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النشر الإلكتروني

A man has no friend like a brother, no country like Irak. (Osmanli).

There never was a looking-glass that told a woman she was ugly. (French).

"Every woman loves the woman in the lookingglass." (German).

An ugly woman dreads the mirror.

(Japanese).

"The uglier the face, the more it chides the lookingglass.' (German). "They took away the mirror from me because I was ugly, and gave it to the blind woman." (Spanish). "Your lookingglass will tell you what none of your friends will.' (English).

The song should be for her whose wedding it is.

(Behar).

"The day before the expected arrival of the marriage procession, the family sets up a bamboo shed in the courtyard over the fireplace. The shed is called Mashwa, Maurwa, or Manro. It is the hut in which a marriage ceremony is conducted." G. A. Grierson.

One should act as befits the occasion.

It is the wedding of the sickle and all the song is for the hoe. (Behar).

"This proverb appears somewhat quaint to us, but in the mouth of the people whose chief pursuits are agricultural, the allusion to implements of agriculture is but natural."-John Christian. Action or speech is out of place.

Though the camel goes to Mecca forty years he does not become a hadji. (Osmanli).

A hadji-i. e., a pilgrim.

The camel is a pilgrim. (Osmanli).

Because he often goes to Mecca.

We can live without a brother, but not without a friend. (German).

We can live without our friends, but not without our neighbours. (English).

When a man will throw at a dog he soon finds a stone. (German).

"A stick is soon found to beat a dog." (English, Italian, Dutch). "Whoso is desirous of beating a dog will readily find a stick." (French). "He that wants to strike a dog ne'er wants a stick." (Scotch).

When a dog comes a stone cannot be found; when a stone is found the dog does not come. (Telugu).

"If we see a dog there is no stone and if we see a stone there is no dog." (Tamil).

Who weds ere he be wise shall die ere he thrives. (English).

"Honest men marry soon, wise men not at all." "It is good to marry late or never." (English).

Early marriages, long love. (German).

"Either marry very young or turn monk very young." (Modern Greek).

CONTEMPTUOUS PROVERBS

INCLUDING SNEERING, JEERING, SCOFFING, AND TAUNTING EXPRESSIONS AND SARCASTIC PHRASES

A fool: unable to make out the front from the hind part of an elephant. (Behar).

"Said of a fool who cannot make 'head or tail' of anything-like the villager who, it is said, on seeing an elephant for the first time, exclaimed: 'It has tails on both ends.'"-John Christian.

After Abbádán no village remains.

(Arabian).

A derisive expression applied to people who laud their native town no matter how lowly and obscure it is. Abbádán was said to be a place in the district of Sowád on the eastern bank of the Tigris.

A great man that with his turban cocked! (Bengalese). Applied to an insignificant person who boasts of his great ability.

A great merchant—eighteen robberies on his premises! (Bengalese).

A scoff at anyone who boasts of wealth and position but who is known to be poor and lowly.

A great wedding-lac-paper on both legs! (Bengalese). Spoken jeeringly when one makes "a great ado about nothing," or displays his ornaments, or, although in humble circumstances, has a pretentious marriage procession.

A huge baboon with a big belly, yet declines jumping across to Lanká! (Bengalese).

Lanka is the Sanskrit name of Ceylon or its capital.

The reference is to the monkeys who helped Ráma in his fabled invasion of the island.

The proverb is applied to a braggart or one who, because of his appearance of physical strength, gives promise of ability, but who shrinks from a small enterprise.

A hundred of the goldsmith's are not equal to one of the blacksmith's. (Behar).

A hundred strokes of the diminutive hammer of the goldsmith does not equal in its results one stroke of the blacksmith's sledge.

The proverb is used in scoffing at the feeble efforts of one who attempts great things and fails.

An unexpected thing has happened; the head Bhakat has been found fault with, whom shall I make Medhi? (Assamese).

The proverb is of course ironical. Next to the Gosain, the Bhakat is the most powerful person at the Sastra; of less importance is the Medhi, who, being the agent of the Gosain in the village, has particular honours paid to him at the village feasts.

A pair, a wonderful pair: one has ears that have been cut off, and the other is a thief. (Assamese).

An ironical proverb. In olden times the punishment for stealing in India was the loss of both

ears.

A red packsaddle on a lazy ox. (Bengalese).

A sarcastic phrase applied to a coarse person who seeks recognition from others by fine apparel and display.

"A man is not always known by his looks nor is the sea measured with a bushel." (Chinese). "Everyone sees his smart coat, no one sees his shrunken belly." "Fine linen often conceals a foul skin." (Danish). "Fine clothes often hide a base descent." "Fine dressing is usually a foul house swept before the door." Foppish dressing tells the world the outside is the best of the puppet.' "It is not the gay coat that makes

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A retailer of ginger getting tidings of his ship. (Bengalese) A jeer at a man of limited means who talks about his large undertakings.

"Great boast and little roast make unsavoury mouths." "None more apt to boast than those who have least worth." (English).

As bashful as a hog. (Modern Greek).

A servant and a dog are alike. (Bengalese).

Spoken by a servant who has an inconsiderate master.

As fierce as a lion of Cotswold. (English).

The lion of Cotswold is understood to be a sheep. The expression is used in referring to a coward. Sometimes it is said: "As fierce as a lion with a white face," or "As violent as an Essex lion." In Scotland the phrase, “As bold as a Lammermoor lion," is used. The reference in each case is to a calf.

As happy as a parson's wife during her husband's life. (English).

An ironical expression used in the early part of the seventeenth century.

Ask the tapster if his ale be gude. (Scotch).

An ill natured retort to one who questions another's integrity by asking him for information regarding his character or possessions. There are several similar English sayings: "Ask the seller if his ware be bad." Ask my companion whether I be a thief." "Ask my mother if my father be a thief." The Italians say: "Ask the host if he has good wine."

As learn't as a scholar o' Buckhaven College. (Scotch). See Proverbs that are Founded on Historic Incidents, Legends, Folk-Tales," etc: "To fence in the cuckoo."

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