66 66 Ill is the eve of well" (Italian);1 and It is at the narrowest part of the defile that the valley begins to open" (Persian). "When the tale of bricks is doubled (Hebrew). Moses comes 2 He that's down, down with him. Such is the way of the world-"the oppressed oppressing." "Him that falls all the world run over " (German). "He that has ill luck gets ill usage" (Old French). "All bite the bitten dog" (Portuguese).* "When a dog is drowning everybody brings him drink " (French).5 Knock a man down, and kick him for falling. A sort of treatment like what they call in France "The custom of Lorris: the beaten pay the fine.” It was enacted by the charter of Lorris in the Orléanais, conferred by Philip the Fair, that any man claiming to have money due to him from another, but unable to produce proof of the debt, might challenge the alleged debtor to a judicial combat with fists. The beaten combatant had judgment given against him, which always included a fine to the lord of the manor. 1 Il male è la vigilia del bene. 2 Wer da fallt, über ihm laufen alle Welt. À qui il meschet, on lui meffaict. Ao cao mordido, todos o mordem. 5 Quand le chien se noye, tout le monde lui porte à boire. • Coutume de Lorris: les battus payent l'amende. Scotch. The puir man is aye put to the warst. The weakest goes to the wall, which is the worst place in a crowd and a crush. Also, Where the dyke is lowest men go over. "Where the dam is lowest the water first runs over (Dutch). People overrun and oppress those who are least able to resist. When the tree falls every man goes with his hatchet. "When the tree is down everybody gathers wood' (Latin). "If my beard is burnt, others try to light their pipes at it" (Turkish). 6 Where the carcass is, the eagles will be gathered together. "We are, then, irremediably ruined, Mr. Oldbuck?' (The speaker is Miss Wardour, in the Antiquary.') "Irremediably? I hope not; but the instant demand is very large, and others will doubtless pour in.' 66 6 Ay, never doubt that, Monkbarns,' said Sir Arthur; where the slaughter is, the eagles will be gathered together. I am like a sheep which I have seen fall down a precipice, or drop down from sickness : 1 Les mal vêtus devers le vent. 2 Waar de dam het laagst is, loopt het water het eerst over. Arbore dejectâ quivis colligit ligna. if you had not seen a single raven or hooded crow for a fortnight before, he will not be on the heather ten minutes before half a dozen will be pecking out his eyes (and he drew his hand over his own), and tearing out his heart-strings before the poor devil has time to die."" Scotch. Put your finger in the fire and say it was your fortune. Blame yourself only for the consequences of your own folly. Edgar, in Lear, says, "This is the excellent foppery of the world! That when we are sick in fortune we make guilty of our disasters, the sun, the moon, and the stars: as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by a forced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in by a divine thursting on an admirable evasion!" FORETHOUGHT. CARE. CAUTION. Look before you leap. Don't buy a pig in a poke. A poke is a pouch or bag. This word, which is still current in the northern counties of England, corresponds to the French poche, as "pocket" does to the diminutive, pochette. Bouge and bougette are other forms of the same word; and from these we get "budget," which, curiously enough, has gone back from us to its original owners with a newly-acquired meaning, for the French Minister of Finance presents his annual Budget like our own Chancellor of the Exchequer. The French say, Acheter chat en poche: To buy a cat in a poke," or game bag; and the meaning of that proverb is explained by this other one, "To buy a cat for a hare."1 So also the Dutch,2 the The pig of the English proverb is chosen for the sake of the alliteration at some sacrifice of sense. Italian, &c. 1 Acheter le chat pour le lièvre. No safe wading in unknown waters. Therefore, "Swim on, and trust them not" (French).1 "Who sees not the bottom, let him not pass the water" (Italian).2 Beware of had I wist. "Had I wist," quoth the fool. It is the part of a fool to say, 'I should not have thought it'" (Latin).3 Stretch your arm no farther than your sleeve will reach. Never put out your arm further than you can easily draw it back again. Cautious Nicol Jarvie attributes to neglect of this rule the commercial difficulties of his correspondent, Mr. Osbaldistone, "a gude honest gentleman; but I aye said he was ane of them wad make a spune or spoil a horn." Perhaps it is to ridicule the folly of attempting things beyond the reach of our powers that the Germans tell us, "Asses sing badly because they pitch their voices too high."4 Measure twice, cut but once. An irrevocable act should be well considered beforehand. Dean Trench quotes this as a Russian proverb, 1 Nage toujours, et ne t'y fie pas. 2 Chi non vede il fondo, non passa l'acqua. Stulti est dicere non putârim. Esel singen schlecht, weil sie zu hoch anstimmon. |