Smyrna times., 1876-08-30
Hindoo Proverbs.

doc proverbs, and they are full of allusions
to musk rats, crocodiles, monkeys and
tigers, mango trees, the jack fruit, the
banana, and the rice plant. In reading a
collection of them, you can never forget
the country that uses them. They con-
tain constant allusion to caste and suttee,
and the tyrannical powers of cruel rajahas,
and to the sayings of learned Brahmins
Hundreds of IIindoo proverbs turn on the
words and deeds of Vishnu and Krishna,
or of the savage silva. The servility and
cunning of the people is visible in them as
well as their suporstitions, and the frequent
allusiOns to sham devotees and hypocritcs
give one clear impression that corruption
has gained much ground, even among the
worshippers of Brahma.
We do not think that, taking an equal
number of proverbs, there is half so much
shrewd sense or original thought in IIindoo
as In Arabic or Persian proverbs. But the
1lndoo adages are SO essentially Indian
that the idea they contain acquires an
interest from the novelty with which it is
treated. The power of money, for instance.
is alluded to in the proverbs of every
nation, but only Bengalec would think of
saying, One could buy oneself tigers ewes
if one had only money" or when in diff
Guilty, declaring it was as hard to do "as to
kill seven snakes with one stroke" "Old
servants and old rice are best" is a kind of
Hindoo proverb reminding US that fidelity
Is now unknown in the East. In MANY
Indian proverbs, We find that halfhumor-
GUS observation Of the habit of animals
which we might expect in the authors of
SO many fable-books. They say of a hypo-
critic, "The crane is a choice saint" re.
terring to the sanctimonious gravity with
which that bird waits for its prey and
they compare fussy man to the small
sapharl fish splashing in basin of water.
"The sandal tree does not grow in every
wood" is a thoroughly Hindoo proyerb,
and SO is, You can never wash charcoal
white" Some of these sayings REQUIRE a
knowledge Of IIindoo customs before they
can be understood, as " He's oiling his
hands while the jack fruit is still on the
tree" saying applied to people who count
their chickens before they are hatched-it
beng necessary to oil the hands before
touching jack fruit, which exudes gluti-
nous juice.
The blind i'll EIindostan have the credit,
especially when they turn beggars of being
rogues, and there is proverb, "Tho blind
man is to the house what the rank weed is
to water" Nor are all proverbs that apply
to Brahmins equally complimentary, for
there are some as bitter as the old medin
val jokes against greedy priests. A furious
encounter the Bengal people call L" a SER
pent and ichneuman fight" from the in
Veterate hostility Of these two animals.
A terrible phase of IIindoo life is sugges-
ted by curious Bengalce proverb that
says man III tigers mouth is not so
much afraid of the tigers teeth as of the
jungle he is going to; meaning that even
in the presence of great calamities, small
future ones seem more terrible. An
equally cruel enemy of the lTindoo is al
luded to in the following prudent proverb
"What dwell in the water and quarrel
with the crocadile?'
Many of these proverbs turn on mythol.
ogical and traditionary illusions; for
instance, man impatient of waiting for
an appointment will say, GLOW much
longer shall | stand and hold Lakshman's
frultY The gentleman referred to held
some fruit for his legendary brother RAIN,
fourteen years without eating it. Here is
one which is full of oriental color: "The
bracelets tinkle on the lady's arm, and the
fool cries, 'She is taking up rice for me-"
Here, too, is one Hindoo all over. "The
snake charmer can hear the snake sneeze:"
intimating that a man understands the
business on which he is always engaged,
And here are two more: won't give Won
the water wash my cowries in," and
"Tho pin fish goes on falling into the
hands of a bad cook" The pin fish is n
great delicacy, and the provorb means that
a clever person can never be understood bv
a fool. " He breaksa cocoanut on another's
head, is a Bengalee way of saying that
man has gained something to the loss of
another, Plaintain sauce and parched
rice" is a Hindostance way of expressing
complete incongruity. "The mother of
many never reaches the Gangcs," is a
Hindoo way of saying. Everybody's bust
ness is nobody's business" and that the
body will remain unburied.
There is good, wholesome spite in some
of these proverbs of ITindostan, that prove
fair amount of scolding can be carried on
either in Bengolee or Mahrattah. If one
low fellow praises another, Hindoo, says,
" The ballad singer praises the cowherd,"
two very low castes If a poor man gives
himself airs he is pretty soon told at the
bazaar or the bath room that he is "only
the horn.bearer's bag bearer" If trader
is sluggish in business, the proverb thrown
at him is Rub your nose with mustard oil |
and go to Sleep" an allusion to custom of
the poorer Hindoos of snufflinp nm lomn.