The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1885-05-21
! SOME. !, TURKISH 3 q PROVERBS {,
- EE9lFg STlsIs'l
Sayings Of the Turk that Are Very Like Our

sISaE nAa poahduAoS W lSEaX Si y Aaks - Olu
being inhrtic ulate. Strange as it may
! SCENT those who have formed their
opinion of him from hearsay,sit is7not
) the! less true that; he is commonly a
good conversatio nalist, and can say
well and pointed Nv what he has got to
Il say, with d, wealth of illustration in
\ anec dote; qu0tatio !, and proYerb. The
latter. form CO. imends itself especially
" to the sententious Turkish mind. The
synthetic form OF the language, too,
& secure brevity and con ciseness, and
4 pportunities are afforded for those
8 assonances, or rhY ming vowels, which
I are so denr to the Oriental. On look
ing over q note book containing sew
eral hundred Turkish proverbs taken
down in the course of reading and
+ conversation, sor borrowed from a col
4 lection made at the Oriental academy
at Vienna; the writer has amused him.
self by grouping them roughly under
(. certain head 80 as to Illustrate some
I aspects Of Y the NATIONAL character and
surround ings. n
But first itsmay be Interesting to. re-
mark how many well known English
4 and other Enrop eans proverbs have
II their exact connterpa IN Turkish.
How far are these TO be Accounted for
4 by contact with or conquest of Indo-
3 Europ Srac esp Il Or has iit fibeent q
Y case of les beaux$ esprits Sc L rem
I confront p'' For instance, we find
5SstY on shall not look q gift horse in the
4 month in exactl IL. the same words, as
i well ass ne that iii born to be hanged
i will neYersbe5 drowned, The Turkish
version having the advantage Of being
expressed ii TWO. words Tie change
V of words is 1 but slig int in Troubled
i waters suit the fisher, One flower
does not make. summer, - and The
Z robe does not make the derYish;;''
while in Turkey3its Is not pot that SAYS
+ to Kettle, bntsnegro to negro, that his
/ face is black We are disposed to pre-
/ fer The nail saved tho shoe, the shoe
the horse, the horse the man, the man
the kingdom = to our somewhat lum-
4 bering Ets For want Of, n nail the shoe
!, was lost, etc. Wake not the sleep.
ing dog has as q corollhry ..Step
4 not on the; sleeping serpent and we
{ are warned that there is rose
= without n orn, nor love without q
rival. = & One instance in which our
proverbiai Wisd LON is opposed to- the
Turkish is to be found in; the expires.
: sion s.To kill two birds with one
stone. Tho attempt to do this is CON
demned by snndry proverbs, such as
20 One arrow does not bring. down two
birds, and tsY gu can not knock down
nine walnuts with one stone.'' .3 IS,
M Often we are reminded of fscriptural
proverbs and aphorisms. N othlng
Snnheard Of in the world I sounds Solo.
monian enough. while & Out. with the
eye that profits me not. = q. The negro
does not lwhiten wieh washing,n and
That which thou soWest; tliat also
/, shalt thou reap, =; are, strikingly like
New Testamen e teaching q Again
and again We find expressed in
other words lessons Of charity, consid-
y eratenes s, and Justice that would not
be unworthy of q Christian teacher, as
S$..The strange r's pray er is heard, .
Ss..The hearts testim ony lis stronger
than a thousand witne les, '4'!!s.A Among
the blind, close your eyes, 4 q E..In truth
rs right, q Justice Is half religion, 8
ighbor,s right, Tod s!right. u ~ .2.
The heading under which, perhaps,
the largest number of proverbs can be
grouped is that Of opportune speech
and silence. IL the Turk, as has been
said, talks well, he also knows how ia
Sl,hold his tongue. rs He loo ks down with
the greatest contempt on the idle chat
+ terer, and does mot even think that
h good manners require him I'd make
sma1lztalk when he has nothing to say.
In fact, when on d visit to q we'll bred
Turk with whom you have no COM
/ mon subjects Of interest to discuss,
! after exhausting those suggested by
politene his health, your own, that
OF your family, the weather, and the
water "a most int esting topic in the
4 east you may safely fall back upon
that golden silence which their pro
verb, like ours, rates above silver
/ speech. Here his comment on the
55ohatterer; There is no ass but brays;'''
81 The dog barks, the caravan passes g
Fool is he who alone talks, and is his
only listener;' The tool wears his
I. heart on his tong the wise man
i keeps his tongue in his heart,'' and
Many words. an unsonnd heart. y
\ He warns us Of the mischief Of evil
speaking The knife a wound heals,
h the tongues never, n a The tongue
Stays more than the sword, e. and Tho
4 tongue is $bone tess, but 4 1t breaks
7 bones. Again, be feel keenly the
dangersof free speech under d corrupt
and despotic rule, while he extols hon
gestyt and good faith, and generals con con
Sdemns lying. The latter lis condor
(; In certain cases, for Some lies are
better than truth, y and we NAV Lie,
but with measure. The sIpressio
i5yeri is even strong ec6lhmend ed,
# for Is not the uth-teller banished
4 out Of nine cities RI while .He who
holds his tongue saves his head i. and
There is no better answer than this,
know not, I saw MOI. ''
SIS But to turn to some thing pleasanter,
we will quote o few wings still fa-
+. s.miliar In our Turk 81 mouth, which
I have survived the corruption Of the
palace and Official kings, and seem
u still to- breathe the hardy and indie.
pendent spirit OF the old days, when
\ courage and enterprise were the only
passports to the big hest places iii q
Z conquering empire. Then it could he
said that The horse lis to him that
mounts, the sword to him who girds
sitaon The brave man 8 word is q
coat: Of mail Fortune III, not farl!
: from the brave man, % 4 head, y The
! hero Is known on the battle Il, 4
and 4 ear not to-niorrow,s mis-.
chance. ~ w no but a eonqaering race
&,c6Hld have produce suclf d proYerb
\ al Power on my head or the raven
3 on my corpse r., b and who can fail I'd
shear u true ring iii Peasant erect IL
81. = y n IN ~,