The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-05-01
SOME TURKISH PROVERBS.
Sayings Of the Turk that Are Very Like On
Own.

OWN.
If the Turk has been qualified as
''unspeakable, he is very far from
being inarticulate. Strange as it may
seem to those who have formed their
opinion of him from hearsay, it is not
the less true that he is commonly a
good conversationalist, and can say
well and pointedly what he has got to
say, with n wealth of illustration in
anecdote, quotation, and proverb. The
latter form corlmcnds itself especially
to the sententious Turkish mind. The
synthetic form of the language. too,
secure brevity and conciseness. and
opportunities are afforded for those
assonaEces, or rhyming vowels. which
are so dear to the Oriental. On look
ing over notebook containing sew
eral hundred Turkish proverbs, taken
down in the course of reading and
conversation, or borrowed from col
lection made at the Oriental academy
at Vienna, the writer has amused him
self by grouping them roughly under
certain heads, so as to illustrate some
aspects of the national character and
surroundings.
But first it may be interesting to re-
mark how many well-known English
and other European proverbs have
their exact counterpart in Turkish.
How far are these to be accounted for
by contact with or conquest of lndo-
European races? Or has it been q
case of ''les beaux esprits Sc rem
contrent?" For instance, we find
"You shall not loo6 gift horse in the
ont fl fl,n nrHo o.
well as ''He that is born to be hanged
will never be drowned" the Trukish
version having the advantage of being
expressed in two words. The change
of words is but slight in Troubled
waters suit the fisher" Zone flower
does not make summer" and "The
robe does not make the dervish;"
while in Turkey it is not pot that says
to kettle, but negro to negro, that his
face is black. We are disposed to pre-
fer "The nail saved the shoe, the shoe
the horse, the horse the man, the man
the kingdom" to our somewhat lum-
bering "For want of nail the shoe
was lost" etc. ''Wake not the sleep.
ing dog" has as a corollary ''Step
not on the sleeping serpent" and we
dIC MdluCu luiU butlC 10 4NO lOoV
without a thorn, nor love without a
rival" One instance in which our
proverbial wisdom is opposed to the
Turkish is TO be found in the express
sion ITO kill two birds with one
stone.n The attempt to do this is con-
demncd by sundry proverbs, such as
"One arrow does not bring down two
BIRDS" and 'You can not knock down
nine walnuts with one stone"
Often we are reminded of scriptural
proverbs and aphorisms. Nothing
unheard of in the world" sounds Solo,
monian enough, while "Out with the
eye that profits me not" The negro
does not whiten with washing" and
''That which thou sowest, that also
shalt thou reap" are strikingly like
New Testsment teaching. Again
and again we find expressed in
other words lessons of charity, consid-
erateness, and justice that would not
be unworthy of a Christian teacher. as
1.-The strangers prayer is heard"
"The hearts testimony is stronger
than thousand witnesses, among
the blind, close your eyes," ''In truth
Is right" "Justice is half religion"
"Neighbor's right, Gods right. -"
The heading under which, perhaps,
the largest number of proverbs can be
grouped is that of opportune speech
and silence. If the Turk, rs has been
said, talks well, he also knows how to
hold his tongue. He looks down with
the greatest contempt on the idle chat
terer, and does not even think that
good manners require him to make
small-talk when he has nothing to say.
In fact, when on a visit to well-bred
Turk with whom you have no conf
mon subjects of interest to discuss,
after exhausting those suggested by
ooliteness-his health, your own, that
If your family, the weather, and the
water Ga most interesting topic in the
,ast), You may safely fall back upon
hat golden silence which their pro-
yerb, like ours, rates above silver
peech. Here his comment on the
,hatterer: There is no ass but brays;"
The dog barks, the caravan passes;"
Fool is he who alone talks, and is his
,nly listener;" 1.-The tool wears his
Ieart on his tongue, the wise man
.eeps his tongue in his heart" and
Many words, an unsound heart"
Ie warns us of the mischief of evil
peaking: "The knife's wound heals,
he tongues never" "The tongue
lays more than the sword" and Tho
ongue is boneless, but it breaks
ones" Again, he feels keenly the
anger of free speech under corrupt
nd despotic rule, while he eXtols hon
sty and good faith. and generals con-
emns lying. The latter is condoned
! certain cases, for Some lies are
etter than truth" and we may Lie, ;
ut with measure. The supressio
eri is even strongly recommended.
,r is not the ''truth-teller banished
ut of nine citiesp" while HE who
olds his tongue saves his head" and
There is 10 better answer than this, |
know not, l saw not. "
But to turn to something pleasanter. /
@ will quote a few sayings still IA q
liar in our Turks mouth, which i
I've survived the corruption of the i
llace and official kings, and seem a
i'll to breathe the hardy and inde- P
ndent spirit OF the old days, when d
urage and enterprise were the only L
.sspOrts to the HIGHEST places in n a