Evening star., 1898-06-04
The Wealth of Wisdom Contained in
Proverbs and Ma1ims.
ARE PITHY AND FULL OF MEANING
frequently RepIete With Real Lit
erary Quality.
HOW THEY ORIGINAL E

From review IN literature CT 1ToFtTDs,
Maxims and Phrases of All Ages" by Robert
Christy, Washington
Where do proverbs come from is a
question many must have asked themselves.
in wonder at the pith and point of some
popular saying. Sometimes a proyerb can
be traced to its source. the famous
business tomorrow of Archias the Spar
tan; but more commonly they seem 20
arise spontaneously out of the heart of a
nation.
Proverbs. like ballads. are the voice of
a people not of an individual person They
seem to spring up, too. at times when there
Is literature; the bookmen make few,
and never unless they are more than book
men. The man with the seeing eye, who
has his own outlook on nature and human
life. who thinks upon what he sees and
gives it forth again, not mere reflection
or echo, but something fresh and his own
this is the type of man that makes pro-
verbs. Hence the more we read, the more
we learn the ideas of others, the less this
faculty is brought into play. 1t is not the
cultivated clergyman in Adam Bede whose
sayings are barbed. but Mrs. Poyser. the
unietteTcd. And. indeed, many a peasant
still talks habitually in proverbs; not the
scientific artisan. or the forced product of
a board school, but the rough clodhopper.
And there is reason in this. The man of
books has no such need 20 rely on his men,
ory as the man who reads nothing. What
the one wants to remember he makes a
nCte of; the other casts 4 thought into its
most telling form, short and concise. rhyth-
mic If possible, with some assonanee
that will hold il fast in the mind. Many of
US have known such among our peasantry
and still bear in memory many of the vivid
phrases in which they expressed them
selves. one poor woman, for instance, in
answer TO an inquiry touching her health
answered in a spirit of self-complacent hu-
a * N
me- man described his absence of mind
by saying. My head was as full of thought
as bee Is of buzz No trust, no mis-
trust, said the publican of a country inn
wren asked for credit. Cervantes was true
to life when he made Sancho Panza the
man OF proverbs. while his master choke
full OF reading. was somewhat impatient of
them And very acute is the implica ton
that it may have beer the poor quality of
Don Quixote's reading that made him 50
duli IN appreciatins his inimitable squire.
He would probably not have cared for 4
really good book; for proverbs have the
true literary quality.
Not Antithetic in Essence
How is it. then, that if proverbs and
book-iearning are antithetic they are vet
used in books; and how can proverbs ha re
the true literary quality. and yet reading
tehd 10 destroy the proverb-maklng fac
GIty2 The answer is, that the two are not
aEtithefic at all in essence but that the
1eadlns OF books means the assimilating
OF other mems thoughts too much of
which Gu!ls creative power of any sort or
Kills II altogether. The composers of books
on the other hand. are not necessarily
readers Had Homer ever read anything?
a vast amount ne mad heard. undoubtedly
OF legend or history. gee cgraphy. Travellers
tales. and much he had also seen: but il is
quite possible that Homer could not read
at all. Or again. if writers are readers. it
Goes not follow that they read too nu.h.
That is just the point: some men can read
vast deal and take no harm by it: with
DINERS proverb-making is their only liter
airy faculty which will probably soon go
If they take to reading
IL was pointed out just now that good
literature and proverbs have the sa ne
Qualities. By this is meant merely that the
eSsence of each is to choose the right words
to most fifty express a thought and the
right number of them. and to put them in
the right order The same principle applies
TO compositions, In dealing with sequence
OF thoughts or events, the task is to choose
Just those which are significant and 10
give them place and space according to
their significance, no more and no less
Only 50 can there be unity in conlposition
and without unity the thing is naught.
TWO covers do not make a book; string
OF triVlaLtleS does not make poem even
II written by Walt Whitman; not even ZoIs
can make a picture of life by ignoring the
soul of man and raking the muckheap.
AND Iust as proverb. if expressed in too
many words, is less easily remembered
and thus misses the object of its existence
SO story or a poem, padded with things
nhessentlal, becomes wearisOme. unwieldy,
1nc0herent- The same principles then un-
derhe all these, and proverbs are seen to
De. not a thing apart. but merely a class
Tor convenience. being much of a length,
because the thought in a proyerb is al,
ways simple and single.
Marked Characteristics.
They have. however, characteristics suf.
ficiently marked to make them easy to rec
ognize. One of the chief of these is rimn
assonance. or rhythm. Such proverbs are
often of two parts. forming a perfect anti
thesis, as who goes a borrowing goes 4
sorrowing." where only one letter is diff
ferent; what can't be cured must be en-
oured shows less exact type. Or again
done is well done" stay awhile and lose a
Iliie, time and tide for no man bide -
tho the gift be small the giver is all, -
tLeres many slip 'twixt the cup and the
mp But here, IN nursery rimes and
In ballads, there need be no perfect rime
but only a general likeness in sound. as
many little makes a mickle" often
"ronGiy quoted many mickle makes q
muckIe- An Aberdonian might say
pickle" for little ana get the rime per
feet Other examples of general asson-
ance are "a bad paddock invites a pick
fcck. soon enough is we'll enough fore
warned is forearmed." The rhythm is al
ways more important than the rime Some
times the thought only is antlthetic and
the form gives no help. Thus we say more
haste less speed long tongue short
hand" still waters run deep" Or again,
when the thought does not thus lead on
f1om enc word 10 another. alliterat ton
C, mes in TO aid Examples of this sort are
all is not gold that siitters," "a miss is
as good as d mile Cwhere note how de-
fective the words. how perfectly clear the
thoughO. But the majority OF proverbs
are not antithetic; many are not even al
literative. but depend for continuance on
the interest OF the thought only.
Full of Meaning.
II VIII be instructive To see what kinds of
Housht are most interesting to the PROV
trb-ruaker. We find, to begin with a num-
bsr OF maxims concerning everyday needs
or occupations. such as make your vine
poor and it will make you ach," red at
night is the shepherds delight" Some en-
body old bits of folklore. once believed
but now used chiefly in fun; for instance
'the hair Of dog is good for his bite oi
."deyil take the hin6most." A step upward
Is taken by the rural mind whsn observa
ton "a nature is turned to account as a
criticism of life Some creature or other
phject may suggest simile. as dull as a
beetle dead as a iOoFnail' 'scursas ar.