' 
 
 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 re<rg-e senza l'iri:c. 
 
 10 Amor regge il .suo r.-._no senza spada.
 
 14 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 " Love knows not labor ; " 1 ' ; Love is master of all 
 arts." 2 The French have one proverb on the sovereign 
 might of love, 3 which they borrowed from the sublime 
 phrase in the Song of Solomon, " Love is stronger than 
 death ; " and another, expressed in the language of their 
 chivalric forefathers, " Love subdues all but the ruffian's 
 heart." 4 
 
 Marry in haste and repent at leisure. 
 
 This proverb probably came to us from Italy ; 5 but, 
 alas ! it happens too often in all countries that " Wed- 
 lock rides in the saddle, and repentance on the croup " 
 (French). 6 There is a joke in the Menagiana not un- 
 like this : A person meeting another riding on horse- 
 back with his wife behind him, applied to him the words 
 of Horace " Post equitem sedet atra cura." 7 " Mar- 
 riage is a desperate thing," quoth Selden. " The frogs 
 in .ZEsop were extremely wise ; they had a great mind 
 to some water, but they would not leap into the well 
 because they could not get out again." Consider well, 
 then, what you are about before you put yourself in a 
 condition to hear it said, 
 
 You have tied a knot with your tongue you cannot undo with your 
 teeth. 
 
 Some go so far as to say that "No one marries but 
 
 1 Amor non conosce travaglio. 
 
 2 Di tutte le arti maestro e amore. 
 
 3 Amour et mort, rien n'est plus fort. 
 
 * Amour soumet tout hormis coeur de felon. 
 
 5 Chi si marita in frctta, stenta adayio. 
 
 6 Fiancailles vont en selle, et repentailles en croupe. 
 
 7 Black care sits behind the horseman.
 
 WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 15 
 
 repents " (French). 1 The Spaniards exclaim, in lan- 
 guage which reminds us of the custom of Dunmow, 
 " The bacon of paradise for the married man that has 
 not repented ! " 2 
 
 Better wed over the mucon than over the moor. 
 
 The mixon is the heap of manure in the farmyard. 
 The proverb means that it is better not to go far from 
 home in search of a wife advice as old as the 'Greek 
 poet Hesiod, who has a line to this effect : " Marry, in 
 preference to all other women, one who dwells near 
 thee." But a more specific meaning has been assigned 
 to the English proverb by Fuller, and after him by Ray 
 and Disraeli. They explain it as being a maxim pecu- 
 liar to Cheshire, Jind intended to dissuade candidates for 
 matrimony from taking the road to London, which lies 
 over the moorland of Staffordshire. " This local prov- 
 erb," says Disraeli, " is a curious instance of provincial 
 pride, perhaps of wisdom, to induce the gentry of that 
 county to form intermarriages, to prolong their own 
 ancient families and perpetuate ancient friendships be- 
 tween them." This is a mistake, for the proverb is not 
 peculiar to Cheshire, or to any part of England. Scot- 
 land has it in this shape : 
 
 Better woo o'er midden nor o'er moss. 
 
 And in Germany they give the same advice, and also 
 assign a reason for it, saying, " Marry over the mixon, 
 
 1 Nul ne se marie qui nc s'en repente. 
 
 2 El tocino de paraiso para el casado no arrepiso.
 
 16 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 and you will know who and what she is." 1 The same 
 principle is expressed in different forms in other lan- 
 guages, e. ff., " Your wife and your nag get from a neigh- 
 bor" (Italian). 2 " He that goes far to marry goes to be 
 deceived or to deceive" (Spanish). 3 The politic Lord 
 Burleigh seems to have regarded this "going far to 
 deceive " as a very proper thing to be done for the 
 advancement of a man's fortune. In his " Advice to his 
 Son," he says, " If thy estate be good, match near home 
 and at leisure ; if weak, far off and quickly." There is 
 an ugly cunning in that word quickly. Burleigh's advice 
 is quite in the spirit of the French fortune hunter's 
 adage, " In marriage cheat who can." 4 
 
 He that loseth his wife and sixpence hath lost a tester. 
 
 " He that loseth his wife and a farthing hath a great 
 loss of his farthing" (Italian). 5 In Italy also, and in 
 Portugal, it is said that " Grief for a dead wife lasts to 
 the door ; " 6 and even in Provence, the land of the 
 troubadours, they have a rhyme to this effect : 
 
 " Two good days for a man in this life : 
 When he weds and when he buries his wife." 7 
 
 1 Heirathe iiber den Mist, so weisst du wer sie ist. 
 2 La moglie e il ronzino piglia dal vicino. 
 3 Quien lejos se va a casar, o va engauado, o va a enganar. 
 * En niariage trompe qui pent. 
 
 5 Chi perde la moglie e un quattrino, ha gran perdita del 
 qnattrino. 
 
 Doglia di moglie morta dura fino alia porta. Dor do mulher 
 morta, dura ate a porta. 
 
 7 Dous houns jours a Thome sur terro : 
 Quand prcn mouilho, e quand 1'enterro.
 
 WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 17 
 
 Nor do the wives of Provence appear to be delighted 
 with their conjugal lot. Having lost their youthful 
 plumpness through the cares and toils of wedlock, they 
 oddly declare that " If a stockfish became a widow it 
 would fatten." 1 A Spanish woman's opinion of matri- 
 mony is thus expressed : " ' Mother, what sort of a thing 
 is marriage ? ' ' Daughter, it is spinning, bearing chil- 
 dren, and weeping.' " 2 
 
 Better a tocher [dower] in her than wi' her. Scotch. 
 
 A man's best fortune or his worst is his wife. 
 "The day you marry you kill or cure yourself" 
 (Spanish). 8 "Use great prudence and circumspection," 
 says Lord Burleigh to his son, " in choosing thy wife, 
 for from thence will spring all thy future good or evil ; 
 and it is an action of life like unto a stratagem of war, 
 wherein a man can err but once." 
 
 Tha gude or ill hap o' a gude or ill life 
 
 Is the gude or ill choice o' a gude or ill wife. Scotch. 
 
 There is a Spanish rhyme much to the same effect : 
 
 " Him that lias a good wife no evil in life that may not be borne, 
 
 can befall. 
 Him that has a bad wife no good thing in life can chance to, that 
 
 good you may call." 4 
 
 1 Se uno marlusse venie vcouso, serie grasso. 
 
 2 Mndre, que cosa es casar? Hija, hilar, parir y llorar. 
 
 3 El dia que te casas, o te matas o te sanas. 
 
 4 A quien tiene buena muger, ningun mal le pucde venir, que no 
 
 sea de sufrir. 
 A quien tiene mala muger, ningun bien le puedc venir, que 
 
 bien se puede dccir. 
 o
 
 18 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Put your hand in the creel, and take out either an adder or an eel. 
 That 's matrimony. " In buying horses and taking 
 a wife, shut your eyes and commend yourself to God " 
 (Italian). 1 " Marriages are not as they are made, but 
 as they turn out" (Italian). 2 
 
 There 's but a,s gude wife in the country, and ilka man thinks he 's 
 got her. Scotch. 
 
 It is a pleasant delusion while it lasts, and it is not 
 incurable. Instances of complete recovery from it are 
 not rare. 
 
 A man may woo whore he will, but must wed where ho 's weird. 
 
 Scotch. 
 
 That is, where he is fated to wed. This is exactly 
 equivalent to the English saying, 
 
 Marriages are made in heaven, 
 
 the meaning of which Dean Trench appears to me to 
 mistake, when he speaks with admiration of its "religi- 
 ous depth and beauty." I cannot find in it a shadow of 
 religious sentiment. It simply implies that it is not 
 forethought, inclination, or mutual fitness that has the 
 largest share in bringing man and wife together. More 
 efficient than all these is the force of circumstances, or 
 what people vaguely call chance, fate, fortune, and so 
 forth. In the French version of the adage, "Marriages 
 are written in heaven," 3 we find the special formula of 
 
 1 Comprar cavalli e tor moglie, serra gli occhi e raccomnnchiti a 
 Dio. 
 
 2 I matrimoni sono, non come si fanno, ma come riescono. 
 
 3 Les manages sont ecrits clans le ciel.
 
 WOMEN, LOVE, 1IARUIAGE, ETC. 19 
 
 Oriental iktalism ; and fatalism is everywhere the popu- 
 lar creed respecting marriage. Hence, as Shakspeare 
 
 says, 
 
 " The ancient saying is no heresy 
 
 Hanging and wiving go by destiny." 
 
 "But now consider the old proverbe to be true y 
 saieth : that marriage is destinie." Hall's Chronicles. 
 
 If marriages be made in heaven some had few friends there. Scotch. 
 Ne'er seek a wife till ye has a house and a fire burning. Scotch. 
 More belongs to a bed than four bare legs. 
 Marriage is honorable, but housekesping is a shrew. 
 Sweethsart and honey-bird keeps no house. 
 
 "Marry, marry, and what about the housekeeping?" 
 (Portuguese). 1 " Remember," said a French lady to 
 her son, who was about to make an imprudent match, 
 " remember that in wedded life there is only one thing 
 which continues every day the same, and that is the 
 necessity of making the pot boil." " He that marries 
 for love has good nights and bad days" (French). 2 
 "Before you marry have where to tarry " (Italian) ; 3 
 and remember that 
 
 A wee houss has a wide throat. 
 
 It costs something to support a family, however 
 small ; and " It is easier to build two hearths than 
 always to have a fire on one" (German)? 
 
 1 Casar, casar, e que do governo ? 
 
 2 Qui se marie par amours, a bonnes nuits et mauvais jours. 
 
 3 Innanzi al maritarc habbi 1'habitare. 
 
 4 Es ist leichter zwei Herde baucn, als auf einem immcr Feuer 
 haben.
 
 20 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 'Tis hard to wive and thrive both in a year. 
 Who weds ere he be wise shall die ere he thrive. 
 Happy is the wooing that is not long a-doing. 
 
 This is so far true as it discommends long engage- 
 ments. 
 
 'Tis time to yoke when the cart comes to the capples [i. e., horses]. 
 
 Cheshire. 
 
 That is, it is time to marry when the woman woos the 
 man. This provincial word " capple " is Irish also, and 
 is allied to, but not derived from, the Latin caballus, 
 It is probably one of the few words of the ancient 
 Celtic tongue of Britain which were adopted into the 
 language of the Saxon conquerors. 
 
 Husbands are in heaven whose wives chide not 
 "Whether or not that heaven is ever found on earth is 
 a question which each man must decide from his own 
 experience. "He that has a wife lias strife," 1 say the 
 French, and the Italian proverb-mongers take an un- 
 handsome advantage of the fact that in their language 
 the words " wife " and " woes " differ only by a letter. 2 
 St. Jerome declares that " Whoever is free from wran- 
 gling is a bachelor." 3 
 
 A smoky chimney and a scolding wife are two bad companions. 
 The Scotch couple together " A leaky house and a 
 scolding wife," in which they follow Solomon : " A con- 
 tinual dropping on a very rainy day and a contentious 
 
 1 Qui femme a, noise a. 
 
 2 Chi ha moglie, ha doglie. 
 8 Qui non litigat ccelebs est.
 
 WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. . 21 
 
 woman are alike." 1 "It is better to dwell in a, corner 
 of the housetop than with a brawling woman in a wide 
 house." 2 
 
 A house wi' a reek and a wife wi' a reerd [scolding noise] will sune 
 mak a man run to the door. Scotch. 
 
 Of the continental versions of this proverb the 
 Spanish 3 seems to me the best, and next to it the Dutch. 4 
 
 It 's a sair reek where the gude wife dings the gude man. Scotch. 
 
 " A man in my country," says James Kelly, " coming 
 out of his house with tears on his cheeks, was asked 
 the occasion. He said ' there was a sair reek in the 
 house :' but, upon further inquiry, it was found that his 
 wife had beaten him." " It is a sad house where the 
 hen crows and the cock is mute" (Spanish).* Though 
 we have not this proverb in English, we have its spirit 
 embodied in one word, HENPECKED, which is peculiar 
 to ourselves. 
 
 The gray mare is the better horse. 
 
 The wife wears the breeches. " A hawk's marriage : 
 the hen is the better bird" (French). 6 
 
 Marry above your match and you get a master. 
 "In the rich woman's house she commands always, 
 
 1 Prov. xxvii. 15. 2 Prov. xxi. 19. 
 
 3 Iluino y gotcra, y la mugcr parlera, echan cl h ombre de su 
 cas:i fiiera. 
 
 4 Rook, stank, en kwaade wijvcn zijn die dc mans uit do hui- 
 zcn drijven. 
 
 5 Tristc es la cnsa donde la gallina canta y el gallo calla. 
 
 6 Muriage d'cpcrvicr : la fcmcllc vaut mieux quc le male.
 
 22 PUOVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 and he never" (Spanish). 1 "Who takes a Avife for her 
 dower turns his back on freedom " (French). 2 But 
 every married man is in this plight, for 
 
 " He that has a wife has a master." 3 
 
 "He that's not sensible of the truth of this proverb," 
 says James Kelly, " may blot it out or pass it over." 
 
 " As the good man saith, so say we : 
 But as the good woman saith, so it must be." 
 
 Wedding and ill wintering tame both man and beast. 
 " You will marry and grow tame " (Spanish). 4 
 
 He that marries a widow and two daughters marries three stark 
 
 thieves. 
 He that marries a widow and two daughters has three back doors 
 
 to his house. 
 
 And " The back door is the one that robs the house " 
 (Italian). 5 
 
 Never marry a widow unless her first husband was hanged. 
 Else the burden of an old Scotch song, " Ye '11 never be 
 like mine auld gudeman," will be dinned in your ears 
 day and night. 
 
 He that marries a widow will have a dead man's head cast in his 
 
 dish. 
 Happy is the wife who is married to a motherless son. 
 
 " Uno animo omnes socrus oderunt nurus," says 
 
 1 En la casa dc muger rica, ella manda siempre, y el nunca. 
 
 2 Qui prend une femme pour sa dot a la liberte' tourne le dos. 
 
 3 In French, Qui prend femme, prend maitre. 
 
 4 Casaras y amansaras. 
 
 5 La porta di dietro e quella che ruba la casa.
 
 WOMEN, LOVK, 3IAURIAGE, ETC. 23 
 
 Terence ; and this is the common testimony of experi- 
 ence in all ages and countries. "The husband's mother 
 is the wife's devil" (German, Dutch). 1 "As long as I 
 was a daughter-in-law I never had a good mother-in-law, 
 and as long as I was a mother-in-law I never had a good 
 daughter-in-law" (Spanish). 2 "The mother-in-law for- 
 gets that she was a daughter-in-law" (Spanish). 3 "She 
 is well married who has neither mother-in-law nor sis- 
 ter-in-law " ( Spanish).* Men, too, do not always regard 
 their wives' mothers Avith tender affection, and some of 
 the many bitter sayings against mothers-in-law seem to 
 be common to both sexes. " Such is this queer Ulster 
 
 rhyme : 
 
 " Of all the ould women that ever I saw, 
 Sweet bad luck to my mother-in-law." 
 
 Also these Low German : " There is no good mother-in- 
 law but she that wears a green gown;" 5 i. e., that is 
 covered with the turf of the churchyard; "The best 
 mother-in-law is she on whose gown the geese feed;" 
 and this Portuguese, " If my mother-in-law dies, I will 
 fetch somebody to flay her." 7 
 
 1 Des Mannes Mutter ist der Frau Teufel. Een mans mocr 
 is de duivel op den vloer. 
 
 2 En quanto fue nuera, nunca tuve buena suegra, y en quanto 
 fue suegra, nunca tuve buena nuera. 
 
 3 No se acuerda la snegra que fue nuera. 
 
 4 Aquella es bien casada, que no tiene suegra ni cunada. 
 
 5 Es ist keine gut Swigar, danne die einen griinen Rok an hat. 
 
 6 Die bcste Swigar ist die auf deren Rok die Ganse waidcn. 
 
 7 Se minha sogra more, buscare quem a estolle.
 
 PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 
 
 Children are certain cares but uncertain comforts. 
 "LITTLE children and headaches great children and 
 heartaches" (Italian). 1 Nevertheless, " He knows not 
 what love is that has not children" (Italian). 2 
 
 It is a wise child that knows his own father. 
 Happily, as a French sage remarks, " One is always 
 somebody's child, and that is a comfort." 3 " The child 
 names the father; the mother knows him" (Livonian). 
 
 The mother knows b'est if the child be like the father. 
 The mither's breath is aye sweet. Scotch. 
 
 This proverb, which belongs exclusively to Scotland, 
 appears to me even more " exquisitely graceful and 
 tender" than that German and French proverb so justly 
 admired by Dean Trench, " Mother's truth keeps con- 
 stant youth." 4 "There is no mother like the mother 
 
 1 Fanciulli piccioli, dolor di testa ; fanciulli grandi, dolor di 
 ouorc. 
 
 2 Chi non ha figlinoli non sa chc cosa sia amore. 
 
 3 On e.st toujours le fils dc quelqu'un ; celn console. 
 
 4 Muttertreu wird liiglich neu. Tcudresssc mutcrnclle toujours 
 se renouvelle.
 
 PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 25 
 
 that bore us" (Spanish). 1 "The child that gets a step- 
 mother gets a stepfather also" (Danish). 2 
 
 The crow thinks her own bird the fairest. 
 
 "Every mother's child is handsome" (German). 8 
 " No ape but swears he has the finest children " (Ger- 
 man). 4 "If our child squints, our neighbor's child has 
 a cast in both eyes" (Livonian). 
 
 As the old cock crows so crows the young; or 
 
 As the old cock crows the young cock learns. 
 
 If the mare have a bald face the filly will have a blaze. 
 
 Trot feyther, trot mither, how can foal amble? Scotch. 
 Children generally follow the example of their par- 
 ents, but imitate their faults more surely than their 
 virtues. Thus, 
 
 A light-heeled mother makes a heavy-heeled daughter. 
 Unless the mother transfers a part of her household 
 cares to the daughter, the latter will grow up in sloth 
 and ignorance of good housewifery. " A tender-hearted 
 mother rears a scabby daughter" (French, Italian). 5 
 
 A child may have too much of its mother's blessing. 
 Her foolish fondness may spoil it. 
 
 The worst store is a maid unbestowed. Welsh. 
 
 1 No hay tal mndre como la quo pare. 
 
 2 Det Barn der faaer Stivmoiler, faacr ogsaa Stifvader. 
 
 3 Jeder Mutter Kind ist schon. 
 
 4 Kein Aff', er schwort, er habe die schonsten Kinder. 
 
 5 Mere piteuse fait sa fille rogneuse. La madre pietosa fa la 
 figliuola tignosa.
 
 26 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 "A house full of daughters is a cellar full of sour 
 beer" (Dutch). 1 Chaucer says, 
 
 " He that hath more smocks than shirts in a bucking, 
 Had need be a man of good forelooking." 
 
 " Marry your son when you will, and your daughter 
 when you can" (Spanish). 2 
 
 My son is my son till he 's got him a wife ; 
 
 My daughter 's my daughter all the days of her life. 
 
 This is a woman's calculation. She knows that a 
 son-in-law will submit to her sway more tamely than a 
 daughter-in-law. 
 
 Little pitchers have long ears. 
 
 " What the child hears at the fire is soon known at 
 the minster" (French). 8 
 
 Children and fools tell truth. 
 
 And tell it when it were better left untold. " These 
 terrible children ! " (French).* 
 
 Children and fools have merry lives. 
 
 They quickly forget past sorrows, and are careless of 
 the future. 
 
 Children suck the mother when they are young, and the father 
 when they are old. 
 
 1 Een huis vol dochters is een kelder vol znur bier. 
 
 2 Casa el hijo quando quisieres, y la hija quando pudieres. 
 
 3 Ce que 1'enfant oit au foyer, est bientost connu jusqu'au 
 monstier. 
 
 4 Ces enfants terribles !
 
 YOUTH AND AGE. 
 
 A ragged colt may make a good horse. 1 
 AN untoward boy may grow up into a proper man. 
 This may be understood either in a physical or a moral 
 sense. " There is no colt but breaks some halter " 
 (Italian),' 2 otherwise it is good for nothing (French). 8 
 "Youth comes back from far" (French). 4 Do not 
 despair of it as lost, though it runs a mad gallop ; 
 something of the sort is to be expected of all but those 
 preternaturally sedate youths who are born, as the 
 author of " Eothen" says, with a Chifney bit in their 
 mouths from their mother's womb. 
 
 A man at five may be a fool at fifteen. 
 
 In the days when cock-fighting was a fashionable 
 pastime, game chickens that crowed too soon or too 
 often were condemned to the spit as of no promise or 
 ability. " A lad," says Archbishop Whately, " who has 
 to a degree that excites wonder and admiration the 
 
 1 Spanish : DC potro sarnoso buen caballo liermcso. German : 
 Aus klattrijren Fohlcn werden die schonsten Hengste. 
 
 2 Xon c'e polledro die non rornpa qualche cavezza. 
 
 3 Ricn ne vaut poulain s'il ne rompt son lien. 
 
 4 Jeuncsse revient de loin.
 
 28 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 character and demeanor of an intelligent man of mature 
 years, will probably be that and nothing more all his 
 life, and will cease accordingly to be anything remarka- 
 ble, because it was the precocity alone that ever made 
 him so. It is remarked by greyhound fanciers that a 
 well-formed, compact-shaped puppy never makes a fleet 
 dog. They see more promise in the loose-jointed, awk- 
 ward, and clumsy ones. And even so there is a kind of 
 crudity and unsettledness in the minds of those young 
 persons who turn out ultimately the most eminent," 
 
 Soon ripe soon rotten. 
 "Late fruit keeps well" (German). 1 
 
 It is better to knit than to blossom. 
 Orchard trees may blossom fairly, yet bear no fruit. 
 
 It early pricks that will be a thorn. 
 
 Some indications of future character may be seen even 
 in infancy. The child is father of the man. 
 
 Soon crooks the tree that good gambrel will be. 
 A gambrel (from the Italian yamla, a leg) is a crooked 
 piece of wood, on which butchers hang the carcasses of 
 beasts by the legs. 
 
 As the twig is bent the tree's inclined. 
 Best to bend while it is a twig. 
 
 It is not easy to straighten in the oak the crook that grew in the 
 sapling. Gaelic. 
 
 "What the colt learns in youth he continues in old 
 1 Spat Obst liegt lange.
 
 YOUTH AND AGE. 20 
 
 age" (French). 1 "What youth learns, age does not 
 forget" (Danish). 2 
 
 Reckless youth maks ruefu' eild. Scotch. 
 "If youth knew! if age could!" (French). 3 
 
 1 Ce que poulain prend en jeunesse, il le continue en vieillesse. 
 
 2 Del Ung nemmer, Gammel ei glemmer. 
 
 3 Si jeunesse savait ! si vieillesse pouvait !
 
 NATURAL CHARACTER. 
 
 What 's bred in the bone will never be out of the flesh. 
 WHAT is innate is not to be eradicated by force of 
 education or self-discipline ; these may modify the out- 
 ward manifestations of a man's nature, but not transmute 
 that nature itself. What belongs to it "lasts to the 
 grave" (Italian). 1 The ancients had several proverbs 
 to the same purpose, such as this one, which is found 
 in Aristophanes " You will never make a crab walk 
 straight forwards" and this Latin one, which is re- 
 peated in several modern languages : " The wolf changes 
 his coat, but not his disposition ; " 2 he turns gray with 
 age. The Spaniards say he " loses his teeth, but not his 
 inclinations." 3 " What is .sucked in with the mother's 
 milk runs out in the shroud" (Spanish). 4 Horace's 
 well-known line, 
 
 "Naturam cxpellas furca tamen usque recurret" 
 
 " Though you cast out nature with a fork, it will still 
 return " has very much the air of a proverb versified. 
 
 1 Chi 1'ha per natura, fin alia fossa dura. 
 
 2 Lupus pilum mutat ncm mentcm. 
 
 3 El loho pierde los dientes, mas no los mientes. 
 
 4 Lo que en la leche se mama, en la mortaja se derrama.
 
 NATURAL CHARACTER. 31 
 
 The same thought is better expressed in a French line 
 which has acquired proverbial currency : 
 
 " Chassez le nature!, il revient au galop." 
 
 " Drive away nature, and back it comes at a gallop." 
 This line is very commonly attributed to Boileau, but 
 erroneously. The author of it is Chaulieu (?). The 
 Orientals ascribe to Mahomet the saying, " Believe, if 
 thou wilt, that mountains change their places, but be- 
 lieve not that men change their dispositions." 
 
 Cat after kind. 
 
 "What is born of a hen will scrape" (Italian). 1 
 " What is born of a cat will catch mice " (French, 
 Italian). 2 This proverb is taken from the fable of a cat 
 transformed into a woman, who scandalized her friends 
 by jumping from her seat to catch a mouse. "A good 
 hound hunts by kind" (French). 3 "It is kind father 
 to him," as the Scotch say. " Good blood cannot lie " 
 (French) ; 4 its generous instincts are sure to display 
 themselves on fit occasions. On the other hand, " The 
 son of an ass brays twice a day." 5 We need not say 
 what people that stroke of grave humor belongs to. 
 
 Drive a cow to the ha* and she '11 run to the byre. Scotch. 
 She vvill be more at home there than in the drawing- 
 
 1 Chi nasce di gallina, convien che rozzuola. 
 
 2 Chi naquit chat, court apres les souris. Chi nasce di gatta 
 sorice piglia. 
 
 3 Bon chien chassc de race. 
 
 4 Bon sang ne pent mentir. 
 
 5 El hijo del asinp dqs veces rozna al dia.
 
 32 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 room. "A sow prefers bran to roses" (French). 1 
 " Set a frog on a golden stool, and off it hops again 
 into the pool" (German). 2 
 
 There 's no making a silk purse of a sow's ear ; 
 or, "A good arrow of a pig's tail" (Spanish) ; 3 or, " A 
 sieve of an ass's tail" (Greek). 
 
 A carrion kite will never make a good hawk. 4 
 
 An inch o' a nag is worth a span o' an aver. Scotch. 
 
 A kindly aver will never make a good nag. Scotch. 
 
 An aver is a cart horse. 
 
 One leg of a lark is worth the whole body of a kite. 
 
 A piece of a kid is worth two of a cat. 
 
 Bray a fool in a mortar, he '11 be never the wiser. 
 
 "To wash an ass's head is loss of suds" (French). 5 
 "The malady that is incurable is folly" (Spanish). 
 
 There 's no washing a blackamoor white. 
 " Wash a dog, comb a dog, still a dog is but a dog " 
 (French). 7 
 
 A hog in armor is still but a hog. 
 
 An ape is an ape, a varlet's a varlet, 
 Though he be clad in silk and scarlet. 
 
 There 's no getting white flour out of a coal-sack. 
 
 1 Truie aime mieux bran que roses. 
 
 2 Setz einen Frosch auf goldncn Stuhl, 
 Er hupft doch wieder in den Pfahl. 
 
 3 De rabo de puerco nunca buen virote. 
 
 4 On ne saurait faire d'une buse un epervier. 
 
 5 A laver la tete d'un Ane, on perd sa lessive. 
 
 6 El mal que no se puede sanar, es locura. 
 
 7 Lavez t-hien, peignez chien, toujours ii'cst chien que chien.
 
 NATURAL CHARACTER. 33 
 
 "Whatever the bee sucks turns to honey, and what- 
 ever the wasp sucks turns to venom" (Portuguese). 1 
 
 Eagles catch no flies. 
 
 Literally translated from a Latin adage 2 much used 
 by Queen Christina, of Sweden, who affected a superb 
 disdain for petty details. The Romans had another 
 proverbial expression for the same idea : " The praetor 
 takes no heed of very small matters," 3 for his was a 
 superior court, and did not try cases of minor impor- 
 tance. Our modern lawyers have retained the classical 
 adage, only substituting the word " law " for " praetor." 
 They say, " De minimis non curat lex," which might, 
 perhaps, be freely translated, " Lawyers don't stick at 
 trifles." 
 
 1 Quanto chupa a abelha, mel toma, e quanto a aranha, pe- 
 ^onha. 
 
 2 Aquila non capit muscas. 
 
 3 De minimis non curat praetor. 
 
 3
 
 HOME. 
 
 Home is home, be it ever so homely. 
 Hame is a hamely word. Scotch. 
 
 11 HOMELY " and " hamely " are not synonymous, but 
 imply different ideas associated with home. The one 
 means plain, unadorned, fit for every -day use ; the other 
 means familiar, pleasant, dear to the affections. "To 
 every bird its nest is fair" (French, Italian). 1 "East 
 and west, at home the best" (German). 2 "The reek of 
 my own house," says the Spaniard, " is better than the 
 fire of another's." 3 The same feeling is expressed with 
 less energy, but far more tenderly, in a beautiful Italian 
 proverb, which loses greatly by translation : " Home, 
 my own home, tiny though thou be, to me thou seemest 
 an abbey." 4 Two others in the same language are ex- 
 quisitely tender: "My home, my mother's breast." 5 
 How touching this simple juxtaposition of two loveliest 
 
 1 A tout oiseau son nid est beau. A ogni uccello suo nido e 
 bello. 
 
 2 Ost und West, dabeira das Best. 
 
 3 Mas vale humo de mi casa que fuego de la agena. 
 
 4 Casa mia, casa mia, per piccina che tu sia, tu mi sembri una 
 badia. 
 
 5 Casa mia, mamma mia.
 
 HOME. 35 
 
 things ! Again, " Tie me hand and foot, and throw ine 
 among my own." 1 
 
 Every cock is proud on his own dunghill. 
 A cock is crouss on his ain midden. Scotch. 
 
 This proverb has descended to us from the Romans : 
 it is quoted by Seneca. 2 Its medieval equivalent, Gal- 
 lus cantat in suo sterguilinio, was probably present to 
 the mind of the first Napoleon when, in reply to those 
 who advised him to adopt the Gallic cock as the im- 
 perial cognizance, he said, " No, it is a bird that crows 
 on a dunghill." The French have altered the old prov- 
 erb without improving it, thus : " A dog is stout on his 
 own dunghill." 3 The Italian is better: " Every dog is 
 a lion at home." * The Portuguese give us the counter- 
 part of this adage, saying, " The fierce ox grows tame 
 on strange ground." 5 
 
 An Englishman's house is his castle. 
 
 But sanitary reformers tell him truly that he has no 
 right to shoot poisoned arrows from it at his neighbors. 
 The French say, " The collier (or charcoal burner) is 
 master in his own house," 6 and refer the origin of the 
 proverb to a hunting adventure of Francis I., which is 
 related by Blaise de Montluc. Having outridcn all his 
 followers, the king took shelter at nightfall in the cabin 
 
 1 Legami mani e piei, e gettami tra' miei. 
 
 2 Gallus in suo sterquilinio plurimum potest. 
 
 3 Chien sur son fumier est hardi. 
 
 4 Ogni cane e leone a casa sua. 
 
 5 O boi bravo na terra alheia se faz manso. 
 
 6 Charbonnier est maitre chez soi.
 
 36 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 of a charcoal burner, whose wife he found sitting alone 
 on the floor before the fire. She told him, when he 
 asked for hospitality, that he must wait her husband's 
 return, which he did, seating himself on the only chair 
 the cabin contained. Presently the man came in, and, 
 after a brief greeting, made the king give him up the 
 chair, saying he was used to sit in it, and it was but 
 right that a man should be master in his own house. 
 Francis expressed his entire concurrence in this doc- 
 trine, and he and his host supped together very amicably 
 on game poached from the royal forest. 
 
 " Man," said Ferdinand VII. to the Duke of Medina 
 Celi, the premier nobleman of Spain, who was helping 
 him on with his great coat, " man, how little you are ! " 
 "At home I am great," replied the dwarfish grande 
 (grandee). "When I am in my own house I am a 
 king" (Spanish). 1 
 
 1 Mientras en mi ca^a estoy, rey me soy.
 
 PRESENCE. ABSENCE. SOCIAL 
 INTERCOURSE. 
 
 Long absent, soon forgotten. 
 Out of sight, out of mind. 
 
 " FKIENDS living far away are no friends" (Greek). 
 "He that is absent will not be the heir" (Latin). 1 
 " Absence is love's foe : far from the eyes, far from the 
 heart" (Spanish). 2 "The dead and the absent have no 
 friends" (Spanish). 3 "The absent are always in the 
 wrong " (French). 4 " Absent, none without fault ; 
 present, none without excuse" (French). 5 
 
 Against this string of proverbs, all running in one 
 direction, we may set off the Scotch saying, 
 
 They are aye gude that are far awa'; 
 
 and this French one : " A little absence does much 
 good." 6 Without affirming too absolutely that 
 
 1 Abscns hsercs non erit. 
 
 2 Auscncia euemiga de amor : quan lejos de ojo tan lejos de 
 corazon. 
 
 3 A muertos y a idos no hay mas amigos. 
 
 4 Les absents ont toujours tort. 
 
 5 Absent n'est point sans coulpe. ni present sans excuse. 
 
 6 Un peu d'absence fait grand bien.
 
 38 PKOVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Friends agree best at a distance, 
 
 which was a proverb before Rochefoucauld wrote it down 
 among his maxims, we may admit that " To preserve 
 friendship a wall must be put between" (French) ; l and 
 that " A hedge between keeps friendship green " (Ger- 
 man). 2 "Love your neighbor, but do not pull down 
 the hedge" (German). 3 "There are certain limits of 
 sociality, and prudent reserve and absence may find a 
 place in the management of the tenderest relations." 
 (Friends in Council.) This lesson the Spaniards em- 
 body in two proverbs, bidding you " Go to your aunt's 
 (or your brother's) house, but not every day." 4 Friends 
 meet with more pleasure after a short separation. " The 
 imagination," says Montaigne, " embraces more fer- 
 vently and constantly what it goes in search of than 
 what one has at hand. Count up your daily thoughts, 
 and you will find that you are most absent from your 
 friend when you have him with you, His presence 
 relaxes your attention, and gives your thoughts liberty 
 to absent ihemselves at every turn and upon every 
 occasion." 
 
 Better be unmannerly than troublesome. 
 
 I wad rather my friend should think me framet than fashious. 
 
 Scotch. 
 
 That is, I would rather my friend should think me 
 
 1 Pour amide" garder il faut parois entreposer. 
 
 2 Ein Zaun dazwischen mag die Liebe erfrischen. 
 
 3 Liebe deinen Nachbar, reiss aber den Zaun nicht ein. 
 
 * A casa de tu tia, mas no cada dia. A casa de tu hcrmnuo, 
 mas no cada serano.
 
 PRESENCE, ABSENCE, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. 39 
 
 strange (fremd, German) than troublesome (fdcheux, 
 French). 
 
 Too much familiarity breeds contempt. 
 Ower-meikle hamelmess spoils gude courtesy. 
 
 Hameliness means familiarity. See " Hame is a 
 hamely word," p. 36. 
 
 Leave welcome ahint you. Scotch. 
 
 Do not outstay your welcome. "A guest and a fish 
 stink on the third day" (Spanish). 1 
 
 Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest. 
 " Aweel, kinsman," says Rob Roy to the baillie, " ye 
 lien our fashion, foster the guest that comes, further 
 him that maun gang." " Let the guest go before the 
 storm bursts" (German). 2 
 
 If the badger leaves his hole the tod will creep into it. Scotch. 
 
 " He that quits his place loses it " (French). 3 " Whoso 
 absents himself, his share absents itself" (Arab). 
 
 1 El huesped y el pece a tres dias hiede. 
 
 2 Lass den Gast ziehen eh das Gewitter ausbricht. 
 8 Qui quitte sa place la perd.
 
 FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 He is my friend who grinds at my mill; 
 
 THAT is, who is serviceable to me, a vile sentiment 
 if understood too absolutely ; but the proverb is rather 
 to be interpreted as offering a test by which genuine 
 friendship may be distinguished from its counterfeit. 
 "Deeds are love, and not fine speeches" (Spanish). 1 
 "If you love me, John, your acts will tell me so" 
 (Spanish). 2 "In the world you have three sorts of 
 friends," says Chamfort ; " your friends who love you, 
 your friends who do not care about you, and your friends 
 who hate you." 
 
 Kindness will creep where it canna gang. Scotch. 
 
 It will find some way to manifest itself, in spite of all 
 hinderances. As Burns sings, 
 
 " A man may hae an honest heart, 
 
 Though poortith hourly stare him ; 
 A man may tak a neebor's part, 
 Yet no hae cash to spare him." 
 
 Friendship canna stand aye on ane side. Scotch. 
 It demands reciprocity. " Little presents keep up 
 
 1 Obras son amores, que no buenas razones. 
 
 2 Se bien me quieres, Juan, tus obras me lo diran.
 
 FRIENDSHIP. 41 
 
 friendship" (French); 1 and so do mutual good offices. 
 Note that the French proverb speaks of little presents 
 such things as are valued between friends, not for their 
 intrinsic value, but as tokens of good-will. 
 
 Before you make a friend, eat a peck of salt with him. 
 Take time to know him thoroughly. 
 
 Sudden friendship, sure repentance. 
 
 Never trust much to a new friend or an old enemy. 
 
 Nor even to an old friend, if you and he have once 
 been at enmity. "Patched-up friendship seldom becomes 
 whole again " (German). 2 " Broken friendship may be 
 soldered, but never made sound" (Spanish). 3 "A recon- 
 ciled friend, a double foe" (Spanish). 4 "Beware of a 
 reconciled friend as of the devil" (Spanish). 5 Asmo- 
 deus, speaking of his quarrel with Paillardoc, says, 
 " They reconciled us, we embraced, and ever since we 
 have been mortal enemies." 
 
 Old friends and old wine are best. 
 
 " Old tunes are sweetest, and old friends are surest," 
 says Claud Halcro. " Old be your fish, your oil, your 
 friend" (Italian). 6 
 
 1 Les petits cadeaux entrctiennent 1'amitie. 
 
 2 Geflickte Frcundschaft wircl sclten wieder ganz. 
 
 3 Amigo qucbrado soldado, mas nunca sano. 
 
 4 Amigo reconciliado, amigo doblado. 
 
 5 De amigo reconciliado, guarte del como del diablo. Cum 
 inimico nemo in gratiam tuto red it. Pub. Syrus. 
 
 6 Pescc, oglio, e amico vccchio.
 
 42 PROVKRBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 One enemy is too many, and a hundred friends are too few. 
 
 Enmity is unhappily a much more active principle 
 than friendship. 
 
 Save me from my friends ! 
 
 An ejaculation often called forth by the indiscreet 
 zeal which damages a man's cause whilst professing to 
 serve it. The full form of the proverb " God save 
 me from my friends, I will save myself from my ene- 
 mies " is almost obsolete amongst us, but is found in 
 most languages of the continent, and is applied to false 
 friends. Bacon tells us that " Cosmos. Duke of Flor- 
 ence, was wont to say of perfidious friends that we read 
 we ought to forgive our enemies ; but we do not read we 
 ought to forgive our friends." 
 
 A fall purse never lacked friends. 
 
 An empty purse does not easily find one. To say 
 that "The best friends are in the purse" (German), 1 is. 
 perhaps, putting the matter a little too strongly ; but, at 
 all events, " Let us have florins, and we shall find cous- 
 ins" (Italian). 2 "The rich man does not know who is 
 his friend." 3 This Gascon proverb may be taken in a 
 double sense: the rich man's friends are more than he 
 can number ; he cannot be sure of the sincerity of any of 
 them. " He who is everybody's friend is either very poor 
 or very rich" (Spanish). 4 "Now that I have a ewe and 
 
 1 Die beste Freuncle stecken im Bentel. 
 
 2 Abbiamo pur fiorini, ohe travaremo cugini. 
 5 Hit-lie home non sap qui ly es ainyg:. 
 
 4 Quien te todos es ami^o, 6 cs muy ]x>bre, 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. 
 1<! Recelmlo ya el dano, atapar el horado. 
 
 3 Rotta la testa, se mette la celata. 
 
 4 Qui repond, pave. 
 
 5 Qui vuol super quel clie il suo sia, non faccia mai malleveria. 
 
 6 Xequaquam recte faciet qiii cito credit. 
 
 " Fidati era un buon uomo. Nontifidare era meglio.
 
 62 PKOVEKBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 A cunning, tricky fellow should be dealt with very 
 cautiously. " A thief does not always thieve, but be 
 always on your guard against him " (Russian). 
 
 Fast bind, fast find. 
 
 Shylock adds, " A proverb never stale to thrifty 
 mind." "Who ties well, unties well" (Spanish). 1 
 " Better is a turn of the key than a friar's conscience " 
 (Spanish). 2 
 
 Grin when ye bind, and laugh when ye loose. Scotch. 
 Tie the knot tightly, grin with the effort of pulling, 
 and when you come to untie it you will smile with 
 satisfaction, finding it has kept all safe. 
 
 Quoth the young cock, "I'll neither meddle nor make." 
 He had seen the old cock's neck wrung for taking 
 part with his master, and the hen's for taking part with 
 his dame. 
 
 1 Quien bien ata, bien desata. 
 
 2 Mas val vuelta de clave que conciencia de frate.
 
 PATIENCE. FORTITUDE. PER- 
 SEVERANCE. 
 
 Patience and posset drink cure all maladies. 
 Patience is a plaster for all sores. 
 
 WE trace this proverb in an exquisite passage from 
 " honest old Decker," as Hazlitt fondly calls him. 
 
 "Duke. What comfort do you find in being so calm ? 
 Candida. That which green wounds receive from sovereign 
 
 balm. 
 
 Patience, my lord ! why, 't is the soul of peace ; 
 Of all the virtues 't is nea-est kin to heaven : 
 It makes men look gods. The best of men 
 That e'er wore earth about him was a sufferer, 
 A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit, 
 The first true gentleman that ever breathed. 
 The stock of patience, then, cannot be poor ; 
 All it desires it has : what award more ? 
 It is the greatest enemy to strife 
 That can be, for it doth embrace all wrongs, 
 . And so chains up lawyers' and women's tongues. 
 'T is the perpetual prisoner's liberty, 
 His walks and orchards ; 't is the bondslave's freedom, 
 And makes him seem proud of his iron chain, 
 As though he wore it more for state than pain ; 
 It is the beggar's music, and thus sings 
 Although their bodies beg, their souls are kings.
 
 64 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 my dread liege ! it is the sap of bliss 
 Bears us aloft, makes men and angels kiss ; 
 And last of all, to end a household strife, 
 It is the honey 'gainst a waspish wife." 
 
 - " Patience, time, and money overcome everything " 
 (Italian). 1 " He who does not tire, tires adversity " 
 (French). 2 " A stout heart breaks ill luck" (Spanish). 3 
 " The remedy for hard times is to have patience " 
 (Arab). 
 
 Blaw the wind ne 'er sae fast, it will lown at the last. Scotch. 
 After a storm comes a calm. 
 
 "After rain comes fine weather" (French). 4 
 
 The longest day will have an end. 
 
 Time and the hour run through the longest day. 
 
 Be the day ne'er so long, at last comes even-song. 5 
 
 " The day will be long, but there will be an end to 
 it," 6 said Damiens of that dreadful day which was to 
 witness his death by tortures, which are the eternal 
 disgrace of the French monarchy. 
 
 When one door shuts another opens. 
 
 When baffled in one direction a man of energy will 
 not despair, but will find another way to his object. 
 
 1 Pazienza, tempo e denari vincono ogni cosa. 
 
 2 Qui ne se lasse pas lasse Tadversitie. 
 
 3 Buen corazon quebrajita mala ventura. 
 
 4 Apres la pluie vient le beau temps. 
 
 5 II n'est si long jour qui ne vienne a vepres. Non vien di che 
 non venga sera. 
 
 6 La journee sera longue, mais elle finira.
 
 PATIENCE, FORTITUDE, PERSEVERANCE. 65 
 
 There is more than one yew bow in Chester. 
 
 A' ths keys of the country hang na in ae belt. Scotch. 
 
 " There are hills beyond Pentlaml, and streams beyond Forth ; 
 If there 's lairds in the lowlands, there 'B chiefs in the north ; 
 There are wild duinewassels three thousand times three, 
 Will cry hoich for the bonnet of Bonny Dundee ! " 
 
 It is a sore battle from which none escape. 
 One may suffer a great loss, and yet not be totally 
 ruined. 
 
 There 's as good fish in the sea as ever was caught. 
 A consolatory reflection for those who have missed a 
 good haul. The question is, will they have industry 
 and skill to do better another time ? " If I have lost 
 the rings, here are the fingers still," is a stout-hearted 
 saying of the Italians and Spaniards. 1 
 
 He that weel bides weel betides. Scotch. 
 He that waits patiently comes off well at last, for 
 "All comes right for him who can wait" (French). 2 
 " Sit down and dangle your legs, and you will see your 
 revenge" (Italian); 3 that is, time will bring you rep- 
 aration and satisfaction. " The world is his who has 
 patience " (Italian). 4 " The world belongs to the phleg- 
 matic" (Italian). 5 "Have patience, Cossack; thou 
 wilt come to be hetman " (Russian). 
 
 1 Se ben ho perso 1'anello, ho pur anche le dite. Si se perdie- 
 ron los anillos, aqui quedaron los dedillos. 
 
 2 Tout vient a point a qui sait attendre. 
 
 3 Siedi e sjrambetta, vedrai la tua vendetta. 
 
 4 II mondo e di chi ha pazienza. 
 
 5 II mondo e dei flemmatici. 
 
 5
 
 66 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Set a stout heart to a stae brae [a steep hillside]. Scotch. 
 Set hard heart against hard hap. 
 
 Go about a difficult business resolutely ; confront 
 adversity with fortitude. 
 
 " Tu nc cede malis, sed contra audentior ito. 
 Quam tua te fortuna sinit." 
 
 That you may not be easily discouraged, the French 
 remind you that " One may go far after he is tired." 1 
 
 He that tholes [endures] overcomes. Scotch. 
 
 The toughest skin holds longest out. Cumberland. 
 
 "He conquers who sticks in his saddle" (Italian). 2 
 " Hard pounding, gentlemen," said Wellington at Water- 
 loo ; " but we will see who will pound the longest." 
 " Perseverance kills the game" (Spanish). 3 
 
 Constant dropping wears the stone. 4 
 
 A mouse in time may bite in two a cable. 
 
 "With time and straw meddlers ripen " (French). 5 
 "With time a mulberry leaf becomes satin" (Chinese). 
 
 A rolling stone gathers no moss. 
 
 This is an exact rendering of an ancient Greek adage, 
 which is repeated with little variation in most modern 
 languages. The Italians say, " A tree often transplanted 
 is never loaded with fruit." 6 
 
 1 On va loin apres qu'on est las. 
 
 2 Vince chi riman in sella. 
 
 3 Porfia mata la caza. 
 
 4 Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed scepe cadendo. 
 
 5 Avec du temps et de la paille les nefles murissent. 
 
 6 Albero spesso traspiantato mai di frntti e caricato.
 
 PATIENCE, FORTITUDE, PERSEVERANCE. 67 
 
 A man may bear till his back breaks. 
 All lay load on the willing horse. 
 
 Patience may be abused. " Through much enduring 
 come things that cannot be endured" (Latin). 1 "Make 
 thyself a sheep, and the wolf is ready" (Russian). 
 " Make yourself an ass, and you '11 have every man's 
 sack on your back" (German). 2 "If you let them lay 
 the calf on your back it will not be long before they 
 chip on the cow" (Italian). 3 " Who lets one sit on his 
 shoulders shall presently have him sit on his head" 
 (German). 4 "The horse that pulls at the collar is 
 always getting the whip " (French). 5 
 
 Daub yourself with honey, and you '11 be covered with flies. 
 "The gentle ewe is sucked by every lamb" (Itajian). 
 
 1 Patiendo multa veniunt quse neques pati. Publius Syrus. 
 
 2 Wer sich zum Esel macht, dem will jeder seinen Sack auflc- 
 gen. 
 
 3 Sc ti lasci matter in spalla il vitcllo, quindi a poco ti mettecan 
 la vacca. 
 
 4 Wer sich auf der Achsel sitzen lasst, dem sitzt man nachher 
 auf dem Kopf. 
 
 5 On touche toujours sur le cheval qui tire. 
 
 6 Pecora mansueta d'ogni agnello e tettata.
 
 INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS. 
 
 No pains, no gains. 
 No sweat, no sweet. 
 No mill, no meal. 
 
 FROM the Latin, " Qui vitat molarn, vitat farinam." 
 "To stop the hand is the way to stop the mouth" 
 (Chinese). 
 
 He that wad eat the kernel maun crack the nut. Scotch. 
 He that gapes till he be fed will gape till he be dead. 
 Naethin is got without pains but dirt and lang nails. Scotch. 
 
 "Good luck enters by dint of cuffs" (Spanish). 1 
 Success in life is only to be won by hard striving. 
 
 " The nimble runner courses Fortune down, 
 And then he banquets, for she feeds the brave." 
 
 An idle brain's the deil's smiddy. Scotch. 
 An idle brain's the devil's workshop. 
 
 " By doing nothing we learn to do mischief" (Latin). 2 
 " He that labors is tempted by one devil, he that is idle 
 by a thousand " (Italian). 3 
 
 1 A punadas entran las buenas hadas. 
 
 2 Nihil agendo male agere discimus. 
 
 3 Chi fatica e tentato da un dtmonio, chi sta in ozio da mille.
 
 INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS. . 69 
 
 Idle dogs worry sheep. 
 Sloth is the key of poverty. 
 Lazy folks take the most pains. 
 
 " The dog in the kennel barks at his fleas ; the dog 
 that hunts does not feel them" (Chinese). 
 
 Who so busy as he that has nothing to do? 
 
 The Italians compare such a one to a pig's tail, that is 
 going all day, and by night has done nothing. 
 
 Seldom lies the deil dead by the dyke side. Scotch. 
 
 You are not to expect that difficulties and dangers 
 will vanish without any effort of your own.
 
 THRIFT. 
 
 Cut your coat according to jour cloth. 
 
 Let your expenditure be proportioned to your means. 
 "Let every one stretch his leg according to his coverlet" 
 (Spanish). 1 "According to the arm be the blood-lett- 
 ing" (French). 2 "Meditating upon general improve- 
 ment, I often think a great deal about the climate in 
 these parts of the world ; and I see that, without much 
 husbandry of our means and resources, it is difficult for 
 us to be anything but low barbarians. The difficulty of 
 living at all in a cold, damp, destructive climate is great. 
 Socrates went about with very scanty clothing, and men 
 praise his wisdom in caring so little for the goods of this 
 life. He ate sparingly, and of mean food. That is not 
 the way, I suspect, that we can make a philosopher 
 here. There are people who would deride me for say- 
 ing this, and would contend that it gives too much 
 weight to worldly things. But I suspect they are mis- 
 led by notions borrowed from eastern climates. Here 
 we must make prudence one of the substantial virtues." 
 (Companions of my Solitude.) 
 
 1 Cada uno esticnde la pierna como tiene la cubierta. 
 
 2 Selon le bras la saignee.
 
 THRIFT. 71 
 
 A good bargain is a pickpurse. 
 
 Buy what you have no need of, and ere long you will 
 sell your necessaries. ''At a good bargain bethink you" 
 (Italian). 1 " What is not needed is dear at a farthing" 
 (Latin). 2 This very sensible proverb was bequeathed 
 to us by the elder Cato ; and a wiser man than Cato 
 Sydney Smith has said, " If you want to make much 
 of a small income, always ask yourself these two ques- 
 tions : first, do I really want it ? secondly, can I do 
 without it? These two questions, answered honestly, 
 will double your fortune." 
 
 Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire. 
 Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them. 
 
 One of the neatest repartees ever made was that 
 which Shaftesbury administered at the feast at which he 
 entertained the Duke of York (James II.). He over- 
 heard Lauderdale whispering the duke, " Fools make 
 feasts, and wise men eat them." Ere the sound of the 
 last word had died away, Shal'tesbury, responding both 
 to the words and the sense, said, "Witty men make jests, 
 and fools repeat them." " A fat kitchen has poverty 
 for a neighbor" (Italian). 3 "A fat kitchen, a lean will" 
 (German).* 
 
 Waste not, want not. 
 
 Wilful waste makes woeful want. 
 
 A small leak will sink a great ship. 
 
 1 A buona derrata pensavi su. 
 
 2 Quod non opus est, asse carnm est. 
 
 3 A grassa cucina povcrti e vicina. 
 
 4 Fette Kuche, magere Erbschaft
 
 72 PHO VERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of thomsolves. 
 A fool and his money are soon parted. 
 
 He that gets his gear before his wit will be short while master of it. 
 
 Scotch. 
 Gear is easier gained than guided. 
 
 A fool may make money, but it needs a wise man to spsnd it. 
 
 " Men," says Fielding (and he was an example of the 
 truth he asserted), " do not become rich by what they 
 get, but by what they keep." " Saving is the first gain " 
 (Italian). 1 "Better is rule than rent* (French). 2 
 
 A penny saved is a penny got. 
 
 The best is cheapest. 
 
 " One cannot have a good pennyworth of bad ware " 
 (French). 3 "Much worth never cost little" (Spanish). 4 
 "Cheap bargains are dear" (Spanish). 5 
 
 Miser's money goes twice to market. 
 
 Keep a thing seven years and you '11 find a use for it. 
 
 Store is no sore. 6 
 
 " He that buys by the pennyworth keeps his own 
 house and another man's" (Italian). 7 Partly for this 
 reason it is that 
 
 A poor man's shilling is but a penny. 
 
 1 Lo sparagno e lo primo guadagno. 
 
 2 Mieux vaut regie que rente. 
 
 3 On n'a jamais bon marche de manvaise marchandise. 
 
 4 Nunca mucho costo poco._ 
 
 5 Lo barato es caro. 
 
 6 Abondance de bien ne nuit pas. 
 
 7 Chi vive a minuto fa le spese a' suoi e agli altri.
 
 THRIFT. 73 
 
 
 
 A toom [smpty] pantry makes a thriftless gudewife. Scotch. 
 
 Bare walls make giddy housewives. 1 
 
 All is not gain that is put into the purse. 
 
 What the goodwife spares the cat eats. 
 
 There was a wife that kept her supper for her breakfast, an' she 
 was dead or day. Scotch. 
 
 i Vuidcs chambres fout folles dames.
 
 MODERATION. EXCESS. 
 
 Enough is enough of bread and cheese. 
 Enough is as good as a feast. 
 
 " A bird can roost on but one branch ; a mouse can 
 drink no more than its fill from a river" (Chinese). 
 "He is rich enough who does not want" (Italian). 1 
 But the difficulty is to determine to a nicety the point at 
 which there is neither want nor surplus. Practically 
 there is no such point, however it may exist in theory ; 
 for, 
 
 There's never enough where nought is left. 
 
 Of enough men leave. 
 
 Where all is eaten up it is pretty certain that the com- 
 mons were but short. " There is not enough if there is 
 not too much" (French). 2 Beaumarchais makes Figaro, 
 in speaking of love, to utter the charming hyperbole 
 which has passed into a proverb, "Too much is not 
 enough." 3 Even without being in love, everybody 
 must agree with Voltaire in considering 
 
 " Le superflu, chose tres ne'cessaire." 
 
 1 Assai e rico a chi non manca, 
 
 2 Assez n'y a, si trop n'y a. 
 
 3 Trop n'est pas asscz.
 
 MODERATION. EXCESS. 75 
 
 Better leave than lack. 
 
 All covet, all lose. 
 
 Covetousness brings nothing home. 
 
 "It bursts the bag" (Italian). 1 Like the dog in the 
 fable, it grasps at the shadow, and lets fall the substance. 
 " He that embraces too much holds nothing fast " (Ital- 
 ian, French). 2 A statue was erected to Buffon in his 
 lifetime, with the inscription, Naturam amplectitur om- 
 nem (" He embraces all nature"). Somebody remarked 
 upon this, " He that embraces too much," etc. Buffon 
 heard of the sarcasm, and had the inscription obliterated. 
 
 It is hard for a greedy eye to hae a leal heart. Scotch. 
 Covetousness is scarcely consistent with honesty. 
 
 Much would have more. 
 
 A greedy eye never had a fu' weam [belly]. Scotch. 
 
 "The dust alone can fill the eye of man" (Arab) ; 
 i. e. the dust of the grave can alone extinguish the lust 
 of the eye and the cupidity of man. Among the Arabs, 
 the phrase, "His eye is full," signifies he possesses every 
 oliJL-ct of his desire. The Germans say, " Greed and 
 the eye can no man fill." 3 The Scotch say of a covetous 
 person, 
 
 Ho '11 get enough ae day when his mouth 's fu' o' mools [mould]. 
 The greedy man and the gileynoar [cheat] are soon agreed. Scotch. 
 
 1 La codicia rompe il saco. 
 
 2 Chi troppo ahbraceia, nulla stringe. Qui trop embrassc, mal 
 etreint. 
 
 3 Den Geiz und die Augen kann niemand fallen.
 
 76 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 " The sharper soon cheats the covetous man " (Span- 
 ish). 1 
 
 The grace of God is gear enough. Scotch. 
 
 This is the northern form of the proverb which 
 Launcelot Gobbo speaks of as being well parted between 
 Bassanio and Shylock. "You [Bassanio] have the 
 grace of God, and he [Shylock] has enough." 
 
 Too much is stark nought. Welsh. 
 
 Too much of one thing is good for nothing. 
 
 " One may be surfeited with eating tarts " (French). 2 
 "Nothing too much!" (Latin). 3 
 
 Better a wee fire to warm us than a meikle fire to burn us. Scotch. 
 
 It is better to be content with a moderate fortune 
 than attempt to increase it at the risk of being ruined. 
 " Give me the ass that carries me, rather than the horse 
 that throws me" (Portuguese). 4 
 
 Little sticks kindle a fire, but great ones put it out. 
 
 Fair and softly goes far in a day. 
 
 Hooly and fairly men ride far journeys. Scotch. 
 
 " Who goes softly goes safely, and who goes safely 
 goes far" (Italian). 5 " Take-it-easy and Live-long are 
 brothers" (German). 6 
 
 Fools' haste is no speed. 
 
 1 El tramposo presto engana al codicioso. 
 
 2 On se saoule bien de manger tartes. 
 
 3 Ne quid nimis. 
 
 4 Mais quero asno que me leve que cavallo que me derrube. 
 
 5 Chi va piano, va sano, e chi va sano, va lontano. 
 
 6 Gehgemach uhd Lebelang sind Bruder.
 
 MODERATION. EXCESS. 77 
 
 The more haste the worse speed. 
 
 Tin's seems to be derived from the Latin adage, 
 Festinatio tarda est (" Haste is slow "). It defeats its 
 own purpose by the blunders and imperfect work it oc- 
 casions. A favorite saying of the Emperors Augustus 
 and Titus was, Festina lente ("Hasten leisurely "), which 
 Erasmus calls the king of adages. The Germans'have 
 happily translated it, 1 and it is well paraphrased in that 
 saying of Sir Amyas Paulet, "Tarry a little, that we 
 may make an end the sooner." A thing is done " Fast 
 enough if well enough" (Latin). 2 
 
 Naething in haste but gripping o' fleas. Scotch. 
 Nothing should be done in haste except catching fleas. 
 Haste trips up its own heels. 
 
 " He that goes too hastily along often stumbles on a 
 fair road " (French). 3 " Reason lies between the bridle 
 and the spur" (Italian). 4 
 
 Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed. 
 
 He that rides ere he be ready wants some o' his graith. Scotch. 
 
 He leaves some of his accoutrements behind him. 
 Perhaps one reason why "It is good to have a hatch 
 before your door " is, that it may act as a check upon 
 such unprofitable haste. Sydney Smith adopted a simi- 
 
 1 Eile rait Weile. 
 
 2 Sat cito si sat bene. 
 
 3 Qui trop se hate en cheminant, en beau chemin se fourvoye 
 souvcnt. 
 
 4 Tra la briglia-e IQ speron consiste la raggion.
 
 78 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 lar expedient, which he called a screaming gale. " We 
 all arrived once," he said, "at a friend's house just be- 
 fore dinner, hot, tired, and dusty a large party as- 
 sembled and found all the keys of our trunks had 
 been left behind. Since then I have established a 
 screaming gate. We never set out on our journey now 
 without stopping at a gate about ten minutes' distance 
 from the house, to consider what we have left behind. 
 The result has been excellent." 
 
 Two hungry meals make the third a glutton. 
 
 Excess in one direction induces excess in the opposite 
 direction. 
 
 Soft fire makes sweet malt. 
 
 More flies are caught with a drop of honey than with a tun of vlnogar. 
 
 "Gentleness does more than violence" (French). 1 
 "The gentle calf sucks all the cows" (Portuguese). 2 
 
 Ower hot, ower cauld. Scotch. 
 
 " It may be a fire on the morrow it will be ashes "- 
 (Arab). Violent passions are apt to subside quickly. 
 " Soon fire, soon ashes" (Dutch). 
 
 A man may love his house wee!, and no ride on the riggin [roof] o 't. 
 
 Scotch. 
 
 No one will believe that he loves it the more for any 
 such extravagant demonstration. 
 
 1 Plus fait douceur que violence. 
 
 2 Bezerrinha mansa toclas as vaccas mamma.
 
 MODERATION. EXCESS. 79 
 
 Many irons in the firo, som2 will cool. 
 
 Too many cooks spoil the broth. 
 
 Ower many graeves [overseers] hinder the work. Scotch. 
 
 " Too many tirewomen make the bride ill dressed " 
 (Spanish). 1 "If the sailors become too numerous the 
 ship sinks" (Arab). 
 
 A bow o'erbent will weaken. 
 
 All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. 
 
 " This nation, the northern part of it especially, is 
 given to believe in the sovereign efficacy of dulness. 
 To be sure, dulness and solid vice are apt to go hand in 
 hand. But then, according to our notions, dulness is in 
 itself so good a thing almost a religion. Now. if 
 ever a people required to be amused, it is we sad- 
 hearted Anglo-Saxons. Heavy eaters, hard thinkers, 
 often given up to a peculiar melancholy of our own, 
 with a climate that for months together would frown 
 away mirth if it could, many of us with very gloomy 
 thoughts about our hereafter. If ever there were a 
 people who should avoid increasing their dulness by all 
 work and no play, we are that people. ' They took 
 their pleasure sadly,' says Froissart, 'after their fashion.' 
 We need not ask of what nation Froissart was speak- 
 ing." (Friends in Council.) 
 
 The mill that is always grinding grinds coarse and fine together. 
 
 Irish. 
 
 " The pot that boils too much loses flavor " (Portu- 
 guese). 2 
 
 1 Muchos componedores dcscomponcn la uovia. 
 
 2 Panella que muito fcrvc, o sabor perde.
 
 80 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Play's gude while it is play. Scotch. 
 
 Beware of pushing it to that point at which it ceases 
 to be play. " Leave off the play (or jest) when it is 
 merriest" (Spanish). 1 Never let it degenerate into 
 horse play. "Manual play is clowns' play" (French). 2 
 
 A man may make his own dog bite him. 
 It is not wise to overstrain authority, or to drive even 
 the weakest or most submissive to desperation. 
 
 A baited cat may grow as fierce as a lion. 
 Put a coward on his mettle and he '11 fight the devil. 
 Make a bridge of gold for the flying enemy. 
 Extremes meet. 
 
 A proverb of universal application in the physical as 
 well as the moral world. Every one knows the saying 
 of Napoleon, " From the sublime to the ridiculous is but 
 
 a step." 
 
 Too far east is west. 
 No feast to a miser's. 
 
 1 A la burla, dejarla quando mas agrada. 
 
 2 Jeu de mains, jeu de vilains.
 
 THOROUGH-GOING. THE WHOLE HOG. 
 
 In for a penny, in for a pound. 
 
 As good be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. 
 
 Ne'er go to the deil wi' a dishclout in your hand. Scotch. 
 
 Over shoes, over boots. 
 
 " There is nothing like" being bespattered for making 
 one defy the slough" (French). 1 These proverbs are 
 as true in their physical as in their moral application. 
 Persons who have ventured a little way will venture 
 further. Persons whose characters are already sullied 
 will not be very careful to preserve them from further 
 discredit. When Madame de Cornuel remonstrated 
 with a court lady on certain improprieties of conduct, 
 the latter exclaimed, " Eh ! madame, laissez-moi jouir 
 de ma mauvai.se reputation" ("Do let me enjoy the 
 benefit of my bad reputation"). "It is the h'rst shower 
 that wets" (Italian). 2 "It is all the same whether v a 
 man has both legs in the stocks or one" (German)." 
 Honest Launce " would have one that would be a dog 
 indeed, to be, as it were, a dog in all things." The 
 author of The Romany Rye learned a practical illustra- 
 
 1 II n'est que d'etre crotte' pour affronter le bourbier. 
 
 2 La primiera pioggia e quel clie bagna. 
 
 3 Mit beiden Beinen im Stock, odcr niit Einem, 1st gleichviel. 
 
 6
 
 82 PROVEKBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 tioa of this whole-hog doctrine from an old ostler who 
 had served in his youth at a small inn at Ilounslow, 
 much patronized by highwaymen. 
 
 " He said that when a person had once made up his 
 mind to become a highwayman, his best policy was to go 
 the whole hog, fearing nothing, but making everybody 
 afraid of him ; that people never thought of resisting a 
 savage-faced, foul-mouthed highwayman, and if he were 
 taken were afraid to bear witness against him, lest he 
 should get off and cut their throats some time or other 
 upon the roads; whereas people would .resist being 
 robbed by a sneaking, pale-visaged rascal, ami would 
 swear bodily against him on the first opportunity ; 
 adding that Abershaw and Ferguson, two most awful 
 fellows, had enjoyed a long career, whereas two dis- 
 banded officers of the army, who wished to rob a coach 
 like gentlemen, had begged the passengers' ] ardon, and 
 talked of hard necessity, had been set upon by the pas- 
 sengers themselves, amongst whom were three women, 
 pulled from their horses, conducted to Maidstone, and 
 hanged with as little pity as such contemptible fellows 
 deserved." 
 
 Neck or nothing, for the king loves no cripples. 
 
 Either break your neck or come off safe: broken 
 limbs will make you a less profitable subject 
 
 Either a man or a mouse. 
 Either succeed or fail outright. Aut Caesar, aut nullus. 
 
 Either win the horse or lose the saddle.
 
 THOROUGH-GOING. THE WHOLE HOG. 83 
 
 Either make a spoon or spoil a horn. 
 
 He that takes the devil into his boat must carry him over the 
 sound. 
 
 He that is embarked with the devil must make the passage along 
 with him. 
 
 "He that is at sea must either sail or sink" (Danish). 
 " He that is at sea has not the wind in his hands " 
 
 (Dutch). 1 
 
 Such things must be if we sell ale. 
 
 This was the good woman's reply to her husband 
 when he complained of the exciseman's too demonstra- 
 tive gallantry. 
 
 If you would have the hen's egg you must bear with her cackling. 
 The cat loves fish, but she is loath to wet her feet. 
 
 It is to this proverb that Lady Macbeth alludes when 
 she upbraids her husband for his irresolution : 
 
 " Letting ' I dare not ' wait upon ' I Avould/ 
 Like the poor cat in the adage." 
 
 "There's no catching trouts with dry breeches" (Por- 
 tuguese). 2 
 
 Almost and hardly save many a lie. 
 
 "Perhaps hinders folk from lying" (French). 8 
 
 Almost was never hanged. 
 "All but saves many a man" (Danish). 4 "Almost 
 
 1 Die op de zee is heeft de wind niet in zijn handen. 
 
 2 Nao se tomao trutas a bragas enxutas. 
 
 3 Peut-etre empeche les gens de mentir. 
 
 4 Nzer hielper mangen Mand.
 
 84 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 kills no man" (Danish). 1 " Almost never killed a fly" 
 (German) ; 2 for 
 
 An inch of a miss is as good as a mile. 
 
 This is the original reading of the proverb, and better 
 than that which is now more current : " A miss is as 
 good as a mile." The French say, " For a point Martin 
 lost his ass," 3 and thereby hangs a tail. An ecclesiastic 
 named Martin, Abbot of Asello, in Italy, wished to have 
 this Latin line inscribed over the gate of the abbey : 
 
 TORTA PATENS ESTO. NULLI CLAUDARIS HONESTO. 
 
 " Gate be open. Never be closed against an honest man." 
 It was just the time when the long-forgotten art of 
 punctuation was beginning to be brought into use again. 
 Abbot Martin was not skilled in this art, and unfortu- 
 nately he employed a copyist to whom it was equally 
 unknown. The consequence was, that the point which 
 ought to have followed the word csto was placed after 
 nulli, completely changing the meaning of the line, thus : 
 
 PORTA PATENS ESTO NULLI. CLAUDARIS HONESTO. 
 
 " Gate be open never. Be closed against an honest man." 
 The pope, being informed of this unseemly inscription, 
 deposed Abbot Martin, and gave the aljbey to another. 
 The new dignitary corrected the punctuation of the 
 unlucky line, and added the following one : 
 
 UNO PRO PUNCTO OARUIT MARTINUS ASELLO. 
 
 That is to say, " For a single point Martin lost his 
 
 '* Naerved slaaer ingen Mand ihiel. 
 2 Beinahe bringt keine Miicke um. 
 8 Pour un point Martin perdit son ane.
 
 THOROUGH-GOING. THE AVIIOLE HOG. OO 
 
 Asello." But Asel/o, the name of the abbey, being 
 Latin for ass, it happened, in the most natural way in 
 the world, that the line was translated thus : " For a 
 point Martin lost his ass," and this erroneous version 
 parsed into a proverb. Other accounts of its origin 
 have been given ; but that which we have here set down 
 is confirmed by the fact that in Italy they have also 
 another reading of the proverb, namely, Per un punto 
 Martina perse la cappa (" For a point Martin lost the 
 cope ") ; that is, the dignity of abbot typified in that 
 vestment.
 
 WILL. INCLINATION. DESIRE. 
 
 Where there 's a will there 's a way. 
 
 A wight man ne'er wanted a weapon. Scotch. 
 
 "A good knight is not at a loss for a lance" (Italian). 1 
 A man of sense and resolution will make instruments of 
 whatever comes to his hands ; and truly " He is not a 
 good mason who refuses any stone" (Italian). 2 "He 
 that hits a good head does not want f3r hats" (French). 3 
 
 Where the will is ready the feet are light. 4 
 " The willing dancer is easily played to" (Servian). 5 
 " The will does it" (German). 6 " A voluntary burden 
 is no burden" (Italian). 7 
 
 " The labor we delight in physics pain." 
 " A joyous heart spins the hemp" (Servian) ; and, as 
 Autolycus sings, 
 
 " A merry heart goes all the day, 
 Your sad tires in a mile-a." 
 
 1 A buon cavalier non manca lancia. 
 
 2 Non e buon murator chi rifiuta pietra alcuna. 
 
 3 Qui a bonne tete ne manque pas de chapeaux. 
 * In German, Willig Herz macht leichte Fiisse. 
 
 5 Al?o Flemish, Het is licht genoech ghepepen die gheein danst. 
 
 6 Der Wille that's. 
 
 7 Carica volontaria non carica.
 
 WILL. INCLINATION. DESIRE. 87 
 
 One man may lead the horse to the water, but fifty can't make him 
 drink. 
 
 " You cannot make an ass drink if he is not thirsty " 
 (French). 1 "It is bad coursing with unwilling hounds" 
 (Dutch). 2 "A thing done perforce is not worth a rush" 
 (Italian). 3 
 
 None so deaf as he that will not hear. 
 Nothing is impossible to a willing mind. 
 
 "Madame," said M. de Calonne to a lady who so- 
 licited his aid in a certain affair, " if the thing is possi- 
 ble, it is done ; and if it is impossible, it shall be done." 4 
 
 Good-will should be taken in part payment. 
 Take the will for the deed. 
 
 "Gifts are as the givers" (German). 5 "The will 
 gives the work its name." "The will is the soul of the 
 work" (German)." 
 
 Hell is pared with good intentions. 
 
 A great moral conveyed in a bold figure. What is 
 the worth of virtuous resolutions that never ripen into 
 action ? In the German version of the proverb a slight 
 change greatly improves the metaphor, thus : " The 
 
 1 On nc saurait faire boire un &ne s'il n'a pas soif. 
 
 2 Mcd onwilligc hondcn is kwaad hazcn vangcn. 
 
 3 Cosa fatta per forza non val una scorza. 
 
 4 Madame, si la chose est possible, elle est dcja faite ; et si elle 
 cst impossible, elle se fera. 
 
 5 Die Gaben sind wie die Geber. 
 
 6 Der "Wille giebt dem Werke den Xamen. Der Willc ist des 
 Werkes Scele.
 
 SO PKOVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 way to perdition is paved with good intentions." 1 A 
 Scotch proverb warns the weak in will, who are always 
 hoping to reform and do well, that 
 
 Hopers go to hell. 
 
 As the fool thinks, the bell tinks. 
 
 We are all prone to interpret facts and tokens in 
 accordance with our own inclinations and habits of 
 thought. It was not the voice of the bells that lir.-t 
 inspired young Whittington with hopes of attaining 
 civic honors; it was because he had conceived such hopes 
 already that he was able to hear so distinctly the words, 
 "Turn again, Whittington, thrice Loid Mayor of Lon- 
 don." " People make the bells say whatever they 
 have a mind" (French). 2 In a Latin sermon on wid- 
 owhood by Jean Raulin, a monk of Cluny of the 
 fifteenth century, there is a story which Rabelais has 
 told again in his own way. Raulin's version is this: 
 
 A widow consulted her parish priest about her 
 entering into a second marriage. She told him she 
 stood in need of a helpmate and protector, and that her 
 journeyman, for whom she. had taken a fancy, was in- 
 dustrious and well acquainted with her late hur-band's 
 trade. " Very well," said the priest, " you had better 
 marry him." " And yet," rejoined the widow, " I am 
 afraid to do it, for who knows but I may find my ser- 
 vant become my master?" "Well, then," said the 
 priest, " don't have him." " But what shall I do ? " said 
 
 1 Der Weg zum Vcrdcrhen est mit guten Von-at/en f epfiastcrt. 
 
 2 On fait dire aux cloches tout ce qu'on. veut.
 
 WILL. INCLINATION. DESIRE. 89 
 
 the widow ;"the business left me by my poor dear de- 
 parted husband is more than I can manage by myself." 
 " Marry him, then," said the priest. " Ay, but suppose 
 lie turns out a scamp," said the widow; "he may get 
 hold of my property, and run through it all." " Don't 
 have him," said the priest. Thus the dialogue went on, 
 the priest always agreeing in the last opinion expressed 
 by the widow, until at length, seeing that her mind was 
 actually made up to marry the journeyman, he told her 
 to consult the church bells, and they would advise her 
 best what to do. The bells were rung, and the widow 
 heard them distinctly say, " Do take your man ; do take 
 your man." 1 Accordingly she went home and married 
 him forthwith ; but it was not long before he thrashed 
 her soundly, and made her feel that instead of his mis- 
 tress she had become his servant. Back she went to 
 the priest, cursing the hour when she had been credulous 
 enough to act upon his advice. " Good woman," said 
 he, " I am afraid you did not rightly understand what 
 the bells said to you." He rang them again, and then 
 the poor woman heard clearly, but too late, these warn- 
 ing words : " Do not take him ; do not take him." 2 
 
 Wilful will do it. 
 
 A wilfu' man maun hae his way. Scotch. 
 
 He that will to Cupar maun to Cupar. Scotch. 
 
 Cupar is a town in Fife, and that is all that Scotch 
 paramiologists condescend to tell us about it. I suppose 
 
 1 Prends ton valet ; prends ton valet. 
 
 2 Ne Ic prends pas ; ne le prends pas.
 
 90 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 there is some special reason why insisting on going to 
 Cupar, above all other towns, is a notable proof of pig- 
 headedness. 
 
 A wilful man never wanted woe. 
 
 A wilfu' man should be unco' wise. Scotch. 
 
 Since he chooses to rely on his own wisdom only. 
 
 Forbidden fruit is sweet. 
 "Sweet is the apple when the keeper is away" (Latin). 1 
 
 " Stolen sweets are always sweeter ; 
 Stolen kisses much completcr; 
 Stolen looks are nice in chapels ; 
 Stolen, stolen be your apples ! " 
 
 So sings Leigh Hunt, translating from the Latin of 
 Thomas Randolph. The doctrine of these poets is as 
 old as Solomon, who says, " Stolen waters are sweet," 
 a sentence thus paraphrased in German : " Forbidden 
 water is Malmsey." 2 A story i.i told of a French lady, 
 says Madame du Barry, who happened once, by some 
 extraordinary chance, to have nothing but pure water to 
 drink when very thirsty. She took a deep draught, and 
 finding in it what the Roman emperor had sighed for in 
 vain a new pleasure she cried out, "Ah! what a 
 pity it is that drinking water is not a sin !" 
 
 " There is no pleasure but palls, and all the more if 
 it costs nothing" (Spanish). 3 "The sweetest grapes 
 hang highest" (German). 4 "The figs on the far side 
 
 1 Dulce pomum quum abcst custos. 
 
 2 Verbotenes Wasscr ist Malvasier. 
 
 3 No hay placer que no enhadc, y mas se cucsta de balde. 
 
 4 Die siissessten Traubcn han^en am hochsten.
 
 WILL. INCLINATION. DESIRE. 91 
 
 of the hedge are sweeter" (Servian). "Every fish 
 that escapes appears greater than it is" (Turkish). 
 Upon the same principle it is that what nature never 
 intended a man to do is often the very thing he particu- 
 larly desires to do. "A man who can't sing is always 
 striving to sing" (Latin); 1 and generally "He who 
 can't do, always wants to do" (Italian). 2 
 
 Forbid a fool a thing, and that he '11 do. 
 
 Of course ; and so will many a one who is otherwise 
 no fool. What mortal man, to say nothing of women, 
 but would have done as Bluebeard's wife did when left 
 in the castle with the key of that mysterious chamber in 
 her hand ? 
 
 Every man has his hobby. 
 
 Some men pay dearly for theirs. " Hobby horses are 
 more costly than Arabians" (German). 3 
 
 You may pay too dear for your whistle. 
 
 The origin of this saying, which has become thor- 
 oughly proverbial, is found in the following extract 
 from a paper by its author, Benjamin Franklin : 
 " "When I was a child of seven years old my friends 
 on a holiday filled my pockets with coppers. I went 
 directly to a shop where they sold toys for children, 
 and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I 
 met by the way in the hands of another boy, I volun- 
 
 1 Qui ncscit cancre semper cnnere laborat. 
 
 2 Ci.i non puo'.e, sempre viiolc. 
 
 3 Stcckenpferde sind theuerer als arabische Hengstc.
 
 92 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 tarily offered him all my money for it. I then came 
 home, and went whistling all over the house, much 
 pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. 
 My brothers, and sisters, and cousins, understanding the 
 bargain I had made, told me I had given for it four 
 times as much as it was worth. This put me in mind 
 what good things I might have bought with the rest of 
 the money ; and they laughed at me so much for my 
 folly that I cried with vexation, and the reflection gave 
 me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure. 
 This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the im- 
 pression continuing on my mind ; so that often when I 
 was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing I said to 
 myself, ' Don't give too much for the whistle ; ' and so I 
 saved my money. As I grew up, came into the world, 
 #nd observed the actions of men, I met with many, very 
 many, who gave too much for the whistle."
 
 CUSTOM. HABIT. USE. 
 
 Use will mako a man live in a lion's den. 
 
 Custom is second nature. 
 
 CICERO says nearly the same thing, 1 and the thought 
 has been happily amplified by Sydney Smith. " There 
 is no degree of die-guise or distortion which human 
 nature may not be made to assume from habit ; it grows 
 in every direction in which it is trained, and accommo- 
 dates itself to every circumstance which caprice or de- 
 sign places in its way. It is a plant with such various 
 aptitude?, and such opposite propensities, that it flour- 
 ishes in a hothouse or the open air ; is terrestrial or 
 aquatic, parasitical or independent ; looks well in ex- 
 posed situations, thrives in protected ones ; can bear its 
 own luxuriance, admits of amputation ; succeeds in per- 
 fect liberty, and can be bent down into any forms of art ; 
 it is so flexible and ductile, so accommodating and viva- 
 cious, that of two methods of managing it completely 
 opposite neither the one nor the other need be con- 
 sidered as mistaken and bad. Not that habit can give 
 any new principle ; but of those numerous principles 
 which do exist in our nature it entirely determines the 
 order and force." 2 
 
 1 Ferme in naturam consuetude vestitur. (De Invent, i. 2.) 
 
 2 " Lecture? on Moral Philosophy."
 
 94 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Once a use and ever a custom. 
 
 " Continuance becomes usage" (Italian). 1 Whatever 
 we do often we become more and more apt to do, till at 
 last the propensity to the act becomes irresistible, though 
 the performance of it may have ceased to give any plea- 
 sure. In Fielding's " Life of Jonathan Wild " the great 
 thief is represented as playing at cards with the Count, 
 a professed gambler. " Such was the power of habit 
 over the minds of these illustrious persons, that Mr. 
 Wild could not keep his hands out of the Count's 
 pockets, though he knew they were empty ; nor could 
 the Count abstain from palming a card, though he was 
 well aware Mr. Wild had no money to pay him." " To 
 change a habit is like death" (Spanish). 2 
 
 Hand in use is father o' lear [learning, skill]. Scotch. 
 Practice makes perfect. 
 
 " By working in the smithy one becomes a smith " 
 (Latin, French). 8 " Use makes the craftsman " (Span- 
 ish, German). 4 An emir. had bought a left eye of a 
 glassmaker, and was vexed at finding that he could not 
 see with it. The man begged him to give it a little 
 time ; he could not expect that it would see all at once 
 as well as the right eye, which had been for so many 
 years in the habit of it. We take this whimsical story 
 from Coleridge, who does not tell us in what Oriental 
 Joe Miller he found it. 
 
 1 Continuanza diventa usanza. 
 
 2 Mudar costumbre a par de rauerte. 
 
 3 Fabricando fit faber. En forgeant on devient forgeron. 
 
 4 El usar saca oficial. Uebun<r maclit den Meister.
 
 CUSTOM. HABIT. USE. 95 
 
 No man is his craft's master the first day. 
 
 But some people fancy themselves masters born, like 
 "The Portuguese apprentice, who does not know how to 
 sew, and wants to cut out " (Spanish). 1 
 
 You must spoil before you spin. 
 
 "One learns by failing" (French). 2 "He that 
 stumbles, if he does not fall, quickens his pace" (Span- 
 ish). 8 
 
 Eith to learn the cat to the kirn. Scotch. 
 
 That is, it is easy to teach the cat the way to the 
 churn. Bad habits are easily acquired* 
 
 A bad custom is like a good cake better broken than kept. 
 
 On this proverb is built, perhaps, that remark of 
 Hamlet's which has troubled some hypercritical com- 
 mentators, " A custom more honored in the breach than 
 in the observance." An energetic Spanish proverb 
 counsels us to " Break the leg of a bad habit." 4 
 
 At Borne do as Rome does. 
 
 "Wherever you be, do as you see" (Spanish). 5 A 
 very terse German proverb, which can only be para- 
 phrased in English, signifies that whatever is customary 
 in any country is proper and becoming there ; or, as we 
 might say, "After the land's manner is mannerly." 6 
 
 1 Aprcndiz de Portugal, no sabe cozer y quiere cortar. 
 
 2 On apprcnd en faillant. 
 
 3 Quien estropic<,'a, si no cae, el camino adelanta. 
 
 4 A inal costumbrc, quebrarle la pierna. 
 
 5 For donde fuores, hnz como vicres. 
 
 6 Landlich, sittlich.
 
 96 PROVERBS OP ALL NATIONS. 
 
 The Livonians say, " In the land of the naked, people 
 are ashamed of clothes." " So many countries, so many 
 customs" (French). 1 In a Palais Royal farce a captain's 
 wife is deploring her husband, who has been eaten by 
 the Caffres. Her servant observes, by way of consola- 
 tion, Metis, madame, que vou-lez-cous? Chuque peiiple a, 
 ses usages" ("Well, well, ma'am, after all, every people 
 has its own manners and customs"). 
 
 Tell me the company you keep, and I '11 tell you what you are. 
 Tell me with whom thou goest, and I '11 tell thee what thou doest. 
 
 "He that lives with cripples learns to limp" (Dutch). 2 
 " He that goes with wolves learns to howl " (Spanish) ; 8 
 and " He that lies down with dogs gets up with fleas " 
 (Spanish.) 4 
 
 As good be out of the world as out of the fashion. 
 
 Mrs. Hutchinson tells us that, although her husband 
 acted with the Puritan party, they would not allow him 
 to be religious because his hair was not in their cut. 
 The world will more readily forgive a breach of all the 
 Ten Commandments than a violation of one of its own 
 conventional rules. " Fools invent fashions, and wise 
 men follow them" (French). 5 "Better be mad with 
 all the world than wise alone" (French). 6 
 
 1 Tnnt de pays, tnnt de guises. 
 
 2 Die bij kreupelen woont, leert hinken. 
 
 3 Quien con lobos anda, a aullar se ensena. 
 
 4 Quien con perros se echa, con pulgas sc levanta. 
 
 5 Les fous inventent les modes, et les sages les suivent. 
 
 6 II vaut mieux etre fou avec tous que sage tout *eul.
 
 CUSTOM. HABIT. USE. 97 
 
 The used key is always bright. 
 " 'If I rest, I rust,' it says" (German). 1 
 
 Drawn wells have sweetest water; 
 but 
 
 Standing pools gather filth. 
 
 Drawn wells are seldom dry. 
 1 Rast ich, so rost ich, sagt der Schlussel.
 
 SELF-CONCEIT. SPURIOUS 
 PRETENSIONS. 
 
 How we apples swim! 
 
 So said the horsedung as it floated down the stream 
 along with fruit. 
 
 "We hounds slew the hare," quoth the messan [lapdog]. Scotch. 
 "They came to shoe the horses of the pacha; the 
 beetle then stretched out its leg" (Arab). We read in 
 the Talmud that " All kinds of wood burn silently ex- 
 cept thorns, which crackle and call out, ' We, too, are 
 wood.' " "It was prettily devised of .ZEsop," says 
 Lord Bacon : " the fly sat upon the axle of the chariot, 
 and said, ' What a dust do I raise ! ' ' 
 
 A' Stuarts are no sib to the king. Scotch. 
 
 That is, not all who bear that name belong to the 
 royal race of Stuarts. "There are fagots and fagots," 1 
 as Moliere says. " It is some way from Peter to Peter " 
 (Spanish). 2 Great is the difference between the terrible 
 lion of the Atlas and the Cape lion, the most currish of 
 
 1 II y a fagots et fagots. 
 
 2 Algo va dc Pedro a Pedro.
 
 SKLF-CONCEIT. SPURIOUS PRETENSIONS. 99 
 
 enemies; but the distinction is not always borne in mind 
 by the readers of hunting adventures in Africa. The 
 traditional name of lion beguiles the imagination of the 
 unwary. In like manner some people think that 
 
 "A book/s a book, although there's nothing in it." 
 
 Every asa thiaks himself worthy to stand with the king's horses. 
 
 But asses deceive themselves. " He that is a donkey, 
 and believes himself a deer, finds out his mistake at the 
 leaping of the ditch" (Italian). 1 "Doctor Luther's 
 shoes will not fit every village priest" (German). 2 
 
 Many talk of Robin Hood that never shot in his bow. 
 
 Like Justice Shallow, who " talks," says Falstaff, 
 " as familiarly of John of Gaunt as if he had been 
 sworn brother to him ; and I '11 be sworn he never saw 
 him but once in the tilt-yard, and then he burst his 
 head for crowding among the marshal's men." Southey, 
 in his " Onmiana," has applied this proverb to that nu- 
 merous class of literary pretenders who quote and criti- 
 C'ise flippantly works known to them only at second- 
 hand. A conspicuous living example of this class is M. 
 Ponsard, who, on the occasion of his reception into the 
 French Academy, discoursed about Shakspeare, and 
 talked of him as "the divine WILLIAMS," by way of 
 evincing his proficiency in the language of the great 
 dramatist whose works he disparaged. 
 
 1 Chi agino e', e cervo si crede, al salto del fosso se ne avvede. 
 
 2 Doctor Luthers Schuhc sincl nicht alien Porfpriestern gerecht.
 
 100 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 The man on the dyke is always the best hurler. Munster. 
 
 The looker-on is quite sure he could do better than 
 the actual players. In Connaught, which is as renowned 
 for its neck-or-nothing riders as Munster is for its vigor- 
 ous hurlers, they have this parallel saying, 
 
 The best horseman is always on his feet. 
 In the same sense the Dutch aver that " The best pilots 
 stand on shore." 1 
 
 In a calm sea every man is a pilot. 
 
 Every man can tame a shrew bat he that hath her. 
 
 Bachelors' wives and maids' children are always well taught. 
 
 " He that has no wife chastises her well ; he that has 
 no children rears them well" (Italian). 2 
 
 I ask your pardon, coach ; I thought you were a wheelbarrow when 
 I stumbled over you. Irish. 
 
 An ironical apology for offence given to overweening 
 vanity or pride. 
 
 The pride of the cobbler's dog, that took the wall of a wagon of 
 hay, and was squeezed to death. 
 
 1 De beste stuurlicden staan aan land. 
 
 2 Chi non ha moglie, ben la batte ; chi non ha figliuoli, ben gli 
 pasce.
 
 SELF-LOVE. SELF-INTEREST. 
 SELF-RELIANCE. 
 
 Charity begins at home. 
 
 THIS is literally true in the most exalted sense. The 
 best of men are those 
 
 " Whose circling charities begin 
 
 With the few loved ones Heaven has placed them near, 
 Nor cease till all mankind are in their sphere." 
 
 It is only in irony, or by an odious abuse of its meaning, 
 that the proverb is ever used as an apology for that sort 
 of charity which not only begins at home, but ends there 
 likewise. The egotist holds that " Self is the first ob- 
 ject of charity" (Latin). 1 "Every one has his hands 
 turned towards himself" (Polish). 
 
 The priest christens his own child first. 
 Every man draws the water to his own mill. 
 
 " Every cow licks her own calf." rf Every old woman 
 blows under her own kettle " (both Servian). " Every 
 one rakes the embers to his own cake" (Arab). 
 
 Every one for himself, and God for us all. 
 Let every tub stand on its own bottom, 
 
 * Prima sibi charitas..
 
 102 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 Let every sheep hang by its own shank. 
 Let every herring hang by its own gills. 
 Ilka man for his ain hand, as John Jelly fought. Scotch. 
 
 James Kelly gives this explanation of the last prov- 
 erb : " As two men were fighting, John Jelly, going by, 
 made up fiercely to them. Each of them asked him 
 which he was for ; he answered, for his own hand, and 
 beat them both." Sir Walter Scott puts aside John 
 Jelly's claims to the authorship of this saying, and as- 
 signs it to Harry Smith in the following passage of "'The 
 Fair Maid of Perth." After the fight between the clans 
 at the North Inch, Black Douglas says to the smith, 
 
 " ' If thou wilt follow me, good fellow, I will change 
 thy leathern apron for a knight's girdle, thy burgage 
 tenement for an hundred-pound-land to maintain thy 
 rank withal.' 
 
 " ' I thank you humbly, my lord,' said the smith de- 
 jectedly, ' but I have shed blood enough already ; and 
 Heaven has punished me by foiling the only purpose for 
 which I entered the contest.' 
 
 '" How, friend ?' said Douglas. 'Didst thou not fight 
 for the Clan Chattan, and have they not gained a glori- 
 ous conquest?' 
 
 " ' I fought for my own hand,' said the smith indiffer- 
 ently ; and the expression is still proverbial in Scotland, 
 meaning, 'I did such a thing for my own pleasure, not 
 for your profit.' " 
 
 Let every man skin his own skunk. American. 
 
 The skunk stinks ten thousand times worse than a 
 polecat. " Let every one carry his own sack to the
 
 SELF-LOVE. SELF-INTEREST. SELF-RELIANCE. 103 
 
 mill" (German). 1 "Let every fox take care of his own 
 tail" (Italian). 2 
 
 Self do, self have. 
 
 Analogous to this manly proverb, as it seems to me, 
 is that Dutch one, "Self's the man," 3 which Dean 
 Trench has stigmatized as merely selfish. 
 
 The ted [fox] ne'er sped better than when he went his ain errand. 
 
 Scotch. 
 
 The miller ne'er got better moulter [toll] than he took wi' his ain 
 hands. Scotch. 
 
 If you would have your business done, go ; if not, send. 
 
 If you would have a thing well done, do it yoursslf. 
 
 Ilka man's man had a man, and that made the Treve fa'. Scotch. 
 
 The Treve was a strong castle built by Black 
 Douglas. The governor left the care of it to a deputy, 
 and he to an under-deputy, through whose negligence 
 the castle was taken and burned. " The master bids 
 the man, and the man bids the cat, and the cat bids its 
 tail" (Portuguese). 4 General Sir Charles Napier, 
 speaking of what happened during his temporary 
 absence from the government of Corfu, says, " How 
 entirely all things depend on the mode of executing 
 them, and how ridiculous mere theories are ! My suc- 
 cessor thought, as half the world always thinks, that a 
 man in command has only to order, and obedience will 
 follow. Hence they are baffled, not from want of talent, 
 
 1 Trage Jeder seinem Sack zur Miille. 
 
 2 Ogni volpe habbia cura dclla sua coda. 
 
 3 Zclf is de Man. 
 
 * Mandn o amo-ao 111090, o 01090 ao gato, c o gato ao rabo.
 
 104 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 but from inactivity, vainly thinking that while they spare 
 themselves every one under them will work like horses." 
 
 Trust not to another for what you can do yourself. 
 " Let him that has a mouth not say to another, Blow " 
 (Spanish). 1 
 
 The master's eye will do more work than both his hands. 
 
 " If you have money to throw away, set on workmen 
 and don't stand by" (Italian) ; 2 for 
 
 When the cat's away the mice will play. 
 
 The eye of the master fattens the steed. 
 
 The master's eye puts mate on the horse's bones. Ulster. 
 
 " The answers of Perses and Libys are worth observ- 
 ing," says Aristotle. " The former being asked what 
 was the best thing to make a horse fat, answered, ' The 
 master's eye ;' the other being asked what was the best 
 manure, answered, ' The master's footsteps.' " The 
 Spaniards have naturalized this last saying among them. 3 
 Aulus Gellius tells a story of a man who, being asked 
 why he was so fat, and the horse he rode was so lean, 
 replied, " Because I feed myself, and my servant feeds 
 my horse." 
 
 He that owns the cow goes nearest her tail. Scotch. 
 Let him that owns the cow take her by the tail. 
 
 In some districts formerly the cattle used to suffer 
 
 1 Quien ticne boca no diga a otro, sopla. 
 
 2 Chi ha quattrini a buttar via, metti operaji, e non vi stia. 
 
 3 El pie del ducno estiercol para la heredad.
 
 SELF-LOVE. SELF-INTEREST. SELF-RELIANCE. 105 
 
 greatly from want of food in winter and the early 
 months of spring, before the grass had begun to grow. 
 Sometimes a cow would become so weak from inanition 
 as to be unable to rise if she once lay down. In that 
 case it was necessary to lift her up by means of ropes 
 passed under her, and, above all, by pulling at her tail. 
 This part of the job being the most important, was 
 naturally undertaken by the owner of the animal. 
 
 A man is a lion in his own cause. 
 No man cries stinking fish. 
 
 On the contrary, every man tries to set off his wares 
 to the best advantage, to make the most of his own case, 
 etc. "Every one says, 'I have right on my side'' 1 
 (French). 1 JEsop's currier maintained that for fortify- 
 ing a town there was " nothing like leather." " Every 
 potter praises his pot, and all the more if it is cracked " 
 (Spanish). 2 '''Tis a mad priest who blasphemes his 
 relics" (Italian). 3 "Ask the host if he has good wine" 
 (Italian). 4 One canny Scot compliments another with 
 the remark, 
 
 Te '11 no sell your hens on a rainy day ; 
 
 for then the drenched feathers, sticking close to the skin, 
 give the poor things a lean and miserable appearance. 
 
 It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest. 
 
 He was scant o' news that tauld his feyther was hangit. Scotch. 
 
 1 Chacun dit, " J'ai hon droit." 
 
 2 Cada ollero su olla alaba, y mas el que la tiene quebrada. 
 
 3 Matto e quel prete chi bestemma le sue reliquie. 
 * Dimanda al hosto s'egli ha buon vino.
 
 106 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 They're scarce of news that speak ill of their mother. Ulster. 
 
 Why wantonly proclaim one's own disgrace, or expose 
 the faults or weaknesses of one's kindred or people ? 
 "If you have lost your nose, put your hand before the 
 place " (Italian). 1 Napoleon I. used to say, " People 
 should wash their foul linen in private." It is a neces- 
 sary process, but there is no need to obtrude it on public 
 notice. English writers often quote this maxim of the 
 great emperor, but always mistranslate it. 1/fdtit hirer 
 son Huge sale en famille is one of those idiomatic phrases 
 which cannot be perfectly rendered in another tongue. 
 Our version of it comes near to its meaning, which is 
 quite lost in that which is commonly given, " People 
 should wash their foul linen at home." The point of 
 the proverb lies in the privacy it enjoins, and this might 
 equally be secured whether the linen was washed at 
 home or sent away to the laundress's. En famille and 
 at home are not mutually equivalent ; the former means 
 more than the latter. We may say of a man who en- 
 tertains a large dinner party in his own house, that he 
 dines at home, but not- that he dines en famille. 
 
 No one knows where the shoe pinches so well as he that wears it. 
 I wot weel where my ain shoe binds me. Scotch. 
 
 Erskine used to say that when the hour came that all 
 secrets should be revealed we should know the reason 
 why shoes are always too tight. The authorship of 
 this proverb is commonly ascribed to vEmilius Paulus ; 
 but the story told by Plutarch leaves it doubtful whether 
 
 1 Se tu hai meno il naso, ponviti una mano.
 
 SELF-LOVE. SELF-INTEREST. SELF-RELIANCE. 107 
 
 ^Emilius used a known illustration or invented one. 
 The relations of his wife remonstrated with him on his 
 determination to repudiate her, she being an honorable 
 matron, against whom no fault could be alleged. ^Emil- 
 ius admitted the lady's worth ; but, pointing to one of 
 his shoes, he asked the remonstrants what they thought 
 of it. They thought it a handsome, well-fitting shoe. 
 " But none of you," he rejoined, " can tell where it 
 pinches me." 
 
 The heart knoweth its own bitterness. Solomon. 
 
 " To every one his own cross seems heaviest " (Ital- 
 ian) j 1 but "The burden is light on the shoulders of 
 another" (Russian) ; and "One does not feel three hun- 
 dred blows on another's back" (Servian). "Another's 
 care hangs by a hair" (Spanish). 2 "Another's woe is a 
 dream" (French). 3 Rochefoucauld has had the credit 
 of saying, " We all have fortitude enough to endure the 
 woes of others;" but it is plain from this and other 
 examples that he was not the sole author of " Roche- 
 foucauld's ]\Iaxims." 
 
 "The case is altered," quoth Plowden. 
 
 Edmund Plowden, an eminent lawyer in Queen 
 Elizabeth's time, was asked by a neighbor what remedy 
 there was in law against the owner of some hogs that 
 had trespassed on the inquirer's ground. Plowden an- 
 
 1 Ad ognuno par piu grave la crocc sua. 
 
 2 Cuidado ageno dc pelo cuelga. 
 
 3 Mai d'autrui n'est que songe.
 
 108 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 swered, he might have a very good remedy. " Marry, 
 then," said the other, "the hogs are your own." "Nay, 
 then, neighbor, the case is altered," quoth Plowden. 
 Others, says Ray, with more probability make this the 
 original of the proverb : " Plowden being a Roman 
 Catholic, ome neighbors of his who bare him no good- 
 will, intending to entrap him and bring him under the 
 lash of the law, had taken care to dress up an altar in a 
 certain place, and provided a layman in a priest's habit, 
 who should say mass there at such a time. And, withal, 
 notice thereof was given privately to Mr. Plowden, 
 who thereupon went and was present at the mass. For 
 this he was presently accused and indicted. He at first 
 stands upon his defence, and would not acknowledge the 
 thing. Witnesses are produced, and among the rest one 
 who deposed that he himself performed the mass, and 
 saw Mr. Plowden there. Saith Plowden to him. ' Art 
 thou a priest, then ? ' The fellow replied, ' No.' ' Why, 
 then, gentlemen, quoth he, ' the case is altered ; no 
 priest, no mass,' which came to be a proverb, and contin- 
 ues still in Shropshire with this addition. ' The case is 
 altered,' quoth Plowden : ' no priest, no mass.' " 
 
 That's Hackerton's cow. 
 
 This is a proverb of the Scotch, and they tell a story 
 about it similar to the first of the two above related of 
 Plowden. Hackerton was a lawyer, whose cow had 
 gored a neighbor's ox. The man told him the rever>e. 
 " 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 <lirnr\fovffn' &ri}. 
 
 12
 
 RETRIBUTION. PENAL JUSTICE. 
 
 He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned. 
 The water will ne'er waur the woodie. Scotch. 
 
 THAT is, the water will never defraud the gallows of 
 its due. Gonzago, in The Tempest, says of the boat- 
 swain,*" I have great comfort from this fellow : methinks 
 he hath no drowning mark upon him ; his complexion is 
 perfect gallows. Stand fast, good fate, tp his hanging ! 
 Make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth 
 little advantage. If he be not born to be hanged our 
 case is miserable." 
 
 The Danes say, " He that is to be hanged will never 
 be drowned, unless the water goes over the gallows." 1 
 Such punctilious accuracy in fixing the limits of the 
 proposition considerably enhances its grim humor. 
 There is a fine touch of ghastly horror in its Dutch 
 equivalent, "What belongs to the raven does not 
 drown." 2 The platform on which criminals were exe- 
 cuted and gibbeted was called, in the picturesque lan- 
 guage of the middle ages, the " ravenstone." " He 
 
 1 Han drukner ikke som henge skal, uden Vandet gaaer over 
 Galgen. 
 
 2 Wat den raven toebe.hoort verdrinkt niet.
 
 RETRIBUTION, PENAL JUSTICE. 179 
 
 that is to die by the gallows may dance on the river " 
 (Italian). 1 
 
 " He '11 be hanged yet, 
 
 Though every drop of water swear against it, 
 And gape at wid'st to glut him." 
 
 Give a thief rope enough and he '11 hang himself. 
 Every fox must pay his own skin to the flayer. 
 
 Air day or late day, the tod's [fox's] hide finds aye the flaying- 
 knife. Scotch. 
 
 In spite of all his cunning, the rogue will soon or late 
 come to a bad end. " Foxes find themselves at last at 
 the furrier's" (French). 2 "No mad dog runs seven 
 years" (Dutch). 3 
 
 Hanging goes by hap. 
 
 If a man is hanged it is a sign that he was pre- 
 destined to that end. " The gallows was made for the 
 unlucky" (Spanish). 4 It is not always a man's .fault so 
 much as his misfortune that he dies of a hempen fever. 
 As Captain Macheath sings : 
 
 ' Since laws were made for every degree, 
 To curb vice in others as well as in me, 
 I wonder we ha'n't better company 
 Upon Tyburn tree." 
 
 1 Chi ha da morir di forca, puo ballar sul flume. 
 
 2 Enfin les renards so trouvent chez Ic pelletier. 
 
 3 Er liep gecn dollc hond zevcn jaar. 
 
 4 Para los desdichados se hizo la horca.
 
 180 PROVEEBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 But " Money does not get hanged " (German). 1 It 
 sits on the judgment-seat, and sends poor rogues to the 
 hulks or to Jack Ketch. As it was in the days of 
 Diogenes the cynic, so it is now : " Great thieves hang 
 petty thieves" (French); 2 and, whilst " Petty thieves 
 are hanged, people take off their hats to great ones" 
 (German). 3 
 
 First hang and draw, 
 
 Then hear the cause by Lidford law. 
 
 Ray informs us that " Lidford is a little and poor but 
 ancient corporation in Devonshire, with very large priv- 
 ileges, where a Court of Stannaries was formerly kept." 
 The same sort of expeditious justice was practised in 
 Scotland and in Spain, as testified by proverbs of both 
 countries. At Peralvillo the Holy Brotherhood used to 
 execute in this manner robbers taken in the fact, or 
 " red-hand," as the Scotch forcibly expressed it. Hence 
 the Spanish saying, " Peralvillo justice : after the man 
 is hanged, try him." 4 The Scotch equivalent for this 
 figures with dramatic effect in that scene of The Fair 
 Maid of Perth where Black Douglas has just discovered 
 the murder of the Prince of Rothsay, and exclaims 
 
 " ' Away with the murderers ! hang them over the 
 battlements ! ' 
 
 1 Geld wird nicht gehcnkt. 
 
 2 Les grands voleurs font pcndre les petits. 
 
 8 Kleine Diebe henkt man, vor grosscn zicht man den Hut ab. 
 4 La justicia dc Peralvillo, quo ahorcado cl hombre le hace la 
 perquisa.
 
 RETRIBUTION, PENAL JUSTICE. 181 
 
 " 'But, my lord, some trial may be fitting,' answered 
 Balveny. 
 
 " ' To what purpose ? ' answered Douglas. ' I have 
 taken them red-hand ; my authority will stretch to in- 
 stant execution. Yet stay : have we not some Jedwood 
 men in our troop ? ' 
 
 " ' Plenty of Turnbulls, Rutherfords, Ainslies, and so 
 forth,' said Balveny. 
 
 " ' Call me an inquest of these together ; they are all 
 good men and true, save a little shifting for their living. 
 Do you see to the execution of these felons, while I hold 
 a court in the great hall, and we '11 try whether the jury 
 or the provost-marshal shall do their work first : we will 
 have 
 
 Jedwood justice hang in haste, and try at leisure.' " 
 He that invented the "maiden" first hanselled it. Scotch. 
 
 This was the Regent Morton, who was the first man 
 beheaded by an instrument of his own invention, called 
 the " maiden." His enemies thought it was 
 
 " Sport 
 To see the csgineer hoist by his own petard ; " 
 
 and even those who pitied him felt that " no law was 
 juster than that the artificers of death should perish by 
 their own art." 1 
 
 1 Nee lex est justior ulla 
 Quam nccis artifk-es arte perire sua.
 
 182 PROVERBS OP ALL NATIONS. 
 
 If he has no gear to tine, he has shins to pine. Scotch. 
 
 That is, if he has not wealth to lose, or means to pay 
 a fine, he must be clapped in the stocks or in fetters. 
 " Pie that has no money must pay with his skin " (Ger- 
 man). 1 "Where there is no money there is no forgive- 
 ness of sins " (German). 2 
 
 1 Wer kcin Geld hat, mussmit dcr Haut bczahlen. 
 
 2 Wo kcin Geld 1st, da ist auch keine Vergebung der Siinden.
 
 WEALTH. POVERTY. PLENTY, -^ 
 WANT. 
 
 Happy is the son whose father went to the devil. 
 
 ON the other hand, the Portuguese say, " Alas for the 
 son whose father goes to heaven ! " 1 the presumption 
 being that a man does not go that way whilst amassing 
 great wealth ; for " He that is afraid of the devil does 
 not grow rich " (Italian). 2 " To do so one has only to 
 turn one's back on God" (French). 3 Audley, a noted 
 lawyer and usurer in the reigns of James I. and Charles 
 I., was asked what might be the value of his newly- 
 obtained office in the Court of Wards. He replied, " It 
 may be worth some thousands of pounds to him who 
 after his death would instantly go to heaven ; twice as 
 much to him who would go to purgatory ; and nobody 
 knows how much to him who would adventure to go to 
 hell." Audley's biographer hints that he did adventure 
 that way for the four hundred thousand pounds he left 
 behind him at his departure. " The river does not 
 
 1 Guo.y do filho que o pai vai a paraiso. 
 
 2 Chi ha paura del diavolo non fa roba. 
 
 3 II ne faut que tourner le dos ;'i Dieu pour derenir riche.
 
 184 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 become swollen with clear water" (Italian). 1 According 
 to a Latin proverb, quoted with approval by St. Jerome, 
 " A rich man is either a rogue or a rogue's heir." 2 " To 
 be rich, one must have a relation at home with the 
 devil" (Italian). 3 " Gold goes to the Moor ; " that is, to 
 the man without a conscience (Portuguese). 4 
 
 " The poets feign," says Bacon, " that when Plutus, 
 which is riches, is sent from Jupiter, he limps and goes 
 slowly ; but when he is sent from Pluto he runs and is 
 swift of foot : meaning that riches gotten by good means 
 and just labor pace slowly, but when they come by the 
 death of others (as by the course of inheritance, testa- 
 ments, and the like), they come tumbling upon a man. 
 But it might be applied likewise to Pluto, taking him 
 for the devil ; for when riches come from the devil (as 
 by fraud and oppression and unjust means) they come 
 upon speed. The ways to enrich are many, and most 
 of them foul." 
 
 " He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be inno- 
 cent" (Proverbs xxviii. 22). " Who would be rich in a 
 year gets hanged in half a year" (Spanish). 5 
 
 Plenty makes dainty. 8 
 
 As the sow fills the draught sours. 
 
 Hunger is the best sa:ic3. 
 
 1 II fiurae non s'ingrossa d'acqua chiara. 
 
 2 Dives aut iniquus Aut iniqui haeres. 
 
 3 Por esser rk-co bisoj,na avcre un parente a casa al diavolo. 
 
 4 Vaise o ouro ao raouro. 
 
 s Quien en un ano quicre scr rico, al mcdio le ahorcan. 
 (i Abondance entendre flcherie.
 
 WEALTH, POVERTY, PLENTY, WANT. 185 
 
 "Hunger makes raw beans sweet" (German). 
 "Hunger is the best cook" (German). "The full 
 stomach loatheth the honeycomb, but to the hungry 
 every bitter thing is sweet" (Proverbs). "Brackish 
 water is sweet in a dry land" (Portuguese). 1 
 
 A hungry horse makes a clean manger. 
 Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings. 
 A hungry man sees far. 
 
 " A hungry man discovers more than a hundred law- 
 yers" (Spanish). 2 Want sharpens industry and inven- 
 tion. " He thinks of everything who wants bread " 
 (French). 3 " A poor man is all schemes " (Spanish). 4 
 
 " Largitor artium, ingeniique magister 
 Venter." 
 
 " Poverty and hunger have many learned disciples " 
 (German). 5 "Poverty is the sixth sense." 6 "It is 
 cunning : it catches even a fox" (German). 7 
 
 Need makes the old wife trot. 8 
 Need makes the naked man run. 
 Need makes the naked quean spin. 
 
 1 Agoa salobra na terra seca he doce. 
 
 2 Mas descubrc un hambriento que cicn letrados. 
 8 De tout s'avise 11 qni pain faut. 
 
 4 Hombre pobre todo es trazas. 
 
 5 Armuth und Hunger babcn viel gclehrte Jiinger. 
 
 6 Armuth ist der sechste Sinn. 
 
 7 Armuth ist listig, sie fangt auch cincn Fuchs. 
 
 8 The same in Italian, Bisogna fa trottar la vecchia ; and in 
 French, Bcsoin fait vicille trotter.
 
 186 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 "Hunger sets the dog a-hunting" (Italian). 1 "Hun- 
 ger drives the wolf out of the wood" (Italian). 2 
 
 
 
 Hunger will break through stone walls. 
 
 " A hungry dog fears not tlie stick " (Italian) ; 3 where- 
 as, " The full-fed sheep is frightened at her own tail " 
 (Spanish). 4 
 
 Poverty parteth good fellowship. 
 
 An old Scotch song says : 
 
 " When I hac saxpence under my thumb, 
 Thcu I get credit in ilka town ; 
 But when I hae naething they bid me gang by : 
 Hech ! poverty parts good company." 
 
 Poverty is no crime. 
 
 Some say it is worse. " Poverty is no vice, but it is 
 a sort of leprosy" (French). 5 
 
 1 La forame il can per fame. 
 
 2 La fame caccia il lupo fuor del bosco. 
 
 3 Can affamato non ha paura del bastone. 
 
 4 Carnero harto de su rabo se cspanta. 
 
 5 Pauvrete n'est pas vice, mais e'est une cspece de laiderie.
 
 BEGINNING AND END. 
 
 A good beginning makes a good ending. 
 Well begun is half done. 
 
 TERSELY translated from the Latin, Dimidium facti 
 qui bene ccepit habet. " A beard lathered is half shaved," 
 say the Spaniards. 1 In an article on the " Philosophy 
 of Proverbs," the author of the " Curiosities of Litera- 
 ture " gives an example from the Italian, which he 
 deems of peculiar interest, "for it is perpetuated by 
 Dante, and is connected with the character of Milton." 
 Besides these distinctions, it has a third (not surmised 
 by Disraeli), as a linguistic curiosity ; for though it con- 
 sists of but four words, and those among the commonest 
 in the language, its literal meaning is undetermined, and 
 diametrically opposite interpretations have been given 
 of it even by native authorities. Cosa fatta capo ha is 
 the proverb in question, which some understand as sig- 
 nifying, " A deed done has an end ; " or, as the Scotch 
 say, " A thing done is no to do." It is thus rendered 
 by Torriano in 1666; whilst Giusti, in 1853, explains 
 it as meaning, " A deed done has a beginning ; " or, in 
 other words, if you would accomplish anything, you 
 
 1 Bnrba remojada, mcdio rapnda.
 
 188 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 must not content yourself with pondering over it for- 
 ever, but must proceed to action. Such another instance 
 of divided opinion respecting the import of four familiar 
 words in a simply-constructed sentence is probably not 
 to be found in the history of modern languages. 
 
 This proverb is the " bad word " to which tradition 
 ascribes the origin of the civil wars that long desolated 
 Tuscany. When Buondelmonte broke his engagement 
 with a lady of the Amadei family, and married another, 
 the kinsmen of the injured lady assembled to consider 
 how they should deal with the offender. They inclined 
 to pass sentence of death upon him ; but their fear of 
 the evils that might ensue from that decision long held 
 them in suspense. At last Mosca Lambert! cried out 
 that " those who talk of many things effect nothing," 
 quoting, says Macchiavelli, " that trite and common ad- 
 age, Cosa fatta capo ha." This decided the question. 
 Buondelmonte was murdered ; and the deed immediately 
 involved Florence in those miserable conflicts of Guelphs 
 and Ghibellines, from which she had stood aloof until 
 then. The " bad word " uttered by Mosca has been im- 
 mortalized by Dante (Inferno, xxviii.), and variously 
 rendered by his English translators. Gary presents the 
 passage thus : 
 
 " Then one 
 
 Maimed of each hand uplifted in the gloom 
 The bleeding stumps, that they with gory spots 
 Sullied his face, and cried, ' Rcmcmlxjr thee 
 Of Mosca too I who, alas ! exclaimed, 
 The deed once done, there is an end that proved 
 A seed of sorrow to the Tuscan race.' " 
 
 r^tf-^
 
 BEGINNING AXD END. 189 
 
 "Wright's version is : 
 
 " Then one deprived of both his hands, who stood 
 Lifting the bleeding stumps amid the dim 
 Dense air, so that his face was stained with blood, 
 Cried, ' In thy mind let Mosca bear a place, 
 Who said, alas ! Deed done is well begun 
 Words fraught with evil to the Tuscan race.' " 
 
 Disraeli adopts Gary's interpretation of the proverb, and 
 does not seem to suspect that it can have any other. 
 Milton appears to have used it in the same sense. 
 " AVhen deeply engaged," says Disraeli, " in writing 
 ' The Defence of the People,' and warned that it might 
 terminate in his blindness, he resolutely concluded his 
 work, exclaiming with great magnanimity, although the 
 fatal prognostication had been accomplished, Cosa fatta 
 capo ha ! Did this proverb also influence his decision 
 on that great national event, when the most honest- 
 minded fluctuated between doubts and fears ? " 
 
 The first blow is half the battle. 
 It is as good as two, according to the Italians. 
 
 The hardest step is over the threshold. 
 " The first step is all the difficulty "(French). 1 It is 
 well known that after St. Dennis was decapitated he 
 picked up his head, and walked a league with it in his 
 hand to the spot where his church was afterwards 
 erected. Recounting this miracle one day in a private 
 circle, Cardinal de Polignac laid great stress on the 
 
 1 Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coitte.
 
 100 PROVERBS, OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 length of the way traversed in that manner by the mar- 
 tyred saint; whereupon Madame da Deffaut remarked 
 that this was not the most surprising part of the miracle, 
 for in such cases " the first step was all the difficulty." 
 
 Everything has a beginning. 
 
 A child must creep ere it can go. 
 
 " Every beginning is feeble " (Latin). 1 " ' Every 
 beginning is hard,' as the thief said when he began by 
 stealing an anvil" (German). 2 
 
 Rome was not built in a day. 
 
 1 Omne principinm est debilc. 
 
 2 Aller Anfang ist schwer, spruch dcr Dieb, und stahl zuerst 
 einen Ambos.
 
 OFFICE. 
 
 The office shows the man. 
 
 'T is the place shows the man. 
 
 IT tries his capacity, and shows what stuff he is made 
 of. But it also forms the man ; it teaches him (Ger- 
 man) 1 if he has the faculty to be taught, so that it may 
 be said with some truth, " To whom God gives an office 
 he gives understanding also" (German). 2 "A great 
 place strangely qualifies," saith Selden. " John Head 
 was groom of the chamber to my lord of Kent. Attor- 
 ney-General Roy being dead, some were saying, how 
 would the king do for a fit man ? ' Why, any man,' says 
 John Read, ' may execute the place.' ' I warrant,' says 
 my lord, ' thou thinkest thou understand'st enough to 
 perform it.! ' Yes,' quoth John ; ' let the king make me 
 attorney, and I would fain see that man that durst tell 
 me there 's anything I understand not.' " The proverb 
 at the head of this paragraph is literally translated from 
 a Greek maxim, attributed by Sophocles to Solon, and 
 to Bias by Aristotle. 
 
 1 Das Amt lehrt den Mann. 
 
 2 Wein Gott ein Amt giebt, dcm gicbt cr auch Verstand.
 
 192 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 He is a poor cook that cannot lick his own fingers. 
 
 And " He is a bad manager of honey " who does not 
 help himself in the same way (French). 1 The rule 
 applies to all who have the fingering of good things, 
 whether in a public or a private capacity. " He \vho 
 manages other people's wealth does not go supperless 
 to bed" (Italian). 2 "All offices are greasy" (Dutch). 3 
 Something sticks to them. Wheels are greased to make 
 them run smoothly, and in some countries it is found 
 that what the Dutch call smear money may be applied 
 to official palms with advantage to the operator. The 
 French call this Graisser la patte a quelqu"un. " ' Hast 
 thou no -money ? then turn placeman,' said the court fool 
 to his sovereign'" (German). 4 King James, we are 
 told by L'Estrange, was once complaining of the lean- 
 ness of his hunting-horse. Archie, his fool, standing by, 
 said to him, " If that be all, take no care ; I '11 teach 
 your Majesty a way to raise his flesh presently ; and if 
 he be not as fat as ever he can wallow, you shall ride 
 me." " I prithee, fool, how ? " said the king. " Why, 
 do but make him a bishop, and I '11 warrant you," says 
 Archie. 
 
 A good deal of surreptitious finger-licking and fatten- 
 ing would be prevented if this truth were clearly under- 
 
 1 Cclui gouverne bien mal le miel, qui n'cn taste et scs doigts 
 n'en lesche. 
 
 2 Chi maneggia quel clegli altri, non va a Ictto senza cena. 
 
 3 Alle amtcn zijn smecrig. 
 
 4 Hast du kein Geld ? so fcird ein Amtmann, sagte jeuer Hof- 
 narr zu seinen Furstcn.
 
 - OFFICE. 193 
 
 stood, that " Office without pay [or with inadequate pay] 
 makes thieves" (German). 1 "He cannot keep a good 
 course who serves without reward" (Italian). 2 
 
 A man gets little thanks for losing his own. 
 
 An excuse for taking the perquisites of office, however 
 extortionate they may be. 
 
 It is the clerk that ma!;es the justice. 
 The magistrate would often be wrong in his law if he 
 were not kept right by the clerk. " The blood of the 
 soldier makes the captain great" (Italian). 3 
 
 For faut o' wise men fules sit on binks [benches]. Scotch. 
 
 " For want of good men they made my father al- 
 calde" (Spanish). 4 We do not always see the right 
 man in the right place. 
 
 Never deal with the man when you can deal with the master. 
 
 " It is better to have to do with God than with his 
 paints" 5 is a French proverb, which Voltaire has fitted 
 with a droll story. A king of Spain, he tells us, had 
 promised to bestow relief upon the people of the country 
 round Burgos, who had been ruined by war. They 
 
 1 Amt ohne Sold macht Diebc. 
 
 2 Buona via non puo tenere 
 Quel chi serve scnz' avere. 
 
 3 11 sangue dci soldati fa grande il capitano. 
 
 4 Por fiilta dc hombrcs buenos, d mi padre hicieron alcalde. 
 
 5 II vaut micux avoir affaire a Dicu qu'a ses saints. 
 
 13
 
 194 PROVERBS OP ALL *NATIOXS. 
 
 flocked to the palace, but the doorkeepers would not let 
 them in except on condition of having part of what they 
 should get. Having consented to this, the countrymen 
 entered the royal hall, where their leader knelt at the 
 monarch's feet, and said, " I beseech your Royal High- 
 ness to command that every man of us here shall receive 
 a hundred lashes." " An odd petition, truly ! " said the 
 king. " Why do you ask for such a thing ? " " Be- 
 cause," said the peasant, " your people insist on having 
 the half of whatever you give us." 
 
 M. Quitard believes that the saints referred to in the 
 French proverb are the " frost " or " vintage saints," l so 
 called because their festivals, which occur in April, are 
 noted in the popular calendar as days on which frost is 
 injurious to the young green crops and to vines. The 
 husbandmen, whose fields and vineyards Avere injured 
 by the inclemency of the weather, used to hold these 
 saints responsible for the damage they ought to have 
 prevented, and the reproaches addressed to them might 
 very naturally take the form perpetuated in the proverb. 
 This is the more probable as it is recorded in the eccle- 
 siastical annals of Cahors and Rhodez that the angry 
 agriculturists were in the habit of flogging the images 
 of the frost saints, defacing their pictures, and otherwise 
 maltreating them. Rabelais asserts, with mock gravity, 
 that, in order to put an end to these scandalous irregu- 
 larities, a bishop of Auxerre proposed to transfer the 
 festivals of the frost saints to the dog days, and make the 
 month of August change place with April. 
 
 * 1 Saints gelifs, saints vendangeurs.
 
 OFFICE. 195 
 
 A king's cheese goes half av/ay in parings. 
 His revenues are half eaten up before they enter his 
 coffers. Before Sully took the French finances in hand, 
 such was the system of plunder established by the farm- 
 ers of the revenue, that the state realized only one-fifth 
 of the gross amount of taxes imposed on the subjects ; 
 the other four-fifths were consumed by the financiers. 
 Under such a wasteful system as this, or one in any de- 
 gree like it, one might well say that 
 
 King's chaff is worth othor men's corn. 
 
 The perquisites belonging to the king's service are better 
 than the wages earned elsewhere. 
 
 The clerk wishes the priest to havo a fat dish. Gaelic.
 
 LAW AND LAWYERS. 
 
 Law-makers should not be law-breakers. 
 PARLIAMENT has made it penal to pollute the air of 
 towns with smoke, and the Builder complains that more 
 smoke issues from Parliament's own chimneys than from 
 any six factories in London. 
 
 Abundance of law breaks no law. 
 
 It is safer to exceed than to fall short of what the law 
 requires. 
 
 In a thousand pounds of law there is not an ounce of love. 
 A pennyweight of love is worth a pound weight of law. 
 
 So much more cogent is the one than the other. 
 
 Laws were made for rogues. 
 
 "For the upright there are no laws" (German). 1 
 They are designed to control- those to whom it may he 
 said 
 
 Ye wad do little for God if the deil were dead. Scotch. 
 
 " The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip 
 
 To keep the wretch in order ; 
 But where ye feel your honor grip, 
 Let that be aye your border. 
 
 1 Fiir Gerechte giebt es keine Gesetze.
 
 LAW AXD LAWYERS. 197 
 
 " Its slightest touches, instant pause, 
 
 Debar a' side pretences, 
 
 And resolutely keep its laws, 
 
 Uncaring consequences." 
 
 He that loves law will get his fill of it. 
 
 Agree, for the law is costly. 
 
 Law 's costly ; tak a pint and 'gree. Scotch. 
 
 Lord Mansfield declared that if any man claimed a 
 field from him, he would give it up, provided the conces- 
 sion were kept secret, rather than engage in proceedings 
 at law. Hesiod, in admonishing his brother always to 
 prefer a friendly accommodation to a lawsuit, gave to 
 the world the paradoxical proverb, " The half is more 
 than the whole." Very often " A lean agreement is 
 better than a fat lawsuit" (Italian). 1 " Lawyers' gar- 
 ments *are lined with suitors' obstinacy" (Italian) ; 2 and 
 " Their houses are built of fools' heads" (French). 3 
 Doctors and lawyers are notoriously shy of taking what 
 they prescribe for others. " JS"o good lawyer ever goes 
 to law" (Italian). 4 Lord Chancellor Thurlow did so 
 once, but in his case the exception approved the rule. 
 A house had been built for him by contract, but he had 
 made himself liable for more than the stipulated price 
 by ordering some departures from the specification whilst 
 the work was in progress. He refused to pay the ad- 
 ditional charge ; the builder brought an action and got a 
 
 1 E meglio un magro accordo che nna grassa lite. 
 
 2 Lc vesti degli avvocati son fodrate dell' ostinazion dei litiganti. 
 8 Les maisons des avocats sont faictes de la teste des folz. 
 
 * Xessum buon avvocato piatisce mai.
 
 PROVEKBS OP ALL NATIONS. 
 
 verdict against him, and surly Thurlow never afterwards 
 set foot within the house which was the monument of 
 his wrong-headedness and its chastisement. 
 
 Eefer my coat, and lose a sleeve. Scotch. 
 
 Arbitrators generally make both parties abate some- 
 thing of their pretensions. 
 
 Fair and softly, as lawyers go to heaven. 
 The odds are great against their ever getting there, 
 if it be true that " Unless hell is full, never will a lawyer 
 be saved" (French). 1 " The greater lawyer, the worse 
 Christian" (Dutch). 2 " ' Virtue in the middle,' said the 
 devil, as he sat between two attorneys " (Danish). 3 
 
 1 Si enfer n'est plein, oncques n'y aura d'avocat sauve. 
 
 2 Hoe grooter jurist, hoe boozer Christ. 
 
 3 Dyden i Mid ten, sagde Fanden, ban sal iraellem to Procura- 
 toren.
 
 PHYSIC. PHYSICIANS. MAXIMS 
 RELATING TO HEALTH. 
 
 If the doctor cures, the sun sees it ; if he kills, the earth hides it. 
 
 " THE earth covers the mistakes of the physician " 
 (Italian, Spanish). 1 " Bleed him and purge him; if he 
 dies, bury him (Spanish). 2 It is a melancholy truth that 
 " The doctor is often more to be feared than the dis- 
 ease" (French). 3 "Throw physic to the dogs," is in 
 effect the advice given by many eminent physicians, and 
 by some of the greatest thinkers the world has seen. 
 " Shun doctors and doctors' drugs if you wish to be 
 well," 4 was the seventh, last, and best, rule of health laid 
 down by the famous physician Hoffmann. Sir William 
 Hamilton declared that " Medicine in the hands in which 
 it is vulgarly dispensed is a curse to humanity rather 
 than a blessing; " and Sir Astley_ Cooper did not scru- 
 ple to avow that '" The science of medicine was founded 
 on conjecture and improved by murder. It is a remark- 
 
 1 Gli error! del medico gli copre la terra. Los yerros del medico 
 la tierra los cubre. 
 
 2 Sungrarle y purgaiie ; si se muriere, enterrurle. 
 
 3 Le medecin est souvcnt plus a craindre quo la maladie. 
 
 4 Fuge medicos ac medicamcnta, si vis esse salvus.
 
 200 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 able fact that " The doctor seldom takes physic" (Ital- 
 ian). 1 He does not appear to have a very lively faith in 
 his own art. As for his alleged cures, their reality does 
 not pass unquestioned. It is true that " Dear physic 
 always does good, if not to the patient, at least to the 
 apothecary" (German) ; 2 but " It is God that cures, and 
 the doctor gets the money" (Spanish). 3 Save your 
 money, then, and " If you have a friend who is a doctor, 
 take off your hat to him, and send him to the house of 
 your enemy" (Spanish). 4 
 
 The best physicians are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merrimaa. 
 Every man at forty is either a fool or a physician. 
 A creaking gate hangs long on its hinges. 
 
 Valetudinarians often outlive persons of robust con- 
 stitution who take less care of themselves. A French 
 saying to this purpose, which is too idiomatic to be 
 translated, was neatly applied by Pozzo di Borgo in a 
 conversation with. Lady Holland. Her ladyship, exult- 
 ing in the duration of the Whig government, notwith- 
 standing the prevalent anticipations of their fall, said to 
 him : " Yous voyez, Monsieur 1'Ambassadeur, que nous 
 vivons toujours." " Oui, madame," he replied, " les 
 petites santes durent quelquefois longtemps." " Creak- 
 
 1 Di rado il medico piglia medicina. 
 
 2 Theure Arznei hilft immer, wenn nicht dem Kranken doch 
 dcm Apotheker. 
 
 3 Dios es el que sana, y el medico lleva la plata. 
 
 4 Si tienes medico amigo, quitale la gorra, y envialo a casa de 
 tu enemigo.
 
 PHYSIC, PHYSICIANS, HEALTH. 201 
 
 ing carts last longest" (Dutch). 1 " The flawed pots are 
 the most lasting" (French). 2 
 
 A groaning wife and a grunting horse ne'er failed their master. 
 
 Seek your salve where ye got your sore. Scotch, 
 Take a hair of the dog that bit you. 
 
 Advice given to persons suffering the after-pains of a 
 carouse. The same stimulant which caused their ner- 
 vous depression will also relieve it. The metaphor is 
 derived from an old medical practice to which Seneca 
 makes some allusion, and which is commended in a 
 rhyming French adage to this effect : " With the hair of 
 the beast that bit thee, or with its blood, thou wilt be 
 cured." 3 Cervantes, in his tale of La Gitanilla, thus 
 describes an old gypsy woman's manner of treating a 
 person bitten by a dog : " She took some of the dog's 
 hairs, fried them in oil, and after washing with wine the 
 two bites she found on the patient's left leg, she put 
 the hairs and the oil upon them, and over this dress- 
 ing a little chewed green rosemary. She then bound 
 the leg up carefully with clean bandages, made the 
 sign of the cross over it, and said, ' Now go to sleep, 
 friend, and with the help of God your hurts will not 
 signify.' " 
 
 1 Krakcnde wagens duirren het langst. 
 
 2 Les pots feles sont ceux qui durcnt le plus. 
 
 3 Du poll dc la bete qui te mordit, 
 Ou dc son sang, seras gueri.
 
 202 PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 One nail drives out another. 
 
 Tliis is the doctrine of homoeopathy. " Poison quells 
 poison" (Italian). 1 
 
 " Tut, man ! one fire burns out another's burning, 
 
 One pain is lessened by another's anguish. 
 Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning : 
 
 One desperate grief cures with another's languish. 
 Take thou some new infection to thine eye, 
 And the rank poison of the old will die." 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 If the wind strike thee through a hole, 
 Go make thy will and mend thy soul. 
 
 " A blast from a window is a shot from a crossbow " 
 (Italian). 2 " To a bull and a draught of air give way" 
 (Spanish). 3 
 
 One hour's sleep before midnight is worth two hours after it. 
 
 Ladies rightly call sleep before midnight " beauty 
 sleep." 
 
 Old young, and old long. 4 
 
 You must leave off the irregularities of youth be- 
 times, if you wish to enjoy a long and hale old age ; for 
 
 Young men's knocks old men fael. 
 
 1 II veleno si spegne col veleno. 
 
 2 Aria di fenestra, colpodi balestra. 
 
 8 Al toro y al aire darles callc. 
 
 * Mature fias senex, si diu veils esse sencx.
 
 PHYSIC, PHYSICIANS, HEALTH. 203 
 
 " The sins of our youth we atone for in our old age " 
 (Latin). 1 
 
 Eub your sore eye with your elbow. 
 
 He who laid down this rule of sound surgery was a 
 man qui ne se mouchait pas du talon ; he did not blow 
 hi.s nose with his heel. If a speck of dust enters your 
 eye, close the lid gently, keep your fingers away from it, 
 and leave the foreign body to be washed by the tears to 
 the inner corner of the eye, whence it may be removed 
 without difficulty. 
 
 1 Qiiaa peccavimus juvcnes, ea luimus senes.
 
 CLERGY. 
 
 It's kittle shooting at corbies and cbrgy. Scotch. 
 
 CROWS are very wary, and the clergy are vindictive; 
 therefore it is ticklish work trying to get the better of 
 either. "One must either not meddle with priests, or 
 else smite them dead," say the Germans ; l and Huss, 
 the Bohemian reformer, in denouncing the sins of the 
 clergy in his day, has preserved for us a similar proverb 
 of his countrymen : " If you have offended a clerk, kill 
 him, else you will never have peace with him." 2 " The 
 bites of priests and wolves are hard to heal" (Ger- 
 man). 3 " Priests and women never forget " (German). 4 
 " How dangerous it was," says Gross, u to injure the 
 meanest retainer of a religious house, is very ludicrously 
 but justly expressed in the following old English adage, 
 which I have somewhere met with : 
 
 1 Man muss mit 1'faffen nicht anfangen, oder sie todtschlagen. 
 
 2 Malum proverbium contra nos confinxcrunt, dicentcs, " Si 
 offenderis clcricum, interfice eum ; alias nunquam habcbis pacem 
 cum illo." 
 
 3 Was Pfaffcn beissen und Wolfe ist schwer zu heilcn. 
 
 4 Pfaffen und Wciber vcrgessen nie.
 
 CLERGY. 205 
 
 ' Yf perchaunce one offend a freere's dogge, straight clameth the 
 whole brotherhood, An heresy ! An heresy ! ' " 
 
 There is an old German proverb to the same purpose, 
 which Eiserlein heard once from the lips of an aged lay 
 servitor of a monastery in the Black Forest : " Offend 
 one monk, and the lappets of all cowls will flutter as far 
 as Rome." l 
 
 What was good the friar never loved. 
 Popular opinion attributes to the clergy, both secular 
 and regular, a lively regard for the good things of this 
 life, and a determination to have their full share of them. 
 " No priest ever died of hunger," is a remark made by 
 the Livonians ; and they add, " Give the priests all thou 
 hast, and thou wilt have given them nearly enough." 
 " A priest's pocket is hard to fill," 2 at least in Denmark ; 
 and the Italians say that " Priests, monks, nuns, and 
 poultry never have enough." 3 "Abbot of Carzuela," 
 cries the Spaniard, " you eat up'the stew, and you ask 
 for the stewpan." 4 The worst testimony against the 
 monastic order comes from the countries in which they 
 most abound : " Where friars swarm, keep your eyes 
 open" (Spanish). 5 "Have neither a good monk fora 
 friend, nor a bad one for an enemy" (Spanish). 6 "As 
 
 1 Beleidigestu einen Munch, so knappe alle Kuttenzipfel bis 
 nach Rom. 
 
 2 Pnestesaek er ond at f'ylde. 
 
 3 Preti, frati, monache, e polli non si trovan mai satolli. 
 * Abad dc Cai^uela, comistes la olla, pedis la caquela. 
 
 5 Frailes sobrand', ojo alerte. 
 
 6 Ni buen fraile por amigo, ni raalo por enemigo.
 
 20G PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 for friars, live, with them, eat with them, walk with them, 
 and then sell them, for thus they do themselves " (Span- 
 ish). 1 The propensity of churchmen to identify their 
 own personal interests with the welfare of the church 
 is glanced at in the following : " The monk that begs 
 for God's sake begs for two" (Spanish, French). 2 "' Oh, 
 what we must suffer for the church of God ! ' cried the 
 abbot, when the roast fowl burned his fingers " (Ger- 
 man). 3 
 
 There '& no mischief done in the world but there 's a woman or a 
 priest at the bottom of it. 
 
 1 Frailcs, vivu 1 con ellos, y comer con ellos, y andar con ellos, 
 y luego vender cl'.os, que ase hacen ellos. 
 
 2 Frail e que pide por Dios, pidc bor dos. Moine qui demandc 
 pour Dieu, demande pour deux. 
 
 3 () was mu-isen wir dcr Kirche Gottes halber leidcn ! ricf der 
 Abt, als ihm das gebratjne Huhn die Finger versengt.
 
 SEASONS. WEATHER. 
 
 If the grass grow in Janiveer, 
 
 It grows the worse for it all the year. 
 
 " WHEN gnats dance in January the husbandman 
 becomes a beggar" (Dutch). 1 An exception to these 
 rules is recorded by Kay, who says that "in the year 
 1 GG7 the winter was so mild that the pastures were very 
 green in January ; yet was there scarcely ever known a 
 more plentiful crop of hay than the summer following." 
 
 February fill dike, bs it black or be it white. 
 All the months in tha year curse a fair Februeor. 
 
 The hind had as lief see his wife on the bier 
 
 As that Candlemas day should be pleasant and clear. 
 
 Candlemas day is the 2d of February, when the 
 Romish Church celebrates the purification of the Virgin 
 Mary. On that day, also, the church candles are blessed 
 for the whole year, and they are carried in procession 
 in the hands of the faithful. Then the use of tapers 
 at vespers and litanies, which prevails throughout the 
 
 1 Als clc muggcn in Januar dansen, wo; - dt de bocrcen bcdelaar.
 
 208 PIIO VERBS OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 winter, ceases until the ensuing Allhallowraas : hence 
 the proverb 
 
 On Candlemas day 
 
 Throw candle and candlestick away. 
 
 Browne, in his " Vulgar Errors," says there is a 
 general tradition in most parts of Europe that inferreth 
 the coldness of the succeeding winter from the shining of 
 the sun "on Candlemas day, according to the proverbial 
 distich : 
 
 Si sol splendfscat Maria pvrijicante, 
 Major erit glades postfestuin quamfuit ante. 
 
 " If Candlemas day be fair and bright, 
 Winter will have another flight ; 
 If on Candlemas day there l>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<J3 
 
 Full-fed, 183 
 
 Furriers, 179 
 
 Gain, 73 
 
 Galled horse, 120 
 Gallows. 1 13, 179 
 Gambrcl, 28 
 Gander, 1 
 Gear, 72 
 Gear to time, 182 
 Gentle, 67, 78 
 Gentleness, 78 
 German, 219, 221 
 Germany, 221 
 Gibbet, 113 
 Giblets, 112 
 Giff-gatf, 48 
 Gifts, 87 
 Gileynoar, 75 
 Giving, 110- 
 Glass houses, 116 
 Glitters, 124 
 Glowworm, 124 
 Glutton, 78 
 Goat, 9 
 God, 101, 111, 126, 132, 134, 135, 
 
 137, 141, 106, 183, 196, 200 
 God help, 117 
 Godfathers, 111 
 God's sake, 112, 206 
 Gold, 80, 124, 184 
 Good name, 160 
 Good-will, 87 
 Goodwin Sands, 216 
 Goose, 1, 112 
 Gospel, 153 
 Gotham, 215 
 Grace of God, 76 
 Grapes, 90
 
 INDEX. 
 
 227 
 
 237 
 
 Home, 34, 101 
 
 Greedy, 75 
 
 Homely, 34 
 
 Givy mure, 21 
 
 Honest man, 128, 163 
 
 Grindstone, 211 
 
 Honestv, 162 
 
 OIK lewi 
 
 Honey,' 33, 67, 78, 192, 210 
 
 Gudcwillv, 111 
 
 Hood, 129 
 
 Guest, 39 
 
 Hooly and fairly, 76 
 
 
 Hope, 121, 142, 143 
 
 Habit, 93 
 
 Hopers, 88 
 
 llackenon's cow, 108 
 
 Horn, 59, 130 
 
 Hair, 120, 141 
 
 Horse, 27, 47, 67, 82, 87, 111 
 
 Half, 151, 197 
 
 Horse corn, 112 
 
 Halt, 1-17 
 
 Horses, 98, 
 
 Hameliness, 39 
 
 Horse, a good, HQ 
 
 Hand, 109 
 
 Horseman, 100 
 
 Hand, in, 141 
 
 Host, 105, 137 
 
 Handsaw, 153 
 
 Hostess, 8 
 
 Handsome, 9 
 
 Hound, 31 
 
 Hang, 121, 124, 150, 179-181 
 
 Hounds, 87, C8, 130, 146 
 
 Han-ed, 81, 113, 121, 178, J80, 
 
 House, 19, 35, 36, 78, 171 
 
 181 
 
 Hungarian, 218 
 
 Hanginer, 121, 123 
 
 Hunger, 18-3, 183, 205 
 
 Hangit, 105 
 
 Hungry, 78, 142, 183 
 
 Hangs, 158 
 
 Hunters, 128 
 
 Hanselled, 181 
 
 Hurt, 54 
 
 Hap, 51 
 
 Husbands, 20 
 
 Happy, 51, 183 
 
 
 Hardest step, 189 
 
 Ibvcus, 175 
 
 Hare, ','8, 132 
 
 Idle, C8, 69 
 
 Hares, 141 
 
 III, 52, 53, 55 
 
 Harried, 51 
 
 III name, 158 
 
 Harvest, 210, 
 
 111 said, 121 
 
 Haste, 77 
 
 III will, 1C8 
 
 Hatter, 52 
 
 111 wind, 53 
 
 Hawk, 32 
 
 Intentions, 87, 88 
 
 I lav, 134 
 
 Irishman, 212 
 
 Head, sound, 119 
 
 Iron, 134 
 
 Hearsav, 159 
 
 Italian, 218, 219, 221 
 
 Heart, 107, 127 
 
 Italianized Englishman, 213 
 
 Heaven, 132 
 
 Italy, 219 
 
 Heaven, goes to, 183 
 
 
 Hell, 88, 83, 132, 118 
 
 Jack, 50, 79 
 
 Helmet, 61 
 
 Janiveer, 207 
 
 Help, 43, 46, 156 
 
 January, 207 
 
 Helps, 1-13, 
 
 Jealousy, 11 
 
 Helped, 155 
 
 Jed wood, 181 
 
 Hen, 21, 31 
 
 Jews, 220 
 
 Hens, 112 
 
 Joan, 9 
 
 Hen's egg, 83, 110 
 
 Jock Thief, 46 
 
 Herring, 102, 137 
 
 John Jelly, 102 
 
 Hobby, 91 
 
 Joyous heart, 83 
 
 Hog, 32 
 
 Judgment, 155
 
 228 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 July, 209 
 
 June, 209 
 
 Justice, 109 
 
 Justice, Peralvillo, 181 
 
 Justice, the, 193 
 
 Kail, 61 
 Kent, 218 
 Kc;tle, 117 
 Key, &>, 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
 
 ; "