The Dispatch. [volume] (Provo City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1891-01-24
Wey1EN al PROVERBS.
lessons Conveys by 7zE-Gases On
Inc ENair Sex.
For THE DIsPArcH:1

For THE DIsPATCH:l
Are proverbs the correct expression
OF the wisdom of mankind that has
gone on accommodating since the begin
ming OF the world? The preface tC
books in which they are colIated and
explained tell us so; but is their evil
dence sufficient! The question is an
Important one, for if these pregnant
sentences, these fossils of thought, are
10 he received is gospel truth, then
woman is and has been since time be-
gan an exceedingly equivocal charac-
ter According to the proverb writers,
] woman has always been the same im-
| perfect being, Offering her youthful
fraiities, her wifeiy delinquencies and
the weaknesses of her old age with
equal impartiality to the tongue or pen
| OF the SatiTiStS, who were either the
authors Of the proverbs Or the well
from which the latter drew their in
! spTatlOn. She has not only been the
same IN all ages, but she is still, eSDec-
tally after age has ripened her virtues
and matured her faults, the same in
all countries Of tie world, pagan OF
! civilized 1t is the acidulated temper
that is the t0uchstone and the proof
! for no matter where you go-in Japan,
China, TOnquin, Egypt, or in the fish
markets Of London: Paris, Berlin,
Vienna, Rome, you see them scolding
at one another apparently IN the same
dialect, using The same gestures, seem
lngly having the same causes Of com
plant, and surrounded by precisely the
same crowds Of men Of all ages urging
them on. 1he pleasure that men take
in the verbal warfare of old women is
SO time-worn and universal that it is
strange no one ever made a prov erb
about it, which shows that these wise
acres. with all their skill in Selling on
salient points Of character, sometimes
miss golden opportunities. Proverbs
usually find women most Vulnerable ~
maidellS or as wives. AS mothers 5y
touch them lightly, and as sis -, a
relation phat implies gentleue.-i and
tidelity, not at all.
1t is a curious fact that men, as men,
have rarely been embalmed in proverbs.
The men, proverbial philosophers treat
them simply as men" that is as the
human race, including both sexes and
all ages. There are few saws that
satirize the follieS of youth-meaning
young men-Dut they are charity itself
as compared with the distilled bitter
ness OF those that relate to women.
Proverbs must have long preceded
authentic history. Men in oriental
countries III the first ages of the world
were really lords and masters, and they
talked on wrote freely Of the weaknesses
OF the Othe~ sex, while the women.
being in state of slavery and hardly
supposed to have a soul, certainly not
daring to say it was their own, never
ventured to defend themselves or make
any reply whatever As soon as there
WAS a written language, the traditional
proverbs that had existed for many
ages setting forth the faults and vices
Of women began to be classified into d
sort Of literary department Of it. The |
Hebrew mythology was first impressed |
with woman's spirit Of curiosity, which |
it alleges to have caused the fall Of |
created beings from their primitive |
purity. Later on the sacred writers |
began to satiTiZe wOman's extrava- |
gance, as She"n in her love Of dress |
and ornament, and her talent for OBJ |
jurgation, as in the following: 1T is /
better to dwell in the wilderness than I
with a contentious and angry woman, y
and Others setting forth that a dinner /
of herbs and contentment Herewith |
was better than life with brawling
woman, no matter how magnificent /
the mansion.
The Chinese and japanese have
found the same faults in women. 4
japanese proyerb says of woman
given to dress, that she puts her huS
band on her back-that is, bis fortune.
There is another, limiting al the foibles
OF literary women, to the effect that
when woman wishes TO seem intelli-
gent she fails to sell her OK, meaning
that like Il creeping crone at market.
she neglects her duties. There are
others. touching on the more serious
faults Of the sex. that are too gross for
'epetition.
There are said to be precisely $50 old
French proverbs, most of them dating
back over $50 years. From these. it
appears that the girl or young woman
las Stree the Dark Ages been looked
1t in France from passimistic stand {
point. Girls we're not loved in those
lays. There was fayorite saving
hat they were only born t. enrich
)ther tamilles-that is. by conveying
he patrIm0By as dover to their nus !
)anG. The perpleXity Of a man who
5 Toe much a father is expressed in {
he following: The man who has too I
many girls TO look after, should possess
he instinct of Il shepherd dog. . which
inds its echo in the English prUyerb. 5
Marry your sons when you will, your c
when goa can, The cad
ling disposition OF young women has |
lways been a cause of reproach. So |
We find in the collection such sayings |
S these, which seem as fresh as if just
Written: Girls too mich in the street !
re soon lost, :" "Girls who love the !!
' window Tor the sidewalk never make
.ood housekeepers. 4 girl who is
90 much seen costs dear. Akin TO
heSe are the three That follow; The :
die girl thinks Of evil. an idea found d
D all languages; Girls and glass win
ows are always in danger and this, :
mbndying q general sentiment WHICH :
5 rarely found succinctly expressed,
a girl without fear is good for !
lothing."
The faults Of girls and young women 7
re oltener the result of inexperience !:
han OF a vicious disposition. The i
rorerbialists find the foibles and
railtles of woman to whose charac-
er time should have Taught the value
1 goodness and the necessity OF dis