Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-07-19


ANDERS SAY OF THE DARLINGS.
LippineOtt's Magazine
Popular proverbs of all Nations are
full of unkind illusions to women. 1t
is rare indeed to find popular saying
that speaks well of the sex. "Women
are variable as April weather." say the
Germans; "Women, wind and fortune
change" say the Spaniards, while the
English equivalent is, ga woman's mind
and April wind will change Oft" WO-
men are talkative: ga woman's tongue
wags like lambs tail'' (English). "a
woman's strength is in her tongue"
(Welsh). "Women are never at loss
for words" Germany. "Three women
and three geese make a market" Qtal-
ian). "FOxes are all tail and women are
all tongue" (French). "All women are
good Lutherans; they would rather
preach than hear mass" Danish) "a
woman's tongue is her sword, and she
does not let it rust" (Chinese). They
are great blabberS: "To a woman and
a magpie tell what you would speak in
the market-place" Spanish. "a woman
conceals what she does not know" EN-
glish). "Women can keep secret, but
it takes great many of them to do so"
(American) They have little logic, yet
their intuitions are sometimes valuable:
"Women are wise off-hand, fools on re-
Election" Qtalian). "Take a woman's
first advice, but not her second'') French.
"a woman's counsel is no great thing,
but he who does not take it is fool"
(SpaniSh). Summer -sown corn and
women's advice turn out well once in
seven years" (German) Women are
watches that keep bad time" Qbid) at
is sometimes right even to disobey a
sensible wife" (Servian) To the latter
proverb there hangs tale. HerZego-
vinian once asked kadi whether he
ought to obey his wife, and was answer
ed in the negative. Then said the Her
zegovinian: "My wife pressed me this
morning to bring thee a pot of beef suet,
but L rejoice to know that 1 have done
well in disobeying her. "VeriIy," re-
turned the kadi, 'it is sometimes right
even to obey sensible wife" Women
are quarrelsOme and self -willed: "Be-
cause is woman's answer (English).
"He that has wife has strife" (French).
"What woman wills, God wills" Qbid).
"Gie her will, or she'll burst" Scotch.
They are vain and greedy of praise:
"Maidens and women must be praised,
whether truly or falsely" (German), "Ev-
cry woman would rather be handsome
than good" Qbid). They are untrust-
worthy: "BeWare of bad woman, and
put no trust in a good one" Spanish.
They must be handled roughly: A Lat
in, an italian and an English cOuplet all
teach the same ungallant doctrine:
spaniel, a woman and a walnut tree
The more they are beaten the better they be.
Much wiser is the Scotch saying, "You
may ding the dell into wife, but yell
ne'er ding him out O. her" With such
a catalogue of faults it is no wonder
that in French proverbial philosophy "a
man of straw is worth woman of gOld;"
that the Germans think "There are only
two good women in the world; one of
them is dead and the other is not to be
found" and complain that bag of fleas
is easier to keep guard over than wo-
man; that the Italians say, women
rouge that they may not blush" and
''He that loseth his wife and farthing
hath a great loss of his farthing;" that
the Spaniards say "There is only one bad
wife, and every man thinks he has her"
(the Scotch, by the way, are so surpris-
ingly gallant as to quote the same pro-
verb with only the word "good" substi-
tuted for "bad'')) and that the proverbs of
all nations unite in warning the bach
elor, "Marry in haste and repent at leis-
er." Yet, after all, perhaps, the wis
dom of the ages is summed up in the
Portuguese, "Women are supernumera-
ry when present, and missed when alb
cont ~