The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-02
THE HOME OF PROVERBS.
THEY RISE AMONG THE COMMON
PEOPLE OF TIE WORLD.
Their Edges Are Worn on by Time.
Pat Sayings That Are Handed
Down Through Many Generations.

From Literature.
Where do proverbs come from?" is a
question many must have asked them
selves, in wonder at the pith and point of
some popular sayings. Some times a prov
erb can be traced to its source. as the IA
nous Business tomorrow" of Archias.
the Spartan; but more commonly they
seem to 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 no literature; the bookmen make
IeW and never unless they are more than
bookmen. 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 a mere re-
Election or echo, but something fresh and
ms oWn-this is the type of man that
makes proverbs. Hence the more we read.
the more we learn the ideas of others
the less this faculty is brought into play.
IL as not the cultivated CLERGYMAN in
Adam Bede' whose sayings are barbed.
put Mrs. Poyser, the unlettered And in
ueed, many peasant still talks habitu-
any III proverbs; not the scientific artisan
or the forced product of a board school
Dut the rough clodhopper And there is
reason in this. The man of books has no
such need to rely on his memory as the
man VINO reads nothing. What one wants
TO remember he makes a note of. the
olher casts thought into its most tellin o.
lorn' snort and concise, rhythmic if nos
slole, or with some assonance that will
lI, At Iast IN the mind. Many of US have
hnoWn such among our peasantry. and
sun bear in memory many of tbe vivid
phrases IN which they expressed them
Selves one poor woman, for instance in
auS"er 70 an inquiry touching her health
answered in spirit of self-cornnlacent
humlIlty, Christ and a crust is enough
lor me. A man described his absence
Oh Hllhn by saying, My head was as fu1l
VI thousht as a bee Is of buzz" mo trust
no mistrust," said the publican of a co,,n'
try inn when asked for credit C,ar,,o 49,,
was true to life when he made Sancbo
rama the man of proverbs. while his
master, chock full of reading. was some
what impatient Of them. And very acnta
IS the implication that it may have been
Tue poor quality of Don Quixote's reading
= t tIlat made him SO dull in appreciating his
lnlmltable squire. He would proha b1I2 no.
have cared for a really good hook co..
proverbs have the true literary n11aIit,-
Inc thought in proverb Is always Sim
pie and single. They have charscteris-
ucs sufficiently marked 20 make tbaD,
easy 10 recognize. One of the chief ~
eneSe Is rhyme, assonance or rhymtn.
so s"'s proverbs are often of two parts.
FORMING a perfect antithesis. as "uno
goes a borrowing goes a sorrowinor ,, ,vb,a,.o
only one letter is different; what can't
De cured must be endured" shows Icss
exact type. Or again, we may instance
II stands stiff, self done is wen dona >,
stay awhile and lose mile time and
siue hor no man bide, tho the gift be
s si,le tLe glver Is all" there's many a
sup twiNt the cup and the lin" Rut
mere, as in nursery rhymes and in hal
iads' there need be no perfect rhvne but
only a general likeness in sound: as ssnns1,,
nttle makes a mickle" often wrono1v
quoted many mickle makes a muc)lle :,
Other examples of general assonance are
"a bad paddock invites a pickIoclx >, ,.sooo
enough is we'll enough" "forevarra 5'I -
forearmed" The rhythm is ALWAYS
more important than the rhyme. some
times the thought only is antithetic. and
the form gives no help. Thus we saw
more haste less speed" 'Iong tongue.
snort haud, "sull waters run Deep,
or again, when the thought does not
lead on from one word to another oil
liberation comes to aid. EXAMPLES Of
this sort are all is not gold that gllt-
teIs, and "a miss is as good as a mile I"
IL VIII be instructive to see what kinds
OF thought are most interesting to Dro-
Nerp makers We find, to begin with. a
NUMBER Of maXims concerning everyday
needs or occupations as make your wine
poor and 1t viii make you rich" Some
embryo bits of folklore, THE hair of a dog
IS good for his bite" or devil take the
hinderment' Some creature or otl,ar
OBJECT may suggest a smile. rs
dpil as beetle" or dead as a doornail +"
Out OF this metaphor grows naturally and
we get such sayings as 1.-THE devil is n
busy bishop in his own diocese" "a areat
dover is a bed full of brambles" "a
house filled with daughters is a cellar
run OF sour beer" Sometimes the two
limbs of the comparison are simply put
aside as in the sayings every land las
its own custom, every wheel its own
spindle Or again. only the comparison
Is mentioned and the application left to
the nearer; and this is perhaps the larg-
est class of proverbs. OF this kind are
many familiar friends, birds of a feather
fock together" fine feathers make fine
birds. "let sleeping dogs lie" with others
less knowu-"the crab has not learned
to keep his legs straight" for example
Many more embalm the popular views CT
life, and are shrewd, humorous, sarcas-
tic, or sententious. Thus man that is
born to sorrow says 'the fewer his years
the fewer his tears" or reflects, II Wept
when was born, and every day shows
W hy.' She niggard excuses himself with
charity begins at home" the idle laughs,
"take-lt-easy aud hvelong are brothers' :;
the cynic sneers, "of soup and love Sup
is the best" or count siller after a
your kim
"Humor plays a great part In proverbs,
and many of this sort are coarse. Sar-
casm makes its butts not only of things
in general, as the uoisest drum has moth
ing in it but air. but IN particular of
certain professions, and OF womankind.
The church does not come off scatheless,
for "a priests pocket is not easily filed"
Greed seems to strike the peasants as the
most prominent mark of the cleric. As
for the army "dominies come for your
wine and officers for your daughters"
But law and physic are the best abused
lof the professions; we may keep clear of
the church six days IN the week. but these
are always with us. Laws catch flies and
hornets 30 free "as the man is friondod
So the law is ended" hell and chancery
are always open"-such are a few out
of scores.
There are also in proverbs indications
of national characteristics. In The old
days ii was natural for an Englishman
to talk of "a "long-bow man" or to say
plain as pikestaff;" and not so many