The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-04
Russian Proverbs.

NJ uhSShhA 6EOtSEbSs
A correspondent of the London AHeRGuUa
writes as follows:-
Moscow, June 81, 1SG0.-The Scotch and
the Spaniards have hitherto divided the credit
of possessing the largest store of proverbial
wisdom but were the literature of Russia
more widely known, she might prove for
midable rival either to the land of oatmeal
or to that of oranges. We have often re-
gretted that none of the great native authors
should ever have thought it worth their
while to make a systematic collection of the
pithy sayings which are so familiar in the
mouths of their countrymen; but, fortunately,
the writings of Gogol, who excelled all his
contemporaries as much in knowledge of ma
tional life and manners as in humor and
imagination, form almost as comprehensive
q dictionary of Russian proverbs as Cervantes
great work of those of Spain. A large
proportion of those maXims are couched in
rhyming couplets, in order, doubtless, to en-
grave them more easily and indelibly on the
popular memory; but their pointed terseness,
their quaint, homely vigor, and dry Sancho
Panza satire, scarcely need the aid of rhyme
to recommend them. They are, indeed, more
fully than words can express, the faithful
mirror of the shrewd, simple dogged humor-
Gus Russian mind, ever yelling its natural
keenness under mask of habitual and i'm
penetrable stolidity.
The Western reader would doubtless be sur
prised to find how many cid friends have
taken rank either by coincidence or by actual
borrowing, among the popular maxims of our
Eastern brethren. ''Strike the iron while it is
hot, "All is not gold that glitters," Fair and
softly goes far, 'As man sows, SO will he
reap, and many more such, are recognizable
at q glance; but besides these unmistaka-
BILE importations, there are numerous
others so slightly disguised as to be known at
glance. No connoisseur in proverbs could
remain long in doubt about the identity of
the following saws:-'Mind is good, but two
are BETTER" every fox praises his own
tail" 'Stretch your feet according to the
length of your robe;" zone cannot make q
priest out of an unlearned man." $50 after
two wolves, and you will not catch even one;"
"a good beginning is half the work, etc.
Among O race SO proverbially shrewd and
saving as the Russians, there is, as may be
imagined, no lack of maxims recommending
prudence and economy, from which it is well
worth while to select few examples. ''Mea-
sure seven times and cut once" might
be written above the doorway of
every tradesman at the Mini Fair, and would
almost seem to have been suggested by the
celebrated Irish peddler, famous for giving
short measure, who, when asked the price of
yard of ribbon, replied-"Well, yer homer,
that depinds upon the length of the yard"
''Do not go into the water without inquiring
for the ford" is a picturesque version of our
'Look before you leap" calculated to be
sufficiently popular in this land of sudden
thawB and violent freshets ''Trust in God,
but not stumble yourself" admirably exem-
plifes that extraordinary mixture of sinple
piety and hard-headed shrewdness which
forms the basis of the Muscovite character
A more unmixed devotion is expressed by
another proverb very popular among the
peasantry:-''With God, even across the sea:
without Him, not even to the threshold. "
''The half-kopeck saves the rouble" will
easily be recognized as the kinsman of our
familiar saying, Take care of the pence, and
the pounds will take care of themselves "
trade without sense is only throwing money
away;" but it is unhappily supple
mented by the ''wicked wisdom" Of a
companion maxim, which expresses with in
comparable frankness and simplicity the first
and great commandment of Russian traffic.
''Without cheating no tradingl" There is q
similar flavor of sly attention to the main
chance in another very favorite saying
Money is not God, but it shows great
mercy Any native diplomatist might ap-
propriately quote-'"Ihe deeper you hide a
! thing the sooner you find it," which appears
to be the great fundamental rule of conduct
with a race whose invariable habit it is to
mask their real purpose, and who Gas one of
their greatest writers caustically remarked in
his last work. ''always introduce casually, at
the end of conversation, as a thing of no
moment whatever, the very matter which is
the sole object of their visit"
Some of the most characteristic and pictur-
esque of Russian proverbs are to be found
among the rhyming saws above referred to,
the jingle of which is naturally calculated tc
please the simple taste of an unlettered pea
santry. The popular saying, "Truth is
severe, but to God It's dear, is, we suspect
more quoted than followed by the bargain
loving children of the Gar; but it is precisely
the kind Of maxim which looks well at the
head of chapter or in the peroration of {
moral treatise, where it accordingly figures
very frequently. ''They who wear wide
sleeves, in their heart are thieves" is bitte
and not wholly unmerited hit at the provin
cial clergy, recently quoted in grim irony BY
the members of the Celibate Brotherhood
of Morshansk, when questioned upon theil
religious opinions by the judges who triet
them. We may further notice, "When lif,
is not bright, death does not fright ~
tongue that is pert is its own sure hurt,
"Speak out with might when your cause il
right, and, quaintest of all, eff God don
forsake us, the pigs will not take us, whicl
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