PARLEY OF PROVERBS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 254, 25 December 1873, Page 2

PARLEY OF PROVERBS.

A world of wisdom lies crystallized in proverbs, though they Are not all consistent with each other, some advising imo course of action, while others go on the contrary tack and insist on exactly the reverse, by which the puzzled student of proverbial philosophy finds himself ranked ai a fool on the on,e page if he obey* the precepts set forth on the other. "Trust begets trust,' is one axiom, and a noble one— pity we do not all <iotoimine to live up to it in our own lives ; but, ' Try before you trust;' ' Treat a friend as if he v*ould some day bo your enemy ;' 'Ha wjho trusteth not is not deceived ;' are surely nob of tho same spirit Neither does ' A fault confessed is half redrest' run ou allfours with ' Sin that is hidden is half forgiven ;' nor ' It is better to have an hen to-tnoirow than an egg to-day' with ' A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' Content with one's present portion, however small* is, nevertheless, taught in proverbial philosophy oitener than the restless discontent and striving of ambition. ' Better half a loaf than no bread,' aud the other version, 'Better half an egg than, an empty shell ;' ' Better * little tire to warm ua than a great one. to burn,;' ' Enough is as good as a feast ;' ' He that is content with hi* poverty is, wonderfully rich ;' and others, all go to being satisfied with one's present portion and letting things alone. Following admonitions to content come those to save. ' A pin a day is a- groat a year ;' ' Saving is getting i A. fool and hit money are soon, parted :' ' Save for th« man on the white horse' (old age). ' Scrape aad, p«e, and thon sh&lt have ; Lend and trust, and thou sbalt crave ;' ' He sups i]X who eats up all, at dinner ;' ' He that spares when he ii young may spend when he is old ;' ' Penuy and penny la.i<d up, will be many ;' ' He. that regards. not a penny will lavish a pound,' and ' A peuuy saved is a penny got,' which is the concrete of the advice whereof ' saving is getting' if the abstract. But 'Better sell than live poorly' soema to point another way, Tjia nood of ed touting your olnld as you wonld have it grow up is again a circumstance tliat lias many proverbs at its back, though the saying about ' What » bred in tho bone will out in the flesh,' and the Latin version, ' Naturum exfellas farea f licet usque recurret,' are against the mioms wliioh teach fhat ' As the twig is bent tho tree's inclined,' and ' Dogs bark os they are bred ' ' Don't scald your tongue in other folka broth;' 'Keep your finger* out of other folk's pies ; ' ' Drown not th\s»lf to save a drowning man ;' and ' Put not thy finger into the flre,' tells us to be wisely •elfish and prudently unsympathetic, 'Crum not your bread before jou taste your porridge ' is also a proverb of wise warning ; eomqthjng lilfd ' Try. your skill in gilt first, and then in gold j ' Put not all your eggs into one basket,' and the likt ' Better late ripe and bear, than early blossom and blast,' teaches patience with glow beginnings ; and under the head of 111 wetjeds grow apace,' the same doctrine mny also be found in another form. 'Contempt will sooner kill an, injury than revenge' has.a fine eoho of pride in it — that pride winch helps a mau through life far better than angry •norgy or active fighting. Yet this i» not the pride whioh ' breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with mfamv,' not the pride which is 'never in one place with grace,' but tho noble inst.net of self-respect, winch elsewhere ' livo it down.' Against women there is no lock of bitter words. ' Deceit, weeping, and spinnn^, Q-od hath given to womankind by which they may hie; ' ' Women conceal all they know not ;' 4 Women, wind and foi tine are (or even changing ;' ' Wompn \n, mischief aro wiser than men ; ' Women and do^s came much strife ;' 'Wits ure> most wilful when women have wit* ' — another proverb puts a tog to this, 'which curtly aomes upon them by fits j ' ' A woman's mind and winter's wmd change often ; ' and tlmt most admiaable of all, ' A spaniel, a woman, and a walnut tree, The more they are beaten tho belter they be ' Aftor this, the makers of proverbs had tho audacity to put forth gravely, without a sign of the satiM lurking behind, ' England is tho paradise of women.' ' Don't hojre tlij cloak to make when it begins to rain ;' for it is only a ' fool ' who ' wants his clcak on a rainy day.' The typical ' fool,' indeed, u hardly dealt with in proverbial estimation. He ' parts soon with his money ;' he ' lends and loses, so play fools ; his speech 1* a bubbling of air.' Though. ' his bolt may somotimes hit the mark,' his ' heart dances on his lips;' and, truly enough, he 'may throw a stone into a well whu>h a hundred wise mon rapnot pull out ' His ronguo is long enough to cut his own throat ;' and, being a fool, ho ' will not bo fooled.' Like a woman, <a fool when he hath sx»ko hath dpne all ;' he 'losetu bis. estate before he finr^ his fojly i ho ' will laugh when he 1b drowning'— poor fool Ihe might do worse. But even lie, fool as he is, 'may chance to put something into a wise mm's head,' antlagajn, 'a fool may give a wise man counsel Parallel to this is, ' a woman's counsel is not worth much,' but ho that despises it is no wiser than he should he.' ' By the road of Byand-bye one arrive* at tho town of Never,' say the Spaniards, where we have 'Procrastination is the thief of time.' ' A forgetful head makes a weary pair of heels, 1 is another proverb on the same subjeot, differently viewed, and one which many a slipshod, featherheaded maid knows to her cost though if her forgetful ness be wilful, she has no right to complain of tho consequences, for ' a burden of one's own choice is not felt,' — w.hica proverb, by the way, seems to be a very shaky matter indeed, and to have more appearance of sonsc than reality. — American Paptr.

A m»n who had missed lug way overtook n boy going with ft pot of tar to mtrk Ins maker's sneep He inked him the ro*rl tr> Banff, but v\a» direoted by »o many turning that he agreed to Mko tup boy behind him on his horse Finding the boy pert »nd docde, ho cave him dome wholptome idrtpA. Hdd np. occasionally, ' Mark ma well, my lv>v ' ' Yes, «ir, I do.' lie repeated the mjunotion io often th»t the boy at laat oricd ont, ' I otunt mtrk 70a »ny nair, m th« ttr b.t« gi'ea oot,'