CHINESE PROVERBS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VI, Issue 1864, 13 December 1884, Page 2

CHINESE PROVERBS.

A few of the Chinese proverbs may show the character of the people, and their way. of tjiinking better %an any mere description :—f A' wi§e man adapts himself to circumstances, as water sjjapps itself into tl]e vessel that contains it/ Misfortunes iusuequt where diseases enters in-afc the mouth;' ' The error of qne becomes tha sorrqw of a \yhqle lifetime ;'' peases may be cqred but r>qfc destiny;' 'A vacant n)iqd is open to all suggestions, as a hollow ruouutajn returns all sounds;' 'He w|)o persues the stag regards not hares;' '' If the foots be left the grass will grow again' (this js tha reason given for exterminating a traitor's family,);' The gem cannot ba polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials;'' A wise man' forgets old grudges;' 'Riches come better after poverty than poverty after riches;'' A bird can roost but on one branch;'' A horse can drink no more than its fill from the river ;' (Enough is as good as a least)' Whon the port is dry the flsh will be seen' (When the accounts are settled the profits will appear);' Who swallows quickly can chew but little' (applied to learning) ; ' You cannot strip two skins off one cow;'' He who wishes to rise in the world should veil his ambitions with the form of humility ;' ' The gods cannot help .a man who loses opportunities;'' Dig a well before you are thirsty;' (Be prepared -against contingencies):; 'The full stomach cannot comprehend the evil of hunger; 'Eggsareclosethings but'the okicks come out at last' (Murder will out; 'To add feet to a snake' (Superfluity in discourse when the subject is altered); ' Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will fall short of it V 'To win meat and loose a cow' (consequences of litigation); " I will not try my porcelain bowl against his earthen dish (said in contempt); 'He who toils with pain 'eats with pleasure;' •Borrowed money makes time short, working for others makes it long;' ■ Those who cannot sometimes be deaf are unfit to rule; ' Early preferment makes a lazy genius ;' ' Large fowl will not eat small grain' (Great mandarins are not content with little bribes); 1 The best thing i 3 to be respected, and the next to be loved ; it is bad to be hated, but worse still to be despised;' 1 The poor cannot contend with the rich, nor the'rich with the p6werful;' 'A man's words are like an arrow,' straight to the mark: a woman's are like 'a broken fan;' 'One lash to a good horse, one word to a wise man; ' Let every man sweep the snow from before his own doors, and not busy himself about the frost on his neighbor's tiles;' ' Though the life of a man be short of a hundred years, he gives himself as much pain and anxiety as if he were to live a thousand;'' By nature all men are alike; but by education widely different,'