Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-09-07
NOTIONS ABOUT THE SEA.
Popular Proverbs and Sayings Concerning
the Ocean-Maritime Expressions.

1T Octtn-N lHT1t1he ENDTetslOns.
Improvements in the vehicles, instru.
ments and modes of navigation have
robbed the sea Of much of its terrible
character, but we shall, nevertheless, find
existing among the peoples of both con.
tinents, as shown by their popular pro-
verbs and sayings, a wholesome fear of
the sea, a recognition of its terrible power,
as well as many curious notions about
the watery element, its inhabitants and
its characteristics.
The saying of DR.. johnson, 'No
man will be a sailor who has
contrivance enough to get him
self into a JAIL" is more than par
alleled by proverbs current among
European nations. An old French maxim
was: He who trusts himself on the sea
is either a fool, or he is poor, or he wants
to die" One of the alternatives serves as
q poor xcuse to the Spaniard, who says:
"Better walk poor han to sail rich" In
the same spirit is conceived the Italian
proverb, Praise the sea, but stay on
shore" "He who would learn to pray
should go to sea-" says a well known
proverb, and HE who does not venture
upon the sea, knows not what God is"
replies that most hardy and adventure
some of maritime nations, the Dutch.
The Russians say, "When you walk, pray
once; when you go to sea, pray twice;
when you go to be married, pray three
times"
These sayings outline in q general way
the dangerous character of the sea, and
its t%reacherous nature, its instability
and its immensely, are pointed out by
other proverbs and aphorisms.
1.-The sea makes some rich, others
poor" is a general proposition enunci-
ated in a Provencal adage, but the Amer
can proverb, Work with me and l will
nourish you; look out for me or 1 will
drown you, " teaches the uncertain nature
Of the sea life, and we may be disposed
to heed the warning embodied in the
Turkish maxim, Trust not the discourse
of the great, the duration of a calm at
sea, the lucidity of the f~leeting day, the
vigor of thy horse, or the speech of
woman" The gentle sex is classed with
the treacherous element in other proverbs,
current among many nations. Woman,
however, is often the greater sufferer
from the dangerous atu Of the sailors
calling, and a Tamil proverb says. The
wife of the shipmaster is in a lucky situa-
ton so long as the ship is safe; if it is
lost. she must beg. The sea has no
branches Ito cling toy, therefore it is bet
ter to stay on Shore" said the German
w~oodsman, and the French rustic agrees
with him: admire the sea as much as
you will, but don't stir from the COW
sheds" The Arab fears the sea today
much as he did in the Fifteenth century,
when he declared that the hand of Satan
rose from the bosom of the ''sea of dark
ness" to seize his frail bark. 1T is bet
ter, " says he, ''to hear the belchings of
the camel than the prayers of the fish,"
and he declares the obstinate and danger
u character Of the stormy sea in the
adage, The sea has a tender stomach.
but a head hard as wood" In travel
ing" says an old French proverb, take
the sea, but creep to the shore" and an
older saying from a facetious work a
century old concludes thus: The ship
is a fool, for it moves continually; the
sailor is a fool, for he changes his mind
with every breeze; the water is a fool,
for it is never still; the wind is a fool,
for it blows without ceasing. Let us
make an end at once of navigation"
Concerning the tides, waves and salt
water, there have been many curious
sayings as well as strange supersti-
tons. THAT which goes with the
ebb comes back with the flood" is an
other way of expressing a well known
sailor adage that ''What comes by star
board goes by larboard." Another French
proverb is expressive of extreme defiance
of difficulties: ITO brave dangers as the
leeward tide does the wind" What a
beautiful idea is that conveyed by the
Sanscrit sentence: at is the poets and
not the ordinary men who rejoice in
beautiful poetical expressions; the influ-
enc of the rays of the moon swells the
sea, but not the brook"
The use of maritime expressions is
much more common even among lands
men far from the sound of the sea than
1t is usually supposed to be. The Dutch
are proverbially addicted to the use of
sea language, their inheritance from the
sea robbers of the Sixteenth century, and
Mr.. Clark Russell has shown that the
English language borrows many of its
most expressive phrases from the sailors.
We say a couple are ''spliced," a young
man is the ''main stay" of the family,
an interloper puts his oar ill.," the
member from Podunk ''steers through
a man is ''hard up" we are frequently
"taken aback," a topper is ''slewed," a
loafer "spins a yarn" you must '.try the
other tack" etc., etc., all sea expires
sions beyond a doubt. 'Under false
~colors" would be said of a ship, as well
Democrat.