The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-09-21
PROVE

PROVERBS.
There is no finer example of the
lengths to which false taste can go
than a remark made by that arbiter
elegantiarum, Chesterton, concerning
proverbs: mo man of fashion ever
uses a proverb." Yet, as Trench OBJ
serves, they have always been dear to
the true aristocracy of nation;
Aristotle made collection of them;
Shakespeare loved them; Sancho
PanZa hardly speaks but in proverbs;
and, highest example of all, our Lord
used them most frequently in His
discourses to the people. There are
few things harder to define than
proverb. We all know what it is, but
we all halt when we try to tell what
it is. IF you do not ask me what is
time," said st. Augustine, Il know;
if you ask me l do not know" 1t has
been epigrammatically said that
proverb must have salt, sense, and
shortness; the definition of an cpl
gram given by Martial has been ap-
piled to it:
"Omne epigramma sit instar apis; sit
aculeus ILL,
Sit sua mella, sit ct corporis eXigui:
which is rendered in English thus:
Three things must epigrams like bees
have all
It's sting, it's honey, and it's body
small. ..- ....
But though such descriptions ought
are not complete; for instance, they
do not mention the quality of popu-
larity which is one of the essentials
in proverb. Goethe's word, "a man
need not be an architect to live in
house." or Schiller's Heaven and
earth fight in vain against Ounce"
have every quality of good proverbs
except popularity.
Two thousand years ago Aristotle
could speak of proverbs as "the.
fragments of an elder wisdom, which.
amid wreck and ruin had on account
of their brevity been preserved"
And it is astonishing how many home
ly sayings have aristocratic pedigrees,
derived from a classical origin. Take
the old saying, "One must not look a
gift horse in the mouth" it is found
| in rhymed Latin verse of the Middle
Ages as follows: s
ST quis Diet mannos, ne quaere in den
THUS, amos;
and farther back still it is quoted by
| st. Jerome in reply to a person who
| found fault with his writings.
Similarly, Liars should have good
memories" was quoted by the same
saint, who speaks of it as old in his
time: "Oblitus veteris proverbii:
tenaces memories esse oportere."
Another English proverb, Good com
pany on a journey is as good as a
COACH" is found in exactly equivalent
words in Latin: Comes facundus in
via pro vehiculo est" Collectors of
proverbs remark that many of them
| have become so common to various
languages as to be international coin
many of them have no doubt been
borrowed, but a great proportion have
come down from time immemorial
in all languages The Bible is GER
tainly the inexhaustible source from
which many have been drawn. Shake
spere, Dante, Cervantes, and the writ
ers whose works have become the
heritage of humanity have contributed
also to the universally of proverbs
among nations
: AS instances of poetic imagery We
mention the English, Grey hairs arc
, deaths blossoms the Italian, II TEN
pc una lima sorda-Time is silen
file; and the Turkish, Death is {
black camel which kneels at every
mans gate" For wit, the following
''The way to he'll is paved with gooc
intentions" and the Italian, "Quandt
furbi vanno in processione, il diavolt
, porta la When rogues wall
in procession the devil is cross-bear
err" and the French: "Qui rien n,
salt, de rien ne doute"-"He wht
knows nothing never has any doubts.
And for examples of the sting TAX
Ell the following: Fools have no neel
S of a passport" where there ar
: three physicians there are two ath
r eists;" Next to nae wife guide wifi
t is best" There are many proverb
: not in current usage which contain il
y a nutshell deal of philosophy: TO
e instance, the Spanish, "Por la call
de despues Sc va a la casa de nunca
j by the street of Bye-and-Bye W
J. come to the house of Never" and tn
n German, "Es list besser das KIM
S weine dem der Vater''-"Better hav
e the child weep than the father.
/ -NeD Zealand Tablet
L