Wit and Humor of the Bible Part 4

V.

The sense of humor in Jesus is still further shown by his selection of characters for his parables and ill.u.s.trations. How many of them are what we should call "odd sticks" to-day!

Could any one devoid of humor, or opposed to its use, have described such odd or eccentric people as the fool who thought that sand was as good a foundation for his house as rock; or the drowsy friend roused at midnight to lend his neighbor bread and scolding furiously at the annoyance? Then we have the shepherd's coward hireling who ran away from his flock when he saw the wolf coming; the foolish rich man; the unscrupulous steward who provided for himself by cheating his master; the three fellows who made such puerile excuses for absenting themselves from the king's banquet,--one was interested in a real estate transaction, another was dealing in stock, while the third had just "married a wife." Perhaps the characterization of all these excuses as puerile, may be too sweeping.

This last case may be an exception. Having just entered the holy estate of matrimony, any plans this man might have formed before that event were of course subject to revision. Let us not be too hard upon him. It may be that he rests under too heavy a load of censure. He may even be deserving of sympathy. He said--was there a suggestion of desperation in his words?--"I have married a wife and therefore I _can not_ come." The king ought very likely to have exempted this man from his wrath; for he seems to say, "I should like to come, but--!"

Then there was the servant who, in his lord's absence, got above his business, a.s.sumed the master, became drunken in the company of roisterers, and beat his fellow-servants; but was at last put to shame by the sudden and unexpected arrival of his master. This servant was a veritable Jaques who, in the old play, a.s.sumed to be his master, the Duke, and who was likewise brought to grief by his master's return: "I must appear important; big as a country pedagogue when he enters the school-room with a-hem, and terrifies the apple-munching urchins with the creaking of his shoes. I'll swell like a s.h.i.+rt bleaching in a high wind; and look as burly as a Sunday beadle when he has kicked down the unhallowed stall of a profane old apple-woman. Bring my chair of state!"

There are other characters, such as the shrewd laborer who, digging in a field, finds a hidden treasure and secreting it goes and buys the field; the unjust judge who finally, completely tired out, gives way in no very amiable mood to the widow's unceasing pet.i.tions for justice; the timid soul, who, fearing to use his talent, hid it in a napkin and buried it in the earth; the self-righteous Pharisee who recounts his good deeds before the Lord of the Temple and complacently congratulates himself that he is not as other men! "G.o.d, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give t.i.thes of all that I get!" Mr. Pecksniff once more!--so satisfied with himself, "so radiant with ingenuous honesty that Mrs. Lupin almost wondered not to see a stained-gla.s.s glory, such as the saint wore in the church, s.h.i.+ning about his head!"

VI.

In the introduction, reference was made to the words of Mr. Shorthouse which suggested this investigation. This seems a fitting place to present the only example in which Mr. Shorthouse has carried out his own suggestion,--the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

"But is it trite that there is no humor in the gospels? 'What strokes of nature, if not of humor,' to use Mr. Addison's words again, may we find in the story, let us say, of the Prodigal Son? What, in the light of the modern conception of humor, will come out of this?

Here, surely, there is no want of real life, of low life, even. Here is a wild young scamp, as like Tom Jones as heart could wish. Here is ingrat.i.tude, forgetfulness of parents, riotous living, taverns, harlots, what not? Then beggary, and feeding swine, and living upon husks. Then when evil living is found not to answer, penitence--like Tom Jones again.

And 'when he was yet a great way off his father saw him,' along the stony road beneath the vine-clad hills. Who can tell how often the father's eyes had gazed longingly down the road since his son's figure, gay, reckless of the benefits just bestowed, accompanied by servants, eager for the pleasures of the world, had vanished from his sight? Now, at last, after so long waiting and looking, he sees in the far distance, a very different sight. He sees a solitary figure, worn and bent down, in rags, dragging on its weary steps; how could the old man's gaze expect such a sight as this?

Nevertheless, his father knew him, 'and ran and fell on his neck.' He did not wait for any accents of repentance, nor did he enforce any moral precepts which might advantage posterity. 'He fell on his neck and kissed him.' Foolish old father!

Tom Jones is brought in. He goes to the bath. The familiar feeling of luxury comes over him once more. He is clothed in fine linen, and has a gold ring placed on his finger, the past seems an evil dream. Then the fatted calf is killed. The banquet is spread and there is festivity, music, and dancing-girls.

But suddenly, in the midst of his delight, some trouble pa.s.ses over the old man's face; his eldest son is not in his place, and they bring him word that he is without and refuses to come in. Some perception of a neglected truth pa.s.ses through the father's mind, and he rises and goes out. 'Therefore came his father out and entreated him.'

The eldest son has been out all day working in the vineyards; all his life had been one long performance of duty, taken for granted, and therefore unpraised and unrecognized. In how many households will silent witness be borne that this is real life--the gentle and obedient service overlooked--nay, more than this, the cross word or hasty temper where there is no fear that it will be returned.

'All these years have I served thee * * * and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends.' I am a man like others, gayety and feasting are pleasant to me, as to them.

A look of perplexed, but growing insight comes into the father's face.

'Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.'

This is all very well, still he is conscious that there is something to be said for the eldest son, too. But his lost son--his wayward, and therefore loved son, is come again.

'It is meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again.' We can see the pitiful, pleading look in the old man's eyes,--'thy brother was dead.'

Yes, Addison must be right. Nature and humor cannot be far apart. The source and spring of humor is human life. Its charm consists, not merely in laughter or even in joy, but in the stirring of those sympathies and a.s.sociations which exist invariably in the race; for we inherit a world-life and a religion, the earth-springs of whose realities lie, perchance, too deep for laughter, but not, Heaven be praised, too deep for tears."

Surely the examples given suggest an eye for the humorous in him who saw and described them. These ill.u.s.trations were, indeed, used to convey moral truths, but they show how wide was the acquaintance of Jesus with all sorts of characters, and how he loved to use such as were out of the ordinary; such as, to-day, we should at least call "peculiar." A recognition of this fact will help us better to appreciate and more thoroughly to enjoy those simple, yet wonderful parables, out of which the heavy hand of a severely literal criticism would crush all "touches of nature."

V. PROVERBS AND EPIGRAMMATIC SAYINGS.

"Proverbs, must not be pa.s.sed over in our enumeration,--proverbs, the philosophy of the common people; short, pithy, homely sayings that embody the concentrated essence of the common people's wisdom. It has been difficult to give a perfect definition of a proverb, so crowded is it with the life of shrewdness and experience; yet so easy and negligent is it, and saucy as it were. Its characteristic excellences are shortness, sense and salt. It is the wit of one man, the wisdom of thousands."--_Macbeth._

PROVERBS AND EPIGRAMMATIC SAYINGS.

"The proverbialists occupy themselves with life in all its aspects.

Sometimes they simply catch the expression of men, good or bad, or photograph their actions or thoughts; more generally they pa.s.s a verdict upon them and exhort or instruct men in regard to them. * * *

Some of the proverbs have a certain flavor of humor."--_Davidson._

"The wise men of old," says Whipple, "have sent most of their morality down the stream of time in the light skiff of apothegm or epigram: and the proverbs of nations which embody the common sense of nations, have the brisk concussion of the most sparkling wit. Almost every sensible remark on folly is a witty remark. Wit is thus often but the natural language of wisdom, viewing life with a piercing and pa.s.sionless eye." The object of the present study is to consider those proverbs and other epigrammatic sayings which distinctly contain the element of wit in some form or other, and which are so liberally scattered over the pages of the Bible.

I.--THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.

In such an investigation, we naturally turn, first of all, to that great collection of proverbs, with which the name of Solomon has become identified. They do not, however, represent his genius alone, although we shall frequently use his name as representative of the whole cla.s.s of philosophers. They are the productions of many wise men through many generations. They are, indeed, the outcome of the life of a whole people, put into definite shape by those who had insight sufficiently keen and power of expression sufficiently terse to formulate the lessons of human experience. "The wise men," says Canon Driver, "took for granted the main postulates of Israel's creed, and applied themselves rather to the observation of human nature as such, seeking to a.n.a.lyze character, studying action in its consequences, and establis.h.i.+ng morality upon the basis of principles common to humanity at large. On account of their prevailing disregard of national points of view, and their tendency to characterize and estimate human nature under its most general aspects, they have been termed, not inappropriately, the _Humanists_ of Israel.

Their teaching had a practical aim; not only do they formulate maxims of conduct, but they appear also as moral advisers, and as interested in the education of the young."

The Book of Proverbs is a perfect mine of cunning and glittering sentences, many of which are witty as well as wise, and none the less wise because they are witty. There are swords that pierce the hidden motives of men, and whips that lacerate the backs of their open follies and sins.

_1. The Fool._

There is a personage, or more exactly, an a.s.semblage of certain qualities, constantly held up to ridicule under the general t.i.tle of _The Fool_.

Ruskin says that "folly and sin are to some extent synonymous." The Fool in the Book of Proverbs is one who combines mental stupidity with moral obtuseness. He has a hard time of it at the hands of the proverbialists.

"He that begetteth a fool doeth so to his sorrow; the father of a fool hath no joy."

Foolish persons have always been noted for parading their folly, and sounding a trumpet to proclaim their lack of understanding. So Solomon says: "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul." "The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright; but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness." "When he that is a fool walketh in the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool,"--his scanty supply of sense is not enough to last him to the end of his journey. There is a modern proverb to the same effect: "He has not wit enough to last him over night." Everything the fool undertakes comes to grief. "He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage." "The labor of the fool wearieth every one, because he knoweth not how to go to the city." "The simple believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going." "Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly." No discipline can be too severe for the fool. "Judgments are prepared for scorners and stripes for the back of fools." "A whip for the horse, a bridle for the a.s.s, and a rod for the fool's back." But Solomon is not sanguine that the most rigorous course will produce extraordinary results. "A reproof entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool." "Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth." "Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" One can almost see that picture--the fool wandering about the city with money in his hand, inquiring where a person in need of it might purchase a commodity of good common sense. "Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." In many other proverbs is the fool gibbeted. "As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool." "The legs of the lame are not equal; so is a parable in the mouth of fools." "As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, making a dangerous weapon, so is he that giveth honor to a fool." "As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools." "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool." In one chapter Solomon describes a group of foolish persons. "For three things the earth is disquieted and for four which it can not bear; for a servant when he reigneth"--the modern instance is the "beggar on horseback,"--"and a fool when he is filled with meat; for an odious woman when she is married; and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress." These four characters "play such fantastic tricks before high heaven," that whether the "angels weep" or not, the earth groans and is "disquieted." And yet Solomon seems to have found a more grotesque and incorrigible character than the fool: "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him." The contempt of the proverbialists for the cla.s.s of persons here described was quite as strong as that of Dr. Samuel Johnson. When some one hoped that the good doctor might meet in heaven a certain person whose conduct had aroused his ire, he retorted with some warmth, "Madam, I am not fond of meeting fools anywhere."

_2. The Idler._

How these writers love to castigate laziness! They toss the sluggard on all manner of sharp-pointed epigrams. "He that gathereth in summer is a wise son; he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." "The way of a slothful man is as a hedge of thorns,"--he walks as slowly and painfully as if avoiding thorns on either hand. "As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him." "The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting." "The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold, therefore he shall beg in harvest and have nothing." "Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." "He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread; but he that followeth vain persons"--those who teach him that there is any other way to success than honest industry,--"is void of understanding." "The slothful man says, There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets." "As the door turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed." "The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth." Too lazy to eat! This is the very acme of indolence.

_3. The Babbler._

These wise men recommend, in pithy terms, the judicious control of the tongue. They commend the value of silence. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water; therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with." "It is an honor to a man to cease from strife, but every fool will be meddling." "Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." This is the same idea which we find, in more elaborate form, in Shakespeare:

"There are a sort of men, whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond; And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be drest in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; As who should say, 'I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!'

Oh, my Antonio, I do know of these, That therefore only _are reputed wise For saying nothing_: Who, I am very sure, If they should speak, would almost d.a.m.n these ears, Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools."

In point of condensation, the wit of the proverb has the advantage.

Coleridge relates an incident which ill.u.s.trates that "even a fool when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." He once saw, at a dinner table, "a dignified man with a face as wise as the moon's." The awful charm of his manner was not broken until the m.u.f.fins appeared, and then the imp of gluttony forced from him the exclamation--"Them's the jockeys for me!"

There is a pa.s.sage concerning the tongue in the Book of James, full of sayings quite as terse and striking as any in the Book of Proverbs. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." "The tongue is a little member and boasteth great things; behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." "Every kind of beasts and birds and serpents is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. * * * Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. * * *

Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?"