The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-12-29
PROVERBS and
THEIR ORIGIN
THE WISDOM OF THE AGES
BOILED DOWN.
African Truisms and Their Similar
ity to Ancient European and Latin
Platitudes--Same idea Finds Many
Forms of Expression.


Forms of Expression.
| From the London Standard.
Not the least interesting section of
the proverbial philosophy OF many peo-
| pies Is that in which we find quaint
parallels to common sayings existing
| In some form or other nearly every
| where. These, no doubt, have an inde-
pendent origin, and their interest lies
| in the fact that while the same
thoughts among widely different peo-
pies are necessarily expressed in very
similar terms. SO that the parallel can
be seen at a glance, they frequently in
volve the peculiarities of their environ
ment. Thus, where we should say that
q man is "hoist with his own petard,"
the Africans says, with the hos long
| tail the ho Ca long-tailed monkey Is
bound" and the Haytians have it, "The
yam vines bind the yams." Again, the
proverb, originally from the Greek, in
common use in Europe: THE masters
eye makes the horse fat" has the
peculiar West Indian rendering: "The
! garden far Grom the masters house)
the gambo spoils." "Yon can't get
blood from q stone, or from q beet, nor
breeks from q Highlander" finds ex
preston in the tropical Indies as "The
pumpkin vine does not yield the GALA
| bash" Even in regard to the matter
of going before the beak" the East
Ender and the West Indian have SINH
lar terms, for where the former says Of
a friend that he was "pinched," or
pulled" the latter observes that "they
pressed his tail" To Gull a few par
o11o1s .,t ic IN
look at some touches of nature which
make the whole world kin, and regard
them from various national stand
points. For instance, the idea that "He
needs must SO when the devil drives"
is universally recognized Says Quas-
hee when he would plead an excuse for
being devl-driven into petty larceny:
1.-The stomach has no ears" and '"rhe
empty bag cannot stand upright"
A Negro Version.
The classical and homely truth,
"Drive out nature with pitchforlS and
she will return" is recognized among
many q negro tribe in the quaint say
ing, "a man that keeps the birds away
keeps them away, but a pretty face
cannot be kept away" "Only the wear
er knows where the shoe pinches," is
conveyed quite aptly by the negro in
his proverb: "Only the dead man
knows where the grave is too narrow"
and 'The bottom of the ship knows
best how the sea presses Our famil-
lar sayings about running after two
hares and falling to the ground between
two stools is again paralleled and cap
ped by the African proverb. "'rhe
rider of two horses splits asunder."
And here is the occasion to state that
Our object is not to multiply instances
simply because they are parallels, but
to point out those which. like the one
last mentioned, are quaint, apt, hum
Orous, and possessed OF the brilliant
power of 'soing one better" And in
doing this it will scarcely be necessary
to attempt any kind OF classification or
order, for, though it is true that gems
of speech look well when they are deX-
terously set in an orators discourse, it
is equally true that they have their
beauties when massed in heterogeneous
profuson. To begin, then, anywhere.
the English saying, Don't do as do,
but do rs tell you," is good; but the
Dutch, "The monk breaches against
thieves with the goose in his larder,"
is better, and best of all is the Spanish,
'"rhe frlar condemns the thief with the
pudding up his sleeve
Chinese Wisdom.
Where we say, 'If you want q thing
done, do it yourself" the West Indian
gets a shade ahead with the advice,
Send dog and the dog will send his
TAIL" and the Armenian, "If you send
q messenger on an errand, go with
him." and the astnte, unbelleving Chin
aman, who, like his proverbial image
maker, puts no faith either in the gods |
or in the messengers of the gods, "for |
he knows what they are made Of" sums |
up the situation in a way that perhaps |
is as correct as 1t is sweeping: IF you
want a thing done" he says, 'gO your
self; il not, send.' "Still waters run
deep" If not one of the best hundred |
proverbs, is certainly better than the
Turkish saying: "AIistrust the water |
that does not warble. and the bird that |!
does not chirp." 1t lacks, nevertheless |
certain element of paradox which |
would have made it as near perfection
as proverb might be. 1t is merely be-
cause the following parallel possess this
element that we presume to mention
them in the same breath with our own
proverb. Says the African: "Beware
in his MOUTH The Arabian with his
meditative and retrospective habit rem
ders this as Defend us from the
wrath of the mild in spirit" and war;
ious savage tribes of South and Cen
tral Africa have the somewhat remark
able parallel: "Silence hath a mighty
noise" 1t goes without saying that all
the nations OF the world formed the
same opinion about woman long, long
ago, and up 10 the present
none OF them have seen any
reason to alter it. But, whether this
opinion in which they all concur is con-
cealed or revealed in proverbs, it would
be an insult to the readers reason and
common sense to state. AS for the
proverbs themselves, which can readily
be distinguished as true or false at
sight by the clever student of human
nature, they yield a good harvest of
parallels.
A woman, dog and walnut tree,
The more You beat them, the better
they be,
is a remark upon the wisdom or fool
ishness of which no two persons can
hold two opinions, and the same may
be claimed for the Swahil saying: "A
man is not obeyed by his wife in his
own house, nor does she consider him
her husband, unless he thrash her
thwaci;" or for the Corsican's asser-
tion that Just as good horse and q
bad horse both need the spur so a good
woman and a bad woman both need the
stick"