. 216 PROVEEBS OF ALL NATIONS. Tenterden steepb 's the cause of the Goodwin Sands. This proposition is commonly quoted as a flagrant example of bad logic, illustrating the fallacy of the reference post hoc, ergo propter hoc. A very quaint account of its origin is given in these words in one of Latimer's sermons : "Mr. Moqre was once sent with commission into Kent, to try out, if it might be, what was the cause of Goodwin's Sands, and the shelf which stopped up Sandwich Haven. Thither cometh Mr. Moore, and calleth all the country before him ; such as were thought to be men of experience, and men that could of likelihood best satisfy him of the matter con- cerning the stopping of Sandwich Haven. Among the rest came in before him an old man with a white head, and one that was thought to be little less than an hun- dred years old. When Mr. Moore saw this aged man he thought it expedient to hear him say his mind in this matter ; for, being so old a man, it was likely that he knew most in that presence, or company. So Mr. Moore called this old aged man ^unto him, and said, * Father, tell me, if you can, what is the cause of the great arising of the sands and shelves here about this haven, which stop it up so that no ships can arrive here. You are the oldest man I can espy in all the company, so that if any man can tell the cause of it, you of all likelihood can say most to it, or at leastwise more than any man here assembled.' ' Yea, forsooth, good Mr. Moore,' quoth this old man, 'for I am well-nigh an hundred years old, and no man here in this company anything near my age.' ' Well, then,' quoth Mr. Moore, NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 217. ' how say you to this matter ? What think you to be the cause of these shelves and sands, which stop up Sandwich Haven ? ' ' Forsooth, sir,' quoth he, ' I am an old man ; I think that Tenterton steeple is the cause of Goodwin's Sands. For I am an old man, sir,' quoth he ; ' I may remember the building of Tenterton steeple, and I may remember when there was no steeple at all there. And before that Tenterton steeple was in build- ing there was no manner of talking of any flats or sands that stopped up the haven ; and therefore I think that Tenterton steeple is the cause of the decay and destroy- ing of Sandwich Haven.'" After all, this is not so palpable a non sequitur as it appears, for, says Fuller, " one story is good till another is told ; and though this be all whereupon this proverb is generally grounded, I met since with a supplement thereunto: it is this. Time out of mind, money was constantly collected out of this county to fence the east banks thereof against the irruption of the sea, and such sums were deposited in the hands of the Bishop of Rochester ; but because the sea had been quiet for many years without any encroaching, the bishop commuted this money to the building of a steeple and endowing a church at Tenterden. By this diversion of the collec- tion for the maintenance of the banks, the sea afterwards broke in upon Goodwin Sands. And now the old man had told a rational tale, had he found but the due favor to finish it ; and thus, sometimes, that is causelessly accounted ignorance of the speaker which is nothing but 218 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. impatience in the auditors, unwilling to attend to the end of the discourse." A loyal heart may be landed under Traitofs' Bridge. Every one who has passed down the Thames from London Bridge knows that archway in front of the Tower, under which boats conveying prisoners of state used to pass to Traitors' Stairs. A knight of Gales, a gentleman of Wales, and a laird cf the north countree ; A yeoman of Kont, with his yearly rent, will buy them out all three. " Gales knights were made in that voyage by Robert, Earl of Essex, to the number of sixty, whereof (though many of great birth) rome were of low fortunes; and therefore Queen Elizabeth was half offended with the earl for making knighthood so common. Of the numer- ousness of Welsh gentlemen nothing need be said, the Welsh generally pretending to gentility. Northern lairds are such who in Scotland hold lands in chief of the king, whereof some have no great revenue. So that a Kentish yeoman (by the help of a hyperbole) may countervail," etc. (Fuller.) "A Spanish don, a Ger- man count, a French marquis, an Italian bishop, a Neapolitan cavalier, a Portuguese hidalgo, and a Hun- garian noble make up a so-so company " (Italian). 1 1 Tin don di Spagna, conte d'Allemagna, marchese di Francia, vescovo d'ltalia, cavagiier di Napoli, idalgo di Portugullo, nubile d'Ungheria fanno una tal qual compagnia. NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS. ETC. 219 The Italians are wise before the fact, the Germans in the fact, the French after the fact. Italian. 1 The Italians are known by their singing, the French by their dancing, the Spaniards by their lording it, and the Germans by their drinking. Italian.- Where Germans are, Italians like not to be. Italian. 3 Italy, heads, holidays, and tempests. Italian** A gentleman, who visited Dublin in the O'Connell times, gave it as the result of his experience there that Ireland was a land of groans, grievances, and invitations to dinner. He that has to do with a Tuscan must not ba blind. Italian. 6 There is a double meaning in the original. The same Italian word means Tuscan and poison. It is better to be in the forest and eat pine cones than to live in a castle with Spaniards. Italian* Because the frugal Spanish soldiers could subsist on diet on which men of other nations would starve. For them " Bread and radishes were a heavenly dinner " (Spanish). 7 1 Gl' Italiani saggi innanzi il fatto, i Tedeschi nel fatto, i Fran- ces! dopo il fatto. 2 L'ltaliano al cantare, i Francesi al ballare, i Spagnuoli al bravare, i Tedeschi allo sbevacclriare, si conoscono. 3 Dove stanno Tedesche, mal volontieri stunno Italiani. 4 Italia, tcste, feste, e tempeste. 8 Chi ha da far con Tosco, non vuol esser losco. 6 E meglio star al bosco, e mangiar pignuoli, che star in castello co' Spagnuoli. 7 Pan y ravanillos, comer de Dios. 220 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. Abstract from a Spaniard all his good qualities, and there remains a Portuguese. Spanish. Every layman in Castile might make a king, every clerk a pope. Spanish. If the overweening pride of the Spaniard appears in these two proverbs, the candor of the following must also be acknowledged Suckers of Spain, either late or never. Spanish.* Things of Spain. Spanish.* That is, abuses, anomalies, and faults of all kinds. See " Ford's Handbook," passim. When the Spaniard sings, either he is mad or he has not a doit. Spanish. 3 A Pole would rather steal a horse on Sunday than eat milk or butter on Friday. German.* Poland is the hell of peasants, the paradise of Jews, the purgatory of burghers, the heaven of nobles, and the gold mine of foreigners. German. 6 A Polish bridge, a Bohemian monk, a Swabian nun, Italian devotion, and German fasting are worth a bean. German. If the devil came out of hell to fight there would forthwith be a Frenchman to accept the challenge. French.'' 1 Socorros de Espana, 6 tarde, 6 nunca. 2 Cosas de Espana. 3 Quando el Espanol canta, 6 rabia, 6 no tiene blanca. * Ein Pole wiirde eher am Sonntag cin Pferd stehlen, als am Freitag Milch oder Butter essen. 5 Polen ist der Bauern Holle,.der Judcn Paradies, der Burger Fegefeuer, der Edclleute Himmel, und der Fremden Goldgrube. 6 Bine Polnische Briicke, ein Bohmischer Monkh, eine Scha- bische Nonne, Welsche Andacht, und der Dentschen Fasten gelten eine Bohne. 7 Si le diable sortait de 1'enfer pour combattre, il se presenterait aussitot un Franfais pour accepter le defi. NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS, ETC. 2 - 21 When the Frenchman sleeps the devil rocks him. French. 1 Tho Italians wesp, the Germans screech, and the French sing. French.* Tim is found word for word in Italian also, though it seems devised for the special glorification of Frenchmen. The Portuguese say The Frenchman sings well when his throat is moistened. Portuguese.* The Germans have their wit in their fingers. French* That means they are skilful workmen. The emperor of Gsrmany is the king of kings, the king of Spain king of men, the king of France king of asses, the king of England king of devils. French.* It is better to hear the lark sing than the mouse creep. This was the proverb of the Douglases, adopted by every Border chief to express, as Sir Walter Scott observes, what the great Bruce had pointed out that the woods and hills were the safest bulwarks of their country, instead of the fortified places which the English surpassed their neighbors in the art of assaulting or defending. The Servians have a similar saying : 1 Quand le Fran9ais dort, le diable le berre. 2 Lcs Italiens plcurent, les Allemands crient, et les Francois chantcnt. 3 Bcin canta o Francez, papo molhado. 4 Les Allemands ont 1'esprit au doigts. 5 L'empereur d'Allemagne est le roy des roys, le roy d'Espagne roy des homines, le roy de France roy des asnes, et le roy d'An- gleterre roy des diables. 222 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. " Better to look from the mountain than from the dun- geon." He that has missed seeing Seville has missed seeing a marvel. Spanish.* See Naples and die- Italian* There is but one Paris. French. 9 1 Quien no ha vista Sevilla, no ha vista maraviglia. 2 Vedi Napoli e poi mori. 8 H n'y a qu'un Paris. INDEX. Abbott, 111, 205, 216 Aver, 32 Aberdeen, 218 Absence, 37 Bachelors' wives, 100 Absent, 37 Back, 52, 67 Absents, 39 Backward, 149 Acorn, 49 Bacon, 124 Adder, 18 Badger, 39 Ado, much, 124 Bail, 61 Adversity, 64, 146 Bald, 120, 123 Advice, 155, 156 Bale, 54 Advise, 155 Bargain, 71 Age, 29 Barkers, 167 Agreement, 197 Battle, 65, 189 Alcalde, 193 Bean, 119 Ale, 8-3, 171 Bear, 138 All but, 85 Beard, 56, 187 Almost, 83, 84 Bearskin, 138 Alms, 112 Beautv, 7, 9 Altar, 119 Bee, 33 Anchuelos, secret of, 174 Beetle, 98 Another, 107 Beginning, 187, 190 Anvil, 190 Begun, 187 Ape, 25, 32 Bell, 88 Apothecary, 200 Bell the cat, 171 Appearances, 123 Bend, 28 Apple, 110 Best, 72, 118, 148, 149 Apples, 98 Bides, 65 April, 208, 209 Bird, 34, 35, 74, 137, 141, 169 Arabic, 147 Bite, 55, 168, 169 Archer, 119 Bitterness, 117 Arm, 59, 70 Blackamoor, 32, 117 Arrow, 32 Black-puddings, 110 Ashamed, 96 Blood, 31 Ashe?, 78, 125 Blood-letting, 70 Asa, :.; 1,32, 67, 76, 87, 99, 117 Blossom, 28 Ass's head, 32 Boast, 1C9 iil, 32 Boaster, 169 Attorneys, 198 Bos, 156 August, 210' Bohemian, 220 Aunt's house, 3 Bone, 30 224 INDEX. Boot, 54 Boots, 81 Bora, 51 Born to 1)0 limited, 178 Borrow, 110, 134 Bow, 79 Brajr, 169 Bray, 130 Bread, 185, 211 Breeches, 177 Bricks, 55 Bride, 9 Broke my leg, 53 Brothers, 47 Brother's house, 38 Builds, 156 Bull, 149, 202 Bury, 199 Bush, 4-",, 151, 171 Bu-y, 69 Butter, 127 Buyer, 126 By-and-by, 134 Cacklinsr, 83 Cake, 119 Gales, 218 Calf, 78, 101 Candle, 132 Candlelight, 9 Candlemas, 207, 208 Cap, 121 Capon, 111 Capples, 20 Captain, 193 Carcass, 56 Care, 1-J5 Case altered, 1C8 Castile, 2'20 Castles, 1S8, 139 Cat, 31, 01, 8, 73, 83, 95, 104, 124, 127, 1J5, 1C8 Cat, a baited, 83 Caudle, 111 Chaff, 195 Champenese, 215 Charity, 101 Charybdis, 149 Cheapest, 72 Cheats, 145 Cheese, 127, 195 Chester, 65 103, Chick, 137 Chickens, 137, 128 Child, 24, 25, 01, 101, 111, 114, 166, 190 Children, 24, 26, 49, 100 Choice, 148 Choose, 148 Christened, 111 Christian, 136 Christmas, 210, 211, 213 Church, 1-28 Church of God; 206 Churl, 113 Clcriry, 204 Clerk', 193, 195, 204, 220 Clerk.-', 147 Cloak, 124 Clocks, 213 Clothes, 90 Coach, 100 Coal, 126 Coal-sack, 32 Coat, 70, 11 8 Cobbler's do?, 100 Cock, 25, 35," 02 Collier, 35 Colt, 27 Common fame, 159 Company, 96 Comparisons, 1-50 Comrade, 46 Conquers, 60 Contrivance, 152 Cook, 192 Cook and butler, 176 Cornish, 214 Cornwall, 53, 214 Cossack, 65 Cost, 72 Council, 155 Counsel, 00 Counselled, 155 Courtesy, 27 Covet, 75 Covetousness, 75 Cow, 31, 101, 104 Coward, 80 Crab, 30 Craft, 127 Craftsman, 94 Crane, 141 Cranes, 175 INDEX. 225 Creaking, 200 Drought, 210 Creep, 190 Drown, 178 Cripple, 117,147 Drowned, 01, 178 Cripples, 82, 96 Drowning, 55 ('rooked carlin, 117 Drunken/120, 176 Crooks, 28 Drunkenness, 176 Crow, 25, 117 Dunghill, 35 Crucifixes, 52 Dyke, 56, 103 Cry, great, 124 Dyke, side, 69 Cry (nit, 54 Clip, 140 Eagles, 33, 56 Cupur, 89 Ears, 26, 176 Cnr-e, 108 Earth, 199 Custom, U3-95 East, 83 Cutty, 151 Eaten bread, 115 Egg, 8-1, 110, 141 Dainty, 181 Eggs, 150 Dancer, 80 Elbow, 203 Darkest hour, 54 Ernperor, 130 Daughter, 111 Empty, 125 Daughters, 22, 20 Ending, 187 Dav,"04, 128 Encmv, 41, 83 Davliirht, 102 England, 210, 213 Dead, 111 English, GO Dead men's, 142 Englishman, 35, 212, 213 Dear, 71 Enough, 74-76 Debt, 01 Even-song, 64 Dcil, 01, 68, 69, 124, 196 Evening, 59 Deils, 60 Every bod} r , 159 De-lav, 135 Every man, 91, 100 Dwil, 83, 126, 128, 132, 134, Every one, 101, 102, 104, 155 131), 149, 18J, 213 Everything, 1UO Devils, 49 Evil," 54, 00 Die, 142 Ewe, 67 Dirt, 158 Ewe and lamb, 42 Dirtv-nosed, 117 Excuse, excuses, 37, 119, 120, Dishdout, 81, 159 125 Disease, 199 Experience, 144 Ditch, 138 Extremes, 80 Doctor, 199, 200 Eye, 75 Dog, 35, 40, 49, 55, 80, 81, 100, Eye, sore, 203 141, 140, 153, 158, 107, 183 Dog, mad, 179 Fair and softly, 76 Dogs, 90, 150 Fall out, 176 Doing nothing, G8 Fame, common, 159 Dollar, 51 Familiarity, 39 Done, 187 Far awa'/37 Donkcv, 99 Father, 149 Door, '04 Fashion, 96 Down, 55 Fashions, 38 Drink, 87 Fast bind, 62 Driver, 118 Fasting, 120 15 223 INDEX. . Father, 21, 52, 181, 193 Fault, 37, 1U), 120, 125 Faultless, 118 Faults, 10 Favor, 1 15 Feast, 8'J February, 207 Fcbruecr, '207 Fellowship, 48 Feyther, 2-3 Fiddlers, 4 7 Fierce, 35, 83 Fifteen, 27 Figs, 90 Filly, 25 Fine, 8 Fingers, 6"> Fire, 50, 7J, 159, 175 Fire, catehhrr, 120 First blow, 18) Fish, 05, 83, Ul, 137, 145 Fisherman, 118 Five, 27 Flawed pots, 201 Flax, 10 Fleas, 0, 77, 96 Fiesh, 30 FleyeJ, 54 Flies, 33, 67, 78 Flitches, 124 Foe, 41 Folks, 160 Folly, 32 Fool, 27, 32, 50, 72, 88, 91, 117, 156, 157, 165 Fools, 26, 50, 71, 156 Forbid, 91 Forbidden fruit, 90 Force, 153 Forgotten, 37 Fortune. 50, 53 Forward, 149 Foster, 39, 43 Foul Finger, 117 Fox, 150', 179 Foxes, 179 Frame t, 38 France, 221 Free, 112 Freere's, 205 French, 218, 219, 221 Frenchman, 221 Friar, 53, 129, 235 Friars, 205, 206 Friar's conscience, 62 Friday, 120, 220 Friend, 38, 41, 43, 44, 200 Friends, 37, 38, 41-44, 134, 143 Friendship, 38, 40, 41, 43 Frog, 32 Fruit, 66, 157 Fruit forbidden, 90 Fruit, late, 28 Frvingpan, 157 Fules, 1, 97 Keys, 65 Kick, 55 Kiln, 117 Kind, 31 Kindness, 13, 40 King, 30, 82, 98 Kind's, 195 Kind's horses, 99 Kiss, 127 Kissing, 44 Ki.chen, 71 Knave, 114 Knock down, 55 Labors, 68 Lack, 75 Ladder, 46 Lady, 47 Laird, 132, 218 Lam I), 81 Landlady, 9 Lark, 222 Lass, 148 Lasses, 10 Late fruit, 28 Lathered, 187 Latin, 147 Law, 141, 196, 197 Law breakers, 106 Law makers, 196 Laws, 196 Lawsuit, 197 Lawyer, 197, 198 Lawyers, 185, 197, 198 Layman, 220 Leak, 71 Leap, 58 Leg, 53, 70 Lend, 110 Leveret, 141 Liar, 46, 169 Liars, 161 Lidford, 180 Lie, lies, 119, 145, 161 Lifeless, 1)8 Likely, 124 Lion,' 35, 46, 80 Lion's den, 93 Little, 26 Little sticks, 76 Live, 146 Live-long 76 London, 213 Longears, 117 Loose, 62 Lorris, 55 Losinir, 52 Love, 10-14, 24, 196 Loyal, 218 Luc-k, 49-52, 68 Lucky, 51 Luther's shoes, 99 Lying, 83 Mad, 96 Mad dog, 179 Maggots, 52 Maid, 25 Maiden, 181 Maid's children, 100 Malmsey, 90 Many, 79 Many wavs, 152 March, 208, 209 Man?, 25, 125 Marriage, 16, 18, 19 Married, 111 Marries, 14 Marry, 13, 17, 19, 21, 22, 26 Martin, 81, 85 Mass, 135 Master, 35, 48, 104, 193 May, 208, 209 Measure, 59 Mice, 31 Midden, 15, 35 Mill, 79, 101, 143 Miller, 103 Mind, 37 Minster, 135 Mire, 124 Mischief, 61, 68, 206 Miser, 80 Miser's money, 72 INDEX. 229 Mi.-f'urtune, 52, 53 Miss, 84 Mithcr, 24, 25 Mixon, 15 Money, 04, 180, 182 Monk, 128, 205, 221 Monks, 205 Montgomery, 45 Moor, 170, 184 Morning, 60 Moses, 55 Mother, 24-26, 106, 166 Mother-in-law, 23 Mother of God, 50 Mother's milk, 30 Moulter, 103 Mountain, 124, 222 -Mouse, 66, 74, 82, 124, 150, 222 Mousetrap, 189 Much, 76 Much ado, 124 Mulberry, 66 Murder, 174 Naebody, 122 Naethin, 68 Nair, 32 Nail, 150, 202 Naked, 96 Naples, 222 Neck, 52, 82 Need, 46, 18o Neighbor, 38 Nest, 34 Newcastle, 214 News, 106 Niirht, 54, 138 Nile, 51 Nobody, 100 Nose, 52, 106, 120, 121 Nothing to do, 69 November, 210 Nuns, 205 Offence, 121 Office, ]'Jl, 193 Offices, 192 Old, 145, 203 Old sores, 60 Olive, 138 One-eyed, 150 Opens, 64 Opinions, 150 Orchard, 110 Oven, 117 Ower hot, 78 Ower mony, 79 Ox, 35, 51 Paclfa, 98 Pains, 67, 69 Pan, 117 Paradise, 213 Paris, 222 Path, 119 Patience, 63, 64, 65 Pence, 72 Penny, 51, 72, 81 Peralvillo, 180 Perforce, 87 Perhaps, 83 Persevcrcnce, 66 Peter, 43, 98 Petticoat, 109 Pettitoes, 112 Physician, 117, 199 Pie, 110 Pis;, 49, 58, 112, 124 Pilots, 100 Pinches, 107 Pipers, 47 Pitchers, 26 Place, 191 Plain dealing, 102 Play, 79, 80 Pleasure, 90 Plenty, 181 Poke, 58 Poker, 117 Poland, 220 Pole, 2;20 Polichinelle, secret of. 174 Polish, 220 Poor, 111 Poor man, 72 Pope, 131, 220 Portuguese, 95, 220, 221, 222 Possession, 141 Pot, 43, 105, 117, 120 Pots, 201 Pottage, 12 Potter, 105 Poultry, 205 Poverty, 13, 185, 186 230 INDEX. Praise, 138 Pretty pirl, 10 Priest, 101, 119, 195, 205 Priests, 204 Pudding, 147 Puddle, 119 Purgatory, 213 Puir man, 55 " Purse, 42, 73 Quaker, 158 Rain, 64 Rains, 53 Raven, 114, 117, Raven, belongs to the, 178 Reason, 152 Receiver, 46 Reckons, 137 Refer, 198 Reward, 193 Rich, 111, 184 Rich man, 42, 184 Rich year, 211 Ride, 47 Ridiculous, 80 Right, 54 Rings, 65 Riven dish, 114 River, 74, 125, 149, 179, 183 Robin Hood, 99 Rogue, 49, 184 Rogues, 145, 176, 184, 196 Rolling stone, 65 Rome, 95, 131, 136 Rope, 121, 123 Rose, 119 Sack, 46 Saddle, 65,82 Sail, 83 Saint, 127 Saints, 193 Salmon, 110 Salt-box, 52 Satan, 128 Saying, 170 Scolding wife, 20 Scotsman, 212 Scotsmen, 212 Scottish, 214 Scratch, 121 Scylla, 149 Sea, 83, 100 Second thoughts, 59 Secret, 173, 176, 180 Self, 101, 103 Self-praise, 171 September, 210 Serpent, 144 Serves, 193 Seville, 222 Shabby, 124 Shaft or bolt, 151 Shave, 153 Shaved, 187 Sheep, 67, 81, 102, 165, 186 Sheriff, 149 Shift, 151 Shins, 182 Ship, 71, 147 Shirt, 109 Shoe, 106 Shoemaker's wife, 136 Shoes, 81 Shoots, 118 Shot, 119 Shoulders, 67 Shovel, 117 Shrew, 100 Shuts, 64 Sicker, 119 Sickness, 128 Sight, 37 Silence, 164, 165, 168 Silent, 165 Silk purse, 32 Sing, 91 Singed cat, 124 Sink a ship, 52 Skull, 117 Skunk, 102 Slander, 157 Sleep, 60, 202 Slight, 151 Slip, 140 Sloth, 69 Smoky chimney, 20 Smith, 94 Smock, 109 Smoke, 157 Smokes, 159 Snake, 114 Snow, 211 INDEX. 231 Soberness, 176 Soft fire, 78 Softly, 70 Soldier, 193 Soldiers, 1:28 Son, 20, 183 Son's-in-law, 111 Soon, 28, 78 Sore eye, 203 Sore-eyed, 117 Sores, old, GO Sorrow, 53 Sour, 1-2-3 Sow, 32, 47, 184 Spain, 220, 221 Spaniard, 213, 219, 220 Spanish, 218 Speech, 164 Spoil, 95 Spoil a horn, 59, 83 Spoleto, 213 Spoon, 83 Spots, 117, 118 Sprat, 110 Spune, 59, 61 Squints, 9 Stable door, 60 Steal, 112 Steal a horse, 160, 213, 220 Stealing, 1*9, 190 Step, 189 Sticking 151 Stinsr, 114 Stinking fish, 105 Stockfish, 17 Stolen, 60, 90 Store, 72 Storm, G4 Siout, 47 Stout heart, 65 Stretch your arm, 59 Strike, 134 Stuarts, 98 Stupidity, 50 Sublime, 80 Summer, 210 Summers, 211 Sunday, 220 Supper, 73 Supperless, 192 Surety, 01 Swabian, 220 Sweet malt, 78 Swimmer, 118 Take-it-easy, 76 Tarry Breeks, 47 Teeth, 14, 169 Tenterdcn Steeple, 216 Tether, 141 Thanks, 193 Thief, 46, 113, 179, 190, 194 Thieves, 22, 180, 184 Think, 1G4 Tholes, 65 Thorn, 28 Thorns, 98 Threatened, 167, 168 Threats, 169 Three, 47 Threshold, 189 Thriftless, 73 Thunder, 211 Ties, 62 Tiles, 116 Time, 65, 66, 134, 135 Tippler, 124 Tired, 66 Tod, 103 To-day, 134, 141 Tod's hide, 179 Tom Noddy's, 174 Tongue, 14, 127, 165, 166, 169 To-morrow, 134, 141 Too dear, 91 Too many, 79, 150 Too much, 74, 76, 127 Tossed, 51 Toughest, 66 Traitors' bridge, 218 Transplanted, 66 Tree, 66 Treve, 103 Trust, 61, 104 Truth, 162 Tub, 101 Tumble, 52 Turn, 48 Turn one's back, 183 Tuscan, 219 Twig, 28 Two, 47 Two anchors, 150 Two faces, 129 232 INDEX. Two heads, 155 Whistle, 91 Two parishes, 129 White flour, 32 Two strings, 150 Widow, 17, 22 Two to one, 47 Wife, 2, 14-22, 23, 148 Wife's, 2 Ugly, 8, 9 Wight man, 86 Unhappy, 52, 142 Wilful, 90 Unknown, 58 Will, 86, 87, 135, 139 Unlikely, 124 Willing, 86, 112 Unlucky, 179 Willing horse, 67 Unmannerly, 38 Wind, 53, 83, 170, 202 Unwilling, 87 Windiirx-sheets, 52 Use, 72, 93, 94 Wine, 41, 171, 172, 177, 210 Winters, 211 Venom, 33 Wise men, 193 Vicar of Bray, 130 Wist, 59 Vicars, 12G Wit, 72, 144, 177 Vine, 140 Wives, 20 Vinegar, 78 Wolf, 30, 67, 159, 165 Virtue, IDS Wolves, 96 Voluntary, 86 Woman, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 206 Women, 1-4, 6, 7, 9, 204 Wales, 218 Woo, 15, 18 Wall, 56 Wood, 138 Walls, 176 Woodie, 178 Want, 71 Wooing, 20 Wants, 185 Wool, 124 War, 147, 213 Words, 164, 1(58, 170, 177 Wasp, 33 Work, 79, 87 Waste, 71 World, 55 Water, 56, 90, 97, 101, 125, 128, Worst, 54, 165 1 10, 143, 178, 184 Wren, 141 Waters, 125 Write, 164 Way, 86 Wrong, 54 Weakest, 56 Wytes, 119 Wed, 15, 18 Wedding, 22 Wee fire, 76 Yew, bow, 65 Welcome, 39 Yorkshire, 213 Well, a, 61 Yorkshireman, 217 Wells, 97 Young, 202 Welsh, 212 Youth, 27, 29 Welshman. 212 Yowl, 54 West, 80 Wheelbarrow, 100 Zago, 215 ; "