The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-10-15
OAHY JOURNAL
Russian Proverbs.


might be written above the doorway
of every tIadesman at the Mini Fair,
and would almost seem to have been
suggested by the celebrated Irish
peddler, Janus for giving short meas
ure, who, when asked the price of a
yard of ribbon, replied, well, yer
honor, that depinds very much upon
the length Of the yardl" do not GO
into the water without inquiring for
the ford, is a picturesque version of
our Look before you leap" calcu
lated to be sufficiently popular in this
land of s1dden thaws aud violent
freshets. Trust in God, but do not
stumble YOURSELF" admirably exem-
plifes the extraordinary mixture OF
piety and hard headed shreWdness
which forms the basis of the Museo-
Yite character. a more unmlXable
devotion is expressed by another pro-
verb very popular among the peas
antry: with God even across the
sea, without Him, not even to the
threshold" 1.-THE half kopeck saves
the rouble" will be easily recognized
as kinsman to our family saying,
Take care of the pence and the
pounds will take care of themselves.
There is much truth In the following:
To trade without sense is only throw
ing money away" but it is happily
supplemented blythe wicked wisdom Of
a companion maxim, which expresses
with incompatible fraukness and
simplicity the first and great COM
mandment of Russian traffic: With
out cheating no trading?" There is
a similar flavor Of sly attention to
the main chance in another very ia
vorite saying, Money is not God,
but it shows great mercyi" Any ma
tive diplomatist might appropriately
quote The deeper you hide a thing,
the sooner you find it, which appears
TO be the great fundamental rule of
conduct with race whose invariable
habit is to mask their real purpose,
and who Gas one of their greatest nov
elists eaustically remarked In his last
work. always introduce casually, at
the end of a conversation, as thing
of no moment whatever, the very
matter which is the sole object Of
their visit "
Some o. the most characteristic
and picturesque of Russian proverbs
are to be found among the rhyming
saws above referred to, the jingle of
which is naturally calculated to please
the simple taste of an unlettered
peasantry. The popular saying,
Truth is severe, butte God It's DEAR"
is, we suspect, more quoted than |
followed by the bargain-loVing chill |
dren of the Gear; but it is precisely |
the kind of maxim that looks well |
at the head of a chapter or in the |
peroration of q moral treatise, where |
it accordingly figures very frequently. |
They who wear wide sleeves, in |
their heart are thieves" is bitter
and not wholly unmerited hit at the /
provincial clergy, recently quoted In |
grim irony by the members Of the |
Celibate Brotherhood of Morshansk, |
when questioned upon their religious |
opinions by the judges who tried them.
We may further notice When life is |
bright, death does not fight" "a |
tongue that is pert is its own sure
hurt" Speak out with might when
your cause is right" and, quaintest
of all, IF God don't forsake US, the
pigs will not take US, which has
been the Nil desperandum,' of many
a Muscovite Teueer in his EXTREMIST
need.
Its somewhat remarkable that no
country possesses a larger store of |
maxims intoxicating honesty and fair
play than crafty, sharp dealing
Russia A few examples are well |
worth selecting. Conscientiousness |
in trade is recommended by Pledge |
not thy word rashly, but hold to it |
when pledged, "A debt is adorned |
by payment - ''Roguery is the last of |
all trades" "Sell your goods profita-
bly,, but do not fleece your custom |
ers," and many others of the same |
kind-rules, it IS to be feared, hon
ored more frequently in the breach |
than In the observance. OF a SINH |
lar character are AN honest man is |
worth more than a stone wall, "All |
things pass, but truth remains,
Him who lives by guile will God |
slay," Never take a crooked path |
while you see a straight one, Dig |
not pit for others, lest thou fall |
therein thyself.n The proverb at
tributed to the monk Sylvester, Fear |
not the threats of the great, but "a
Their the tears Of the poor" is very |
noble one and would have-made an |
appropriate text fer an grafton of |
Burke or a sermon by Latimer. There |
is not a little sly humor in "A good |
name hes in the meadow. but a bad |
name runs along tie road, "a maxim
which would have sounded we'll In the |
mouth of an old reprobate of our ae-
quaintance in one of the western |
counties of England, who walked |
erect under a load Of obloquy that |
might have crushed Atlas, and who |
once observed to US, in allusion to |
his own evil celebrity, "Ye see, zur, a |
bad karacter be deal better nor a |
good karaeter; for a good karacter |
takes a power O. maintainin'; but /
a bad karacter. he maintains hisseRF
The satirical proverbs of Russia are |
very numerous, and remarkable for |
their bitter truthfulness. From. the
mass we may select almost at a VEN
ture, THE dog barks, but the wind |
carries it away" is a palpable and |
cutting sheer at the impotence of |
popular SANDERS, and might serve as |
a motto for any one of the pugaaeious |
native authors who are at present |
wsging war with public opinion.
when the thunder does not roll the
peasant does lot cross himself con-
veys in a new and more picturesque
form, the idea expressed by the old
English rhyme of "The devil was
sick, the devil monk would be, &c.
OF equal truth, and even greater
quaintness, are the following sayings,
leveled against gossips and scandal
mongers: 1.-THE tongue reaches as
far as Kiev," TELL a thing to a hen
"a woman) and the whole street will
know it, Through needless words
the head falls off" Public rumor is
like wave of the sea. A word is
not sparrow, for when it once flies
away you can never catch it again "