Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-02-03
PROVERBS OF THE NATIONS.
What the Various Peoples Say of Them
selves and Others.


a drunkard, the Frenchman scamp, the
Dutchman butterman and the Spaniard
a cavaliers" and again at is best to be
born in Italy, to live in France and to
die in Spain.
The Russians say: "Englishmen have
their wits at their fingers ends, French
men at the ends of their tongues. ~
1t is said in Poland: what the Ital-
ian invents the Frenchman makes, the
German sells, the Pole buys and the Rus
slams take from him."
The Italians say: "When trouble
comes the German browns it in drink,
the Frenchman talks it down, the Span
lard meets it with tears, the Italian goes
to sleep till it is past
Among the Germans England is said
to be the paradise of women and the pur-
gatorv of servants, but a far worse place
than that for horses.
About the French say the Italians
"They do not tell what they intend to do,
nor read what is written, nor sing the
notes set before them" and German
says: "a Frenchman is good acquaint-
ance, but bad neighbour a truth which
Prince Bismarck is never tired of i'm
pressing on the people, and urging them
accordingly to enlarge the standing army.
The negroes in French colony say
'Mouche (Monsieur) Connaitout pas con-
matt tout'-M-. Know-all don't know
at all.
Perhaps the Greeks fare worst of all in
the opinions of those who have to do with
them, if we may judge by the sayings
concerning them that pass from mouth
to mouth. Among the southern Slav
races this is especially the case. They say |:
"Three Turks and three Greeks make up
six heathens;" and ga crab is not fish.
nor Greek true man, and again, "a
Greek speaks the truth once year." and
once more, "a Gypsy cheats a Jew, a
Jew a Greek, and Greek the devil"
The Venetians say: HE who trusts
the word of Greek is more fool than
the mailman" Even in Normandy the
repute of the Greek has passed into a
proverb, and he VINO obtains something
quite unexpectedly is said to have ''got
paid by Greek.
Holland and Flanders have both been
places of refuge for bankrupt and fraud
ulent Frenchmen for long time, and as
such are regarded proverbially in France.
go to Holland means evade paying
your debts. And to say of a man I'll
est de Flandres," is the same as saying
he is ruined man.
Mynheer Van Dunck, though he never
was drunk, slipped brandy and whisky
daily-for the Dutchman' S draught must
be deep as the rolling Zuyder Zee. That
we all know, and to drink like Dutch
man is everywhere proverbial.
OF Italians it is said by the French:
'Half one is too much in the house:'
and the Illyrian says of the Italian, what
the Englishman and the German say of
the Swiss: He would sell his own father
for gold.'
The Jew shares with the Greek the
prerogative of being the best abused of
all peoples. proverbially.
The Pole says:
The German cheats the Pole,
The Italian cheats the German,
The Spaniard swindles the Italian
The jew defrauds the Spaniard
But only the devil can get the better of the jew
The German says: The Jew cheats
even while praying;' and the inhabitant
of Lesser Russia "The Jew did not
learn to cheat; he was born with the
faculty.
To build castles in the air is rendered
in French, having a castle in Spain.
Compliments that mean nothing are
called Spanish coin; and in Italy, poison
is designated euphemistically Spanish
figs" because Spaniards are supposed to
poison those they desire to be rid of with
fruit in which arsenic has been inserted.
The Swiss is not known proverbially
for his patriotism, but for his mercenary
nature. mo kreutzer, no Schwitzer,"
is common saying in Germany, and
Point d'argent, point de Suisse" is the
French version of the same. One even
ing when a distinguished Genevan &C
tress and Swiss company were perform
ing William Tell in Paris they had an
empty house. The actress came forward
and said: II see-the proverb is re-
versed. Today it is no money, plenty of
Swiss"
We speak of carrying Goals to New
castle when we wish to designate the
absurdity of sending something to where
there is superfluity; in Russia they speak
of sending snow to Lapland and in Ger
many of dispatching deals to Norway.
In Holland, when they desire to say that
man is in his element, they describe
him as being like goat in Norway
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