The Washington times., 1904-10-30
Similar Ideas Expressed
in Slightly Differ
ent Form.
HOW SOME ORIGINATED
Prophecy of a Slave to the
King of Samos Now
Heard Every Day.
ANY proverbs have come down
M 20 rs from remote ages and are

ANY proverbs have come down
IN 20 as from remote ages and are
" common to all nations.
II is said that king of sa-
mos worked his slaves nearly 10 death
in making a vineyards this provoked one
of them 10 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 slave. derided him as q
false prophet Many things happen be-
tween the cup ana The Iip.' the slave
replied
just then a shout was raised that a
wild boar had broken into the vineyard.
The king. without tasting. set down the
cup, ran TO met il, and was killed in
the encounter Henceforth the words or
the slave passed into a proyerb.
From this Greek original came two
French proverbs. Between the hand
and the mouth the soup is often split
and Wine poured our is not swallowed
Neither is so near the original as our
English There's many slip 'twixt cup
cad lip"
Similar Ideas Differently Expressed.
It IS curious TO trace how similar
Ideas nave taken root 60 different lam
guaEes and the various modes Of illus
trat-ng che same thought To take. for
instance one or two familiar proverbs
ia cur own language.
We say, "a bird I'm the hand IS worth
two in the bush. The same idea Is
expressed by Italians when they say,
Better an egg today than puliet to-
morrow" and the French proverb Is
stil more significant, zone here-ft-is is
better than two yOu-snall-Have-its.'
4 Better a leYeret IN the kitchen than q
wild boar in the forest" is the LLvonian
saying conveying the same meaning.
The proverbs on luck are numerous
/ and expressive In all languages. In
English we say, EFT IS better to be born
lucky than rich" The Arabs convey
rhe same idea In the apt proverb,
/ Throw him into the Eile and he VIII
[ come up with a hsh in his mouth
/ while the German say, eff he flung a
/ penny on the roof a dollar would come
! back 10 him
Fortune and Fools.
A Spanish proverb says. GOD send
you luck my son. ana title wit viii
.
! Fortune favOrs fools" and sc IS 10
/ this TOuchst0ne aIludes In his reply to
/ jacques. ~CaH me not fool till heaven
I hath sent me fortune"
/ The Germans say, ''Jacz gets on by
/ his stupidity and Fortune and Wo-
men are fond OF foolsi' there IS also a
Latin prOverb which shows that the
J converse OF this holds good. Fortune
makes a tool Of him whom she too
much favOrs.
Some unIuc1y Englishman is respon-
sIbls Tor the saying III my father
had made me a halter, men would have
] been born without heads. but this can
/ scarcely Zee called original, as am IN
/ fortunate Arab ages ago. declared III
j were to trade in winding sheets no
one would die
.'8usfortunes seldom come singly'' has
many equivalents ia all languages. The
spanIards say, Welcome. misfortuues 81
thou contest alone" and .fyVhithe- goes
thou, misfortune? To where there IS
moreF'
The same applies also TO good for
tune. cit never rains, but it pours." Or
as the Arabs say "If the wlud blows Is
enters at every. .Crsvice."
Counterpart in All Countries.
he that is down, down with him"
has its counterpart in all countries. He
that falls all the world runs over" IS
the German mode OF saying &C., and the
II Portuguese prOverb runs IAN bite the
bitten dog" while the French equivalent
lis. when a dog IS drowning everybody
brings him drink"
/ But there IS "a Spanish prOverb we
shall do wei 70 remember; they say Of
q tedious writer. ''He leaves no ink ia
his inkpot. London Globe.