Part 1

Transcriber's note.

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PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS.

PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS,

COMPARED,

EXPLAINED, AND ILLUSTRATED.

BY WALTER K. KELLY.

"Even the best proverb, though often the expression of the widest experience in the choicest language, can be thoroughly misapplied. It cannot embrace the whole of the subject, and apply in all cases like a mathematical formula. Its wisdom lies in the ear of the hearer."--FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.

LONDON: W. KENT & CO. (LATE D. BOGUE), 86, FLEET STREET, AND PATERNOSTER ROW. 1859.

WINCHESTER: PRINTED BY HUGH BARCLAY, HIGH STREET.

PREFACE.

ENGLISH LITERATURE, in most departments the richest in Europe, is yet the only one in which there has hitherto existed no comprehensive 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 Lessons," 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, are at any rate inaccessible to the mere English reader--or they contain bare lists of proverbs, with no endeavour 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 avoided.

British proverbs for the most part form the basis of this collection. They are arranged according to their import and affinity, and under each of them are grouped translations of their principal equivalents in other languages, the originals being generally appended in footnotes. By this means are formed natural families of proverbs, the several members of which acquire increased significance 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. Sometimes they are created by it; much oftener they are woven into its texture. Personal anecdotes turn upon them in many instances; and not unfrequently 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 proverbs, 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.

PAGE

WOMEN, LOVE, MARRIAGE, ETC. 1 PARENTS AND CHILDREN 26 YOUTH AND AGE 29 NATURAL CHARACTER 32 HOME 36 PRESENCE, ABSENCE, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE 39 FRIENDSHIP 42 CO-OPERATION, RECIPROCITY, SUBORDINATION 47 LUCK, FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE 51 FORETHOUGHT, CARE, CAUTION 61 PATIENCE, FORTITUDE, PERSEVERANCE 66 INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS 71 THRIFT 73 MODERATION, EXCESS 77 THOROUGHGOING, THE WHOLE HOG 84 WILL, INCLINATION, DESIRE 89 CUSTOM, HABIT, USE 96 SELF-CONCEIT, SPURIOUS PRETENSIONS 101 SELF-LOVE, SELF-INTEREST, SELF-RELIANCE 104 SELFISHNESS IN GIVING, SPURIOUS BENEVOLENCE 113 INGRATITUDE 116 THE MOTE AND THE BEAM 119 FAULTS, EXCUSES, UNEASY CONSCIOUSNESS 122 FALSE APPEARANCES AND PRETENCES, HYPOCRISY, DOUBLE DEALING, TIME-SERVING 127 OPPORTUNITY 138 UNCERTAINTY OF THE FUTURE, HOPE 141 EXPERIENCE 148 CHOICE, DILEMMA, COMPARISON 152 SHIFTS, CONTRIVANCES, STRAINED USES 155 ADVICE 159 DETRACTION, CALUMNY, COMMON FAME, GOOD REPUTE 161 TRUTH, FALSEHOOD, HONESTY 165 SPEECH, SILENCE 168 THREATENING, BOASTING 171 SECRETS 177 RETRIBUTION, PENAL JUSTICE 182 WEALTH, POVERTY, PLENTY, WANT 187 BEGINNING AND END 191 OFFICE 195 LAW AND LAWYERS 200 PHYSIC, PHYSICIANS, MAXIMS RELATING TO HEALTH 203 CLERGY 208 SEASONS, WEATHER 211 NATIONAL AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS, LOCAL ALLUSIONS 216

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 handsome than good;"[3] and that, indeed, "There are only two good women in the world: one of them is dead, and the other is not to be found."[4] The French, in spite of their pretended gallantry, have the coarseness to declare that "A man of straw is worth a woman of gold;"[5] 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."[6]

"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 beaten the better they be.=

There is Latin authority for this barbarous distich.[7] The Italians say, "Women, asses, and nuts require rough hands."[8] Much wiser is the Scotch adage,--

=Ye may ding the deil into a wife, but ye'll ne'er ding him out o' her.=

The French make the rule more general--"Take a woman's first advice, &c."[9] There is good reason for this if the Italian proverb is true, "Women are wise offhand, and fools on reflection."[10] They have less logical minds than men, but surpass them in quickness of intuition, having, says Dean Trench, "what Montaigne ascribes to them in a remarkable word, _l'esprit 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,"[11] 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."[12] In Servia they say, "It is sometimes right even to obey a sensible wife;" and they tell this story in elucidation of the proverb. A Herzegovinian once asked a Kadi whether a man ought to obey his wife, whereupon the Kadi answered that he needed not to do so. The Herzegovinian 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 ferlie to see a woman greet than to see a guse gang barefit.=--_Scotch._

That is, it is no more wonder to see a woman cry than to see a goose go barefoot. "Women laugh when they can, and weep when they will."[13] This is a French proverb, translated by Ray. Its want of rhyme makes it probable that it was never naturalised in England. The Italians say, "A woman complains, a woman's in woe, a woman is sick, when she likes to be so,"[14] and that "A woman's tears are a fountain of craft."[15]

=A woman's mind and winter wind change oft.=

"Women are variable as April weather" (German).[16] "Women, wind, and fortune soon change" (Spanish).[17] Francis I. of France wrote one day with a diamond on a window of the château 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, protesting against such a slander on her sex, she declared that she could quote twenty instances of man's fickleness. 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 instance of her inconstancy?" asked the Queen of Navarre. It happened that a few weeks before this conversation 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 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 re-established, 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 fête 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 wags like a lamb's tail.=

=A woman's strength is in her tongue.=--_Welsh._

=Arthur could not tame a woman's tongue.=--_Welsh._

"Three women and three geese make a market,"[18] according to the Italians. "Foxes are all tail, and women are all tongue;" at least, it is so in Auvergne.[19] "All women are good Lutherans," say the Danes; "they would rather preach than hear mass."[20] "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).[21] "Whatever a woman will she can" (Italian).[22]

"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 won'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).[23] What wonder, then, if "A bag of fleas is easier to keep guard over than a woman?" (German).[24] The wilfulness of woman is pleasantly hinted at in the Scotch proverb, "'Gie her her will, or she'll 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 speak in the market-place" (Spanish).[25] 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).[26]

"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).[27]

=Beauty is but skin deep.=

The saying itself is no deeper. It is physically untrue, for beauty is not an accident of surface, but a natural result and attribute of a fine organisation. A man may sneer, like Ralph Nickleby, at a lovely face, because 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 descendants of Labdacus risen before the imagination with obese rotundity, large ears, gashes of mouths, eyes lurching 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?"

=Fine feathers make fine fowls.=

Therefore, "If you want a wife choose her on Saturday, not on Sunday" (Spanish);[28] _i.e._, choose her in undress. "No woman is ugly when she is dressed" (Spanish);[29] at least, she is not so in her own opinion. "The swarthy dame, dressed fine, decries the fair one" (Spanish).[30]

=The fairer the hostess the fouler the reckoning.=

"A handsome landlady is bad for the purse" (French);[31] for this among other reasons--that "If the landlady is fair, the wine too is fair" (German).[32]

=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 out all cats are grey.=

"Blemishes are unseen by night,"[33] says an ancient Latin proverb; and the Greeks held that "When the lamp is removed all women are alike."[34] 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;"[35] and the French hyperbole, "By candlelight a goat looks a lady."[36]

=If Jack is in love he is no judge of Jill's beauty.=

"Nobody's sweetheart is ugly" (Dutch).[37] "Never seemed a prison fair or a mistress foul" (French).[38] "Handsome is not what is handsome, but what pleases" (Italian).[39] "He whose fair one squints says she ogles" (German).[40] "'Red is Love's colour,' said the wooer to his foxy charmer" (German).[41]

=Love is blind.=

Blind to all imperfections in the beloved object; blind also to everything around it--to facts, consequences, and prudential considerations. "People in love think that other people's eyes are out" (Spanish).[42]

=It is hard to keep flax from the lowe [fire].=-_Scotch._

"Man is fire, woman tow, and the devil comes and blows" (Spanish).[43]

=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 proverb, though it is popularly current in Ulster. "A handsome woman and a pinked or slashed garment" are the things mentioned in the Italian proverb.[44] The French form[45] corresponds with the Irish.

=Where love fails we espy all faults.=

=Faults are thick where love is thin.=--_Welsh._

=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 while and soon done.=--_Cheshire._

=Love is never without jealousy.=

"He that is not jealous is not in love," says St. Augustin;[46] but that depends not only upon the disposition 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),[47] or, at least, it ought to do so. "Love demands faith, and faith steadfastness" (Italian);[48] but too often "Love gives for guerdon jealousy and broken faith" (Italian).[49] It is an Italian woman's belief that "It is better to have a husband without love than with jealousy."[50]

=No folly to being in love.=--_Welsh._

"To love and to be wise is impossible" (Spanish);[51] or, as an antique French proverb says, the two things have not the same abode.[52] This is the creed of those 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 necessary 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 Play'd 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).[53] "No love without bread and wine" (French).[54]

=Old pottage is sooner heated than new made.=

An old flame is sooner revived than a new one kindled. "One always returns to one's first love" (French).[55] "True love never grows hoary" (Italian).[56]

=Love and light cannot be hid.=

=Love and a cough cannot be hid.=

The French add smoke to these irrepressible things.[57] _La gale_ is sometimes enumerated with them; and the Danes say, "Poverty and love are hard to hide."[58]

=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.[59] "Who would be loved must love,"[60] say the Italians; and "Love is the very price at which love is to be bought."[61]

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. We have no parallels in our language for the following:--"Love knows no measure"[62]--there are no bounds to its trustfulness and devotion;--"Love warms more than a thousand fires;"[63]--"He who has love in his heart has spurs in his sides;"[64]--"Love rules without law;"[65]--"Love rules his kingdom without a sword;"[66]--"Love knows not labour;"[67]--"Love is master of all arts."[68] The French have one proverb on the sovereign might of love,[69] 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."[70]

=Marry in haste and repent at leisure.=

This proverb probably came to us from Italy;[71] but, alas! it happens too often in all countries that "Wedlock rides in the saddle, and repentance on the croup" (French).[72] There is a joke in the Menagiana not unlike this:--A person meeting another riding on horseback with his wife behind him, applied to him the words of Horace--"Post equitem sedet atra cura."[73] "Marriage is a desperate thing," quoth Selden. "The frogs in Æsop 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 repents" (French).[74] The Spaniards exclaim, in language which reminds us of the custom of Dunmow, "The bacon of paradise for the married man that has not repented!"[75]

=Better wed over the mixon than over the moor.=