OBSCURE PROVERBS

A feast uncovers a European's wooden leg. (Oji-West African).

After a feast comes excessive drinking, by drinking men become intoxicated, intoxication leads to the exposure of mental defects and weaknesses.

A fortune gone to hashed fish. (Japanese).
A fortune dissipated by neglect or misuse.

A ground sweat cures all diseases.

A ground sweat-i.e., a burial.

(English).

A hundred bleedings for a zuz, a hundred heads for a zuz, a hundred lips for nothing.

(Hebrew).

The ancient Hebrews held that every man should learn a trade, but as some trades were more honourable and profitable than others it was a father's duty to teach his son a trade that would command respect. Among those that were considered unprofitable was that of the barber, who, throughout the East, added to his other duties the practice of blood-letting hence the proverb which may be rendered, A hundred bleedings for a zuz, a hundred hair-cuttings for a zuz, a hundred moustache trimmings for nothing."

All goeth down Gutter Lane. (English).

The

"Gutter-Lane (right spelling whereof is Guthurnlane, from him the once owner thereof) is a small lane inhabited anciently by goldsmiths, leading out of Cheapside, east to Foster Lane. proverb is applied to those who spend all in drunkenness and gluttony, mere belly gods; guttur being Latin for the throat."-John Ray.

A loyal heart may be landed under Traitor's bridge. (English).

There was an entrance to the Tower under Traitor's bridge.

A quarrel arises from saying " You," "I." (Osmanli). When one man charges another, saying "You did it," and the other answers "I did not do it," a quarrel arises between them.

A shoe of silver makes iron soft.

(Marathi).

A bribe will soften the heart of the obdurate.

Between truth and falsehood, the distance is four fingers. (Hindustani).

Truth is seen with the eye; falsehood is heard with
the ear.
The space between the eye and the ear
may be covered by four fingers. Sometimes the
proverb is rendered, "Between truth and false-
hood the distance is four inches, four inches
being the supposed distance between the eyes and
ears on both sides of the face.

Belyve is twa hours and a half. (Scotch).
Belyve-i.e., immediately.

The proverb is applied to people who promise to perform some task without delay but whose habits of procrastination are such as to render it certain that their promise will not be kept.

Bringing the water and breaking the pitcher are the same thing. (Persian).

A proverb applicable to employers who do not appreciate faithful service on the part of their employees but who are as inconsiderate to those who are loyal to their interests as to those who are careless and neglectful. There is an Hindustani proverb that expresses the same thought: "Those that sing the praises of Huru and that merely utter inarticulate sounds are treated alike.

Death was not sufficient for the dead; the grave, moreover, must press upon him. (Arabic).

Mohammedans believe "that the tomb presses

upon the body therein deposited either lightly or heavily according to the sins or merits of the deceased."-J. L. Buckhardt.

The meaning of the proverb is that the man's character was so bad that he was punished not only by death but by the pressure of the grave.

Die at Benares or die on hereditary land.

(Marathi).

Die at Benares and so make sure of your salvation, or die on hereditary land and so make sure of a provision for your children.

Do not open the mouth of the sack.

(Osmanli).

Do not divulge the secret. Sometimes the proverb is rendered, "Do not open the little box, you will make (something) bad speak"-it will lead to evil results.

Do not speak of a cup; there is a bald person in the house. (Osmanli).

It would be indiscreet to cast reflection on the baldness of any person by an implied or indirect comparison. The outer surface of a cup is smooth like a bald head.

Even a river will forgive three offences. (Telugu). A drowning man is supposed to sink three times before finally disappearing from sight.

Every hog has his St. Martin's day. (Spanish).

The season for killing hogs in Spain is about the middle of November. St. Martin's day falls on November 11th.

Every house has an earthen fireplace.

"Every man hath his faults."

(Telugu).

(English).

Every pumpkin is known by its stem. (Hebrew).
"The childhood shows the man,

As morning shows the day. Be famous then
By wisdom; as thy empire must extend,
So let extend thy mind o'er all the world."

John Milton.

Every way, or at every end, there are three leagues of heart-breaking. (Spanish).

When a man's affairs are in bad condition and he is unable to extricate himself from difficulty, every way leads to further complications; at every end he finds an obstacle and he is near disaster.

Everything has an end, and a pudding has two. (English). The old English long pudding was called a "leg pudding" because of its supposed resemblance to a human leg.

Hadst got up early, thou needest not have stayed up late. (Hebrew).

If you had been industrious in your youth it would not have been necessary to work in old age.

Has the black cat passed from between us? (Osmanli). Have we had a quarrel?

Has the cat leaped over it that it is not here? (Hindustani).

The Hindu people think that food over which a cat has jumped is unfit to eat.

The question is asked, by way of reproof, to servants who fail to bring to their masters that which they were told to bring.

Have you poked my eye with my own finger? (Telugu). Have you turned my arguments against me?

He appears as if he ate roasted spits.

(Spanish).

See "Curious Proverbial Similes and Comparisons."
He looks as if he were hatching eggs.'

Applied to people who are stiff and formal in their manner, corresponding to the English simile, "As stiff as a ramrod."

He claps his dish at a wrong man's door. (English). See "Curious Proverbial Similes and Comparisons." "His tongue moves like a beggar's clap dish." The clap dish was a wooden vessel used by beggars in olden times for collecting coins. It was called

a "clap dish" because it had a cover which the beggars clapped on a number of times with much noise to attract attention and show that the dish was empty. As people became accustomed to the clatter of the clapping and ceased to respond, the beggars added thereto the ringing of a bell.

He cooks booze in the nape of his neck. (Osmanli).
He is drunk.

He has got a turn through the reek. (Gaelic).
Reek-i.e., smoke.

This saying refers to the old superstitious practice
of placing a newly christened child into a basket
and passing him over a fire to protect him against
the power of evil spirits.

He made him ride upon two horses. (Hebrew). "He made assurance doubly sure."

He is gilding the elephant's tusk.

(Bengalese).

He is a good man and shows his goodness by continuing to walk in the paths of virtue.

He is driving his hogs over Swarston bridge. (English). Swarston bridge being long and narrow, hogs when driven over were so crowded together that they made a loud grunting noise to show their discomfort; hence arose this saying, which was applied to men snoring in their sleep.

He saw a large stone, kissed it, and left it. (Persian). When he saw the nature of the task that was assigned to him, he realized his inability to perform it, and prudently declined to begin work.

He'll lick the white frae your een. (Scotch).

"This phrase is always applied when people, with pretence of friendship, do you an ill turn, as one licking a mote out of your eye makes it bloodshot."-Allan Ramsay.