The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1882-11-01
oR1ENTAn PRovEBs

hook very well worth shelfrooIn. Many
81 tie aphorisms he has collected will
be found rev, even by peop.e who have
.delyed deeply into the mine of popular
lore. Mr.. Long has indeed swept very
wide drag-net; for instance, concerning
tbusybodies' we find proverbs from the
Telugu, Bengali. English, Persian,
Turkish, japanese, Chinese, Tamul,
Arabian, Kurdish, Cingalese and He
brew-seventeen in all, some of them
displaying curious identities Of expires
sion. Thus, where We say that an IN
termeddler with eyerybodys business
NAV 90 shoe the goslings, they say IN
CingaIese that ''the man without clothes
is busying himself making jackets for
dogs" Let every man sweep the snow
before his own doors" say the Chinese,
"apd not busy himself with the frost on
his neighbours tiles. "When your house
is of glass" say the Kurds, as King
Jamie said to Steenie Buckingham, do
not throw stones at your neighbors
house" 'sOil your own wheel first.
is the saving in Bengal; another is:
81 bind him and he shrieks out; [
loose him and he wants to fight me.
Pursuing the same idea that they who
in quarrels interpose must often wipe
bloody nose the Turk remarks that
lone rushing between two camels is
kicked by both" To live in peace,
the Osmanli tells US, 'sone must be
blind, deaf and mute" a phrase repeat
ed by the Chinaman as follows: at is
not as safe opening the mouth as keep
ing it shut. The japanese when ad-
vising the prudent man to avoid the
presence of evil, say: (" In field of
melons do not pull off your shoes !;
under palm tree do not adjust your
cap, a proverb that we seem to have
read in the Talmud. In Telegu we are
warned not to consort with the vile, cit
is like drinking milk under a palm
tree" which liquor would, of course, in
spite of any protestation that might be
made to the contrary, be regarded as
toddy. Sololnon's jewel in swine's
snout is riyaled by the Malay broom
tied with a silk thread. The Telegu
proverbs, it may be said, are among The
best in the book for instance, we are
shown in the picture " the srake in tn
monkeys paw"-di difficult to hold and
dangerous to let go; a warning against
"getting angry with rat ard setting
house on fire. " He slipped and fell
and said the ground was unlucky" is
another Of their neat sayings, and neat
hit is contained in the assurance that
''eyen a goat can attain to such 'corpo-
real perfection as consists in living On
leave" eff low bred man obtain
wealth." we read in Talmud, che will
carry an umbrella ct midnight" while
in Bengal they speak of "a devotee of
yesterday with matted hair down to his
heels"-the equivalent of our religious
people more Catholic than the Pope.
. When fakir was told his house was
on fire" they say in the Telegu, she re-
piled 4 have my bag and bowl with
me- The Afghans have capital
equivalent for iron sharpening iron.
''You cannot clap with one hand alone.
The Chinese long ago branded the folly
of the man who gave COW to gain a
cat; as neat is the Badaga proverb con-
corning the man who upset the ghee-
pot to save a drop of ghee. "What
does weaver want with young monk
ey?" is an unanswerable question put
in the Telugu proverbial philosophy.
The Arab Justly remarks that sit is
hard to chase and catch two hares," the
Greek that 1.-TWO watermelons cannot
be carried under enc arm.
The Russian says that lit is better
not to fire on the tigress than to wound
her," and the Afghan has an equivalent
for ''our grasping the nettle," in don't
take hold Of swerd grass, but if you
10, grasp it tight Our saw as to fine
words buttering no parsnips is repeated
IN score of languages. They say in
Bengal that words do not soften rice,
md in China ''We do not cook rice by
while the Telugu maxim is
IF YOU do not ask me for food and raj
nent [ will care for you as my own
.hild." Here, finally, as a good speci-
men of the proverbs Of all nations is an
extract from page %, equivalents all Of
he scriptural Ethiop's skin and leopard
With indelible spots Russian-The
Volt changes his hair but remains a
rolf. Put oil on a dogs tail, but it
viii never become straight. Urdu-If
GU put COW in a cage will it talk like
parrot? Will the galI-nut become
weet as the cocoanut though watered
18th honey? Sanskrit-The nim-trce
ill not be sweetened though you water
with milk. Persian-A black cat
annot be washed white with soap.
of dogs tail you can
OF get fat. Turkish-In washing
egro we lose our soap. Veman-f
on take bearskin and wash it ever so
} long, will it ever boone white F? Ben
al--The nightingale lays its young in
he crows nest, but the young do not
ehave as crows. Niti Sar--Though a
rows beak be gold and his feet dia-
londs, yet the crow cannot become a
van. Tamil-Are young fish taught
swim Though we feed snake with