Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-11-25
NATIONS, PROVERBS
VARY BUT LITTLE
Similar Ideas in Different Words
Serve in Many Peoples
Languages.
WHERE SOME
Prophesy a Slave Once Made to the
Kinq Of Samos Is Heard Every
Day-Fortune Favors Fools
With Variations.

London Globe: Many proverbs have
come down TO us from remote age n
are common to all nations.
II is said hat a king Of Samos
worked his slave nearly TO death in
making a vineyard; this provoked n
of them to prophesy that his master
would never drink the wine. The king,
being told of this, when the first grapes
were produced took a handful, and,
pressing the juice into a cup in the
presence of the slaves, derided him as,
a false prophet. Many things happen
between the cup and the lip" b slave
replied.
lust then a shout was raised that a
wild boar had broken into the vineyard.
The king, without tasting, set down the
cup, ran to meet 1T, and was killed in
the encounter. Henceforth the words
of the slave passed into a proverb.
From this Greek original came two
French proverbs, Between the hand
and the mouth the soup is often split,
and Wine poured out Is not swat
lowed" Neither is SO near the original
as u English There's many a slip
'twiXt cup and lip"
Similar Ideas Differently Expressed.
1t is curious to trace how similar
ideas have taken root in different Ian
guages and the various modes OF Illus
trattng the same thought. To take, for
~nStance one or TWO ldIIlllidE pIONShpS
in our own language.
We ay, "A bird in the hand Is worth
two in the bush" The same idea Is
expressed by Italians when they say,
Better an egg today tha a pullet to-
morrow" and the French proverb is
still more significant, "One here-it-is Is
better than two you-shall-have-its."
Better a leveret In the kitchen h a a
wild boar in the forest" is the Livonian
90 WING rnnNaUinU the Same meaning
The proverbs on luck are numerous
and expressive in all languages. In
English we say, 1T is better to be born
lucky tha rich.' The Arabs convey
the same idea in the apt proverb.
Throw him into the Nile and he will
come up with a fish in his mouth"
while the Germans say, IF he flung a
penny on the roof a dollar would come
back to him"
Fortuna and Fools.
A Spanish proverb says, God sene
you luck, my son and little wit will
serve you." There is a Latin adage,
Fortune favors FOOLS" and ii is to
this Touchstone alludes in his reply to
Jacques, Call me not fool till heaven
hath sent me fortune"
Some unlucky E~nglishman is respon-
sible for the saying; If my father
had made me a halter, men would have
been born without heads" but this can
scarcely be called original, as an UNI
fortunate Arab, years ago, declared, IF
I were to trade in winding sheets no
one would die.
"Misfortunes seldom come singly''
a many equivalents in ell languages.
h Spaniards say, welcome. misfor-
tune. il thou contest alone" and
WHITTIER goes thou, misfortune? To
where there is more?"
This same applies also to good for
tune, 1T never rains, but 1t pours,' or
as the Arabs say, IF the wind blows it
enters at every crevice.''
Counterpart in All Countries.
Fl that Is down, down with him."
has its counterpart in all countries. He
that fails all the world runs over" is
the German mode of saying it, and the
Portuguese proverb run All bite the
bitten dog while a French equivalent
is. When a dog is drowning everybody
brings him drink"
But there is a Spanish proverb we
shall do well TO remember; they say of
a tedious writer, He caves no Ink In
his inkpot.