'Of course the top.' When reproached by his wife for his stupidity, he said he would never again make such a mistake. The next crop they sowed was Indian corn. When the time for gathering came round he told his friends that he was not to be made a fool of this time and would have the lower part. His friend gave him what he wanted."-John Christian.

Fight like Kilkenny cats, that ate one another except their tails. (Irish).

"Like the Kilkenny cats, who fought and left
nothing but their tails." (English).

"It is said that when the Hessians were quartered
in Kilkenny, they used to amuse themselves by
tying two cats' tails together, and throwing
them over a line to fight. Their officer heard of
this and ordered that there should be no more
cat-fights. Still on a certain day there were two
cats on the line when the officer was heard coming,
and one of the troopers cut them down, leaving
only the tails on the line. The officer asked,
'Where are the cats?' when one of the troopers
explained that they fought so furiously that they
had eaten one another up except their tails.
J. D. White in the Kilkenny Moderator.
Brewer says regarding the tale: "Whatever the
true story, it is certain that the municipalities of
Kilkenny and Irishtown contended so stoutly
about their respective boundaries and rights to
the end of the seventeenth century, that they
mutually impoverished each other, leaving little
else than 'two tails' behind."

"There were two cats at Kilkenny;

Each thought there was one too many;
So they quarrelled and fit,

They scratched and they bit,

Till, excepting their nails

And the tips of their tails,

Instead of two cats, there wasn't any."

Old Rhyme.

Fool, keep the corn farther off. (Modern Greek). Sometimes rendered, "Clown, you should have given the corn sooner."

An avaricious muleteer sought to save money by starving his mule. This so weakened the animal that one day, under a heavy load, it fell to the ground. The muleteer removed the load from the animal's back and tried to make it rise. Failing, he took some corn in his hand and held it a short distance from its mouth, but it was in vain; the mule was too weak to get on its feet. While the muleteer was engaged in thus coaxing his beast a neighbour passed, and knowing the man's avaricious nature taunted him in the words of the proverb.

For the bleating we have lost the neighing. (Modern Greek).

"Penny wise and pound foolish"; "Save at the spigot and let out at the bunghole"; "Save at the tap and waste at the bunghole. (English). A dishonest peasant, desiring a sheep that belonged to a shepherd, determined to steal it, so mounted his horse and drove to the pen where it was kept. Tying his horse to a bush he entered, but the shepherd's dog, hearing him, barked and he fled, leaving his horse behind him. On returning to his home his wife asked him why he walked and what had become of his horse. Instead of telling her the story of his misfortune he answered by imitating the baaing of the sheep and neighing of the horse; then he explained the circumstances of his trip. The incident becoming known, the proverb came into use.

God gives bread but we must creep along ourselves also. (Modern Greek).

"God helps them that help themselves," (English and Scotch); "Help thyself and God will help thee, (Scotch); "Who guards himself God will guard him"; "God helps him who amends himself," (Spanish); “God is a good worker, but he loves to be helped," (Basque); "God sends the thread to cloth which is begun, (French); "God gives food but does not cook it and put it in the mouth," (Telugu); "God gives birds their food but they must fly for it," (Dutch); “God gives every bird its food but does not throw it into the nest," (Danish).

There are many proverbs of similar import.
A certain man, on hearing that God would care for
those who relinquished all their possessions, left
his home and retired to the desert where he gave
himself to fasting and prayer. On the third day
of his retirement he observed many horses laden
with baskets of bread passing over a distant
highway. Seeing a loaf fall from one of the
baskets, he waited and then cautiously dragged
himself over the ground to the spot. Seizing
the bread he began to eat. As he did so he re-
peated to himself: "Yes, it is true, God gives
bread, but we must creep along ourselves to get
it."

God has His hosts, amongst them honey. (Arabic). It is a tradition among the Arabs that this proverb was first used by Moawiah, the Emperor, who when he received the news that Aschtar, his enemy, had died from eating honey made from poisonous herbs exclaimed in pious satisfaction, "God has His hosts, amongst them honey."

Goma Geneśa and a brass gate.

(Marathi).

In a time of political upheaval a man by the name of Goma Geneśa went, without authority from the government, to the "Brass Gate" of the town where he lived and exacted toll of those who passed through. To make the procedure seem valid he gave a receipt on which were stamped the words of the proverb. This practice he kept up for years and accumulated much money. When the fraud was discovered the government, instead of punishing him for it, rewarded him for his shrewdness.

There is not"?

Has she a right to say, "There is " or (Telugu). A proverb used to indicate that, amongst the Telugu people, the authority of a daughter-inlaw is not recognized. Its origin is found in the following story:

A woman told a beggar to go to her house for assistance. The man proceeded at once and was met by the woman's daughter-in-law who refused

to give him anything. On turning away he met the woman who inquired whether alms had been given to him. When she heard that he had been refused she was angry and chastened her daughter-in-law. "Now you may go," she said to the beggar. "Has she any authority to say there are alms for you or there are not?"

He has a white side and a black side, like the boat of Short John's son. (Gaelic).

"Mac Iain Ghearr (or Ghiorr)'s proper name was Archibald MacDonell. He was a noted reaver and followed a known practice of pirates in having his boat and sails of different colours on each side."-Alexander Nicolson.

He is fond of championship who takes locusts under his protection. (Arabic).

This proverb "commemorates Modleg Ben Sowaid, a plucky chieftain, who carried the law of hospitality so far that when a flight of locusts alighted on his territory, and some neighbouring tribe was tampering with them, this Quixote of the desert drove off the invaders and saved the locusts."—North American Review for February,

1858.

He set fire to his own beard.

(Persian).

For other proverbs about the beard see Singular
Proverbs and Wit and Humour in Proverbs.
A man hearing that a large amount of hair on the
face was a sign of mental deficiency consulted the
books of the wise men and found that it was so.
He therefore determined to rid himself of a
portion of his own beard which was very long.
Grasping it at the place where he wished it
removed, he set fire to the end. The beard being
well anointed blazed up, not only burning off all
the hair but inflicting serious injury on his hand
and face. His neighbours learning of his effort
and its consequences formed the proverb which
became common among the Persians and was
used by them when they desired to charge people
with being the cause of their own injury.

He that invented The Maiden, first hanselled it. (Scotch). "Regent Morton, the inventor of a new instrument of death called 'The Maiden,' was himself the first upon whom the proof of it was made. Men felt, to use the language of the Latin poet, that 'no law was juster than that the artificers of death should perish by their own art,' and embodied their sense of this in the proverb." Archbishop Trench.

He who loses an opportunity of (eating) the meat, let him feed on the broth. (Arabic).

"An Arabian story relates that the bird kombar once invited King Solomon to dine, and requested that all his courtiers might accompany him. The King inquired whether there was a sufficient supply of food for so large a company and received in answer that everything necessary had been provided. The guests arrived and seated themselves near the banks of a river. When dinner time approached the kombar came flying with a locust in his bill. Having eaten some of it himself, he threw the rest into the water and addressed this proverb to his royal guest, advising him to satiate himself with the locust broth. The wise monarch smiled, he and his attendants drank some of the water, thanked their host and departed."-J. L. Buckhardt in Arabic Proverbs.

He will be hanged for leaving his liquor, like the saddler of Bawtry. (English).

See proverb: "A man was once hanged for leaving his drink.'

The phrase is said to have had its origin in the fact that the saddler of Bawtry, while under sentence and on his way to the gallows, refused to stop at an ale-house where he was invited to drink, but hastened along the road to the "fatal tree" where he was hung. Soon thereafter a reprieve arrived. Had he stopped to drink, the delay would have saved his life.

I beg your pardon, Madam Cow. (Modern Greek).
Used when one person is mistaken for another.
Alexander Negris gives the following incident as