"There's ne'er a best among them," as the fellow said of the fox cubs. As good eat the devil as the broth he 's boiled in, Out of the fryingpan into the fire. 1 66 To escape from one evil and incur another as bad or worse is an idea expressed in many proverbial metaphors; e. g., "To come out of the rain under the spout (German). "Flying from the bull, I fell into the river" (Spanish).2 To break the constable's head and take refuge with the sheriff" (Spanish). "To shun Charybdis and strike upon Scylla" is a wellknown phrase, which almost everybody supposes to have been current among the ancients. It is not to be found, however, in any classical author, but appears for the first time in the Alexandriad of Philip Gaultier, a medieval Latin poet. In his fifth book he thus apostrophises Darius when flying from Alexander : "Nescis, heu perdite, nescis Quem fugias: hostes incurris dum fugis hostem; Go forward, and fall; go backward, and mar all. "A precipice ahead, wolves behind" (Latin). "To be between the hammer and the anvil " (French)." You may go farther and fare worse. To be between the devil and the deep sea. 1 Aus dem hegen unter die Traufe kommen. 2 Huyendo del toro, cayó en el arroyo. • Descalabrar el alguacil, y accogerse al corregidor. A fronte præcipitium, a tergo lupi. Être entre le marteau et l'enclume. 66 The one-eyed is a king in the land of the blind. Where there are no dogs the fox is a king" (Italian).1 They that be in hell think there is no other heaven. It is good to have two strings to one's bow. It is good riding at two anchors. He is no fox that hath but one hole. The mouse that has but one hole is soon caught.2 Do not put all your eggs in one basket; nor "too many of them under one hen" (Dutch). 66 'Hang not all upon one nail" (German), nor risk your whole fortune upon one venture. Comparisons are odious. 1 Dove non sono i cani, la volpe è re. 2 Mus uni non fidit antro.-Plautus. 3 Man moet niet te viel eijeren onder eene hen leggen. • Henke nicht alles auf einen Nagel. SHIFTS. CONTRIVANCES. STRAINED A bad shift is better than none. Better sup wi' a cutty nor want a spune.-Scotch. A cutty is a spoon with a stumpy handle or none at all. It is not a very convenient implement, but it will serve at a pinch. A bad bush is better than the open field. A wee bush is better nor nae bield.-Scotch. Bield, shelter. A man's present occupation may not be lucrative, or his connections as serviceable as he could wish, but he should not therefore quit them until he has better. Half a loaf is better than no bread. I will make a shaft or a bolt of it. A shaft is an arrow for the longbow, a bolt is for the crossbow. If I canna do it by might I'll do it by slight.-Scotch. "It's best no to be rash," said Edie Ochiltree— Sticking disna gang by strength, but by the guiding o' the gully. -Scotch. A gully is a butcher's knife. There is a knack even in slaughtering a pig. There goes reason to the roasting of eggs. Many ways to kill a dog besides hanging him. 66 A story told by the African traveller, Richardson, supplies an apt illustration of this proverb. An Arab woman preferred another man to her husband, and frankly confessed that her affections had strayed. Her lord, instead of flying into a passion and killing her on the spot, thought a moment, and said, "I will consent to divorce you if you will promise me one thing." "What is that?" the wife eagerly asked. You must looloo to me only on your wedding day." This looloo is a peculiar cry with which it is customary for brides to salute any handsome passer-by. The woman gave the promise required, the divorce took place, and the marriage followed. On the day of the ceremony the ex-husband passed the camel on which the bride rode, and gave her the usual salute by discharging his firelock, in return for which she loolooed to him according to promise. The new bridegroom, enraged at this marked preference-for he noticed that she had not greeted any one else and suspecting that he was duped, instantly fell upon the bride and slew her. He had no sooner done so than her brothers came up and shot him dead, so that the first husband found himself amply avenged without having endangered himself in the slightest degree. "Contrivance is better than force "(French). Lysander of Sparta was reproached for relying too little on open valour in war, and too much on ruses not always worthy of a descendant of Hercules. He replied, in allusion to the skin of the Nemean beast worn by his great ancestor, "Where the lion's skin comes short we must eke it out with the fox's." It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog; or, It is easy to find a stone to throw at a dog. 66 It is easy for the strong to find an excuse for maltreating the weak. "On a little pretext the wolf seizes the sheep" (French), or the lamb, as the fable shows. "If you want to flog your dog say he ate the poker" (Spanish).3 If a man wants to thrash his wife, let him ask her for drink in the sunshine" (Spanish), for then what can be easier for him than to pick a quarrel with her about the motes in the clearest water? A handsaw is a good thing, but not to shave with. Everything to its proper use. In Italy they say, "With the Gospel sometimes one becomes a heretic." Disraeli, and after him Dean Trench, have given to this proverb an erroneous interpretation, founded on a false 1 Mieux vaut engin que force. 2 À petite achoison le loup prend le mouton. Para azotar el perro, que se come el hierro. 4 Quien quiere dar palos á su muger, pidele al sol á bever. |