Proverb Lore Part 15

That "Even the worm will turn" is an oft-quoted saying to rightly justify a limit to endurance of injustice. "Tread a woorme on the tayle and it must turne agayne," quotes Heywood; and Shakespeare, who clothes with beauty the commonest sayings of his day, writes:

"The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on, And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood."

A great proverbial use is popularly made of similes or comparisons, and observation of the very varying characteristics of the animals around them soon supplied our forefathers with an abundant store of these. "All that is required," as Bland, an old proverb-collector, states, "in forming this species of adage is that the person or thing used as a comparison be generally known or reputed to possess the property attributed to it."

As examples of the sort of thing we find amongst similes suggested by various beasts: "As greedy as a pig," "as surly as a bear," "as cunning as a fox," "as quiet as a mouse," "as poor as a church mouse," "as obstinate as a mule," "as sharp as a weasel," "as fierce as a lion," "as timid as a hare," "as mischievous as a monkey," "as faithful as a dog,"

"as quiet as a lamb," "as playful as a kitten," "as sly as a cat," "as patient as an ox," or "as weak as a rat," and "as wet as a drowned rat."

"As drunk as a rat" may have arisen from an idea that the creature imbibed too freely from the liquors often stored in the cellars it frequented. In Borde's "Book of Knowledge," 1542, we find the pa.s.sage, "I wyll be dronken other whyles as a rat." These sayings sometimes refer to old beliefs that are now exploded. "As uneven as a badger" arose from an idea that the badger's legs are shorter on one side than on the other. "As melancholy as a hare" was a saying that sprang from the belief that the flesh of a hare engendered melancholy in those who partook of it, and that this effect was naturally produced from the unhappy disposition of the animal itself. Another saying, and one that has come down to the present day, is, "As mad as a March hare."[188:A]

Amongst the similes derived from bird nature we find: "As hoa.r.s.e as a raven," "as stupid as an ostrich," "as innocent as a dove," "as chattering as a jay," "as plump as a partridge," "as proud as a peac.o.c.k," "as bald as a coot," "as black as a crow," "as giddy as a goose," "as dull (or as wise) as an owl," "as blithe as a lark," and "as rare as a black swan." To our forefathers the idea of a black swan seemed an absolute contradiction, and to say, as was said in cla.s.sic days, "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno," was to express at once the greatest impossibility the speaker could imagine.[188:B] Many things have happened since then, and amongst them the discovery of Australia and its singular fauna.

"As slippery as an eel," "as flat as a flounder," "as dead as a herring," "as round as a roach," are other well-used similes. "As thirsty as a fish," "as busy as a bee," "as blind as a bat," "as spiteful as a toad," are also in common use. The spitefulness of the toad arose from an old belief in his venomous nature and his prompt.i.tude in spitting poison on those who molested him. We also hear, "as merry as a cricket" or "as a grig." It has been conjectured that this latter should be, "as a Greek," and in support of this the Shakespearean pa.s.sage, "Then she's a merry Greek," may be brought forward, and others of like tenor might be cited. "As blind as a beetle" doubtless arose from the way that some species have of blundering into the wayfarer in the dusk of the evening. The common dor-beetle, the c.o.c.kchafer, the stag-beetle, and others supply us with ill.u.s.trations of this. Sir Thomas Brown, in his interesting book on "Vulgar Errours," writes: "Slow worms are accounted blind, and the like we affirm proverbially of the beetle: although their eyes be evident." Udall writes: "Proude Ierusalem deserued not to haue this pre-eminence, which, albeit she were in every dede as blynde as a betell, yet thought herselfe to haue a perfect good syght, and for that cause was more vncurable"; while in the "Mirror for Magistrates" we find: "Say not the people well, that Fortune fauours fooles? So well they say, I thinke, which name her beetle-blind."

To compare a man out of his element to a fish out of water is a well-worn and familiar simile. Chaucer writes that "A monk whan he is cloysterless is likned till a Fissh that is watreles." This ill.u.s.tration of the unhappy condition of the monk outside his cloister is found not uncommonly, the earliest perhaps being in a Greek "Life of St Anthony,"

that is certainly not later than the year 373. Wyclif, for instance, writes: "For as they seyn that groundiden in these cloystris thes men myghten no more dwelle out therof than fiss mighte dwelle out of water."

Some fish, as the tench, are much more tenacious of life when removed from their native element than others, and the saying that we have already quoted, "as dead as a herring," originated from the fact that this fish is in a marked degree unable to survive a very short removal from the sea.

The household surroundings of our ancestors readily supplied them with many apt similes readily understood by all. Of these we may instance: "As thin as a rake," "as round as a tub," "as cold as ice," "as dull as ditch-water," "as rough as a nutmeg-grater," "as hard as iron," "as smooth as a pebble," "as deep as a well," "as cool as a cuc.u.mber," "as soft as wool," "as hard as nails," "as stiff as a poker," "as light as a feather," "as flat as a pancake," "as dry as a bone," and "as fresh as paint." "As naked as a needle" occurs in "Piers Plowman," the only place we have come across it. "As dead as a door-nail" no doubt owes some of its popularity to its alliteration; it is sometimes "as dead as a dore-tree." In "Wit Restored," 1658, we find, "As dead as a dore-nayle"; and in "2 King Henry IV." Falstaff exclaims, "What! is the old king dead?" and Pistol replies, "As nail in door." In a much older work than either of these we find, in the description of a tournament: "Thurth the bold bodi he bar him to the erthe as ded as dornayl"; while another ma.n.u.script reads: "Feith withoute fait is feblere than nought, and as ded as a dorenail"--faith without works is dead. Piers Plowman says on this, "Feith withouten the feet is right nothyng worthi, and as dead as a dore-tree." The door-tree is the door-post, once part of a living tree, but now dead; while the door-nails are the equally moribund nails that in mediaeval days studded the surface of the door.

Other similes from the furniture or other details of the house or its surroundings were, "as clear as a bell," referring to its tone, or "as sound as a bell," referring to its freedom from cracks that would destroy its sounding powers. We also have "as hot as toast," or "as crusty as a houshold loaf." "As clean as a whistle," or perhaps "as clear as a whistle." Those who have seen a country boy making a whistle from a bit of elder or other pithy or hollow wood, and then seen the final peeling of the bark and the revealing of the light green of the spotless underwood thereby, would give their vote probably in favour of "clean." It has been suggested again that the word means empty, a whaler that returns unsuccessfully from the fis.h.i.+ng-ground being technically called "clean." On the other hand, the word "clear" may suggest either the quality of the sound or the necessity for their being no stoppage or impediment in the tube. Some will brush aside both explanations and say that the thing in question is not a whistle at all but a whittle, the big knife that butchers use, and that the notion really is that the thing in question, whatever it may be that calls forth the comparison, is cut off as cleanly and clearly as if it had been done by a whittle.

To be "as like as two peas" is a very happy simile, as all who have ever sh.e.l.led peas will recognise. "As right as a trivet" is still an expression that may be heard from time to time. What those who use it quite mean by it it might perhaps puzzle them to explain. Some tell us that the trivet is a three-legged thing and must therefore necessarily stand firm, while we know by experience that a four-legged article will not always do so. Others tell us that this valuable quality of rightness depends on its being truly rectangular, as if it be not accurately made it will not fit the bars to which we would attach it, and will not give a level surface to stand pot or kettle on. Whatever the true explanation may be the rightness of a trivet is an article of popular faith, and no theorising will have any power to upset our firm belief in its rect.i.tude. "As big as a parson's barn" refers to the olden time when the minister of the parish received his t.i.thes in kind instead of in cash, and had to find sufficient stowage-room accordingly for these contributions.

Various callings were also laid under contribution in the quest for similes. Thus are: "As hungry as a hunter," "as dusty as a miller," "as black as a sweep," or a coal-heaver or a collier, "as sober as a judge,"

and "as drunk as a lord"--this latter being a relic of the old times when men of wealth and influence thought it no shame to give way to intoxication, and one of the duties of the butler, having supplied them with wine, was to loosen the cravat of any gentlemen who showed any signs of apoplexy, and to generally make their stay beneath the table as comfortable as possible. "As mad as a hatter" is really a corruption of the French, "Il raisonne comme une huitre"--he reasons like an oyster, and has no a.s.sociation with the gentlemen who provide our head-gear. The French proverb, we need scarcely point out, is sarcastic. The oyster when crossed in love, it will be remembered, is thus again made mock of and its feelings derided.

The various colours of the objects that meet our view are also pressed into the service of the seeker after similes; thus we have the excellent one, "as white as snow." We also find "as yellow as a guinea," a coin we rarely see, but familiar enough when this saying was to the fore. "As red as a rose" was common enough as a popular saying, but it is not so happy as many, seeing that roses are not by any means always red. "As red as a lobster" is above reproach if only we come across the creature after he has pa.s.sed through the boiling stage, and "as white as a sheet"

will pa.s.s muster. "As green as gra.s.s" is admirably descriptive, and "as grey as a badger" will do very well. "As brown as a berry" is more open to question, unless indeed it be a roasted coffee-bean. Berries are white, red, yellow, green, purple, orange, black, but we really cannot at this moment recall a brown one, so that it seems as though to be true we should say "as un-brown as a berry!" Black invites many comparisons.

"As midnight," "as coal," "as ink," "as pitch," "as jet," are a few of these.

We were gratified to learn from a Brazilian that they have a simile, "as reliable as an Englishman." Job is of course the model of patience, Solomon of wisdom, Crsus of wealth, and we have also "as true as Troilus," though the simile never took hold of the popular fancy. He was the Shakespearean ideal of unshaken constancy, and he declares that,

"After all comparisons of truth, As truth's authentic author to be cited, As true as Troilus shall crown up the verse."

"As true as steel" is the more ordinary simile that rises to one's memory. Other qualities, good and bad, that have supplied material for the makers of similes are: "Swift as an arrow," "deaf as a post," "ugly as sin," "cold as charity," "bright as the sun," "changeable as the moon," "sweet as sugar," "sour as vinegar," "hard as a diamond," "good as gold," "changeable as a weatherc.o.c.k," "quick as lightning," "firm as a rock," "soft as silk," "clear as crystal," "bitter as gall," "as rosy as an apple," "as cross as two sticks," "as bright as a new pin." Our list has no pretension to be complete--doubtless many others might be recalled; we have, as we write these words, remembered that we have overlooked "as plain as a pikestaff" and "as tight as a drum." Many such omissions will be duly noted by our readers, but our full justification will be found in the fact that we have had no desire or intention to make our list all-embracing. If those we have given are sufficiently representative of the sort of thing we have had under consideration, our object is gained.

FOOTNOTES:

[162:A] This is sometimes rendered "saddling the wrong horse." Cicero, before the Christian era, thus quoted it. His writings and orations teem with proverbs--the foolishness of trying to kill two birds with one stone, the undignified spectacle of a tempest in the cla.s.sic equivalent of a tea-cup, the statement that while there is life there is hope, and many other such adages familiar to ourselves being introduced.

[165:A] "Give a dog an ill name and hang him, and it may be added, if you give a man, or race of men, an ill name, they are very likely to do something that deserves hanging."--WALTER SCOTT, _Guy Mannering_. The French say, "Le bruit pend l'homme."

"_Clown._ Oh, Maister, you are half-hanged!

"_n.o.body._ Hanged. Why, man?

"_Clown._ Because you have an ill name: a man had almost as good serve no master as serve you."--"n.o.body and Somebody,"

1606.

[166:A] "Qui veut noyer son chien, l'accuse de rage."

[167:A] A school-boy, writing an essay on the cat, put down that it was said to have nine lives, but he added that he did not now need them, because of Christianity. This, quaint as it is, has a great truth wrapped up in it--the love of mercy, including kindness to animals, that is one of the points of the teaching of Christ.

[168:A] John Dunton, for instance, wrote in the year 1705, "A cat may look on a Queen, or a Satyr on her present Majesty."

[168:B] Tusser. "Fray" may be taken as foray, while "fay" is faith--_i.e._ by my faith.

[170:A] The Germans vary this into, "Wenn der Esel auch eine Lowenhaut tragt, die Ohren gucken vor"--"Even when the donkey wears the lion's skin its ears peep out and betray it."

[171:A]

"As long as I am riche reputed With solemn voyce I am saluted; But wealthe away once worne, Not one wyll say 'Good morne.'"

--_Harleian MS., sixteenth century._

[171:B] "Jesus did vouchsafe to aunswere by a riddle and a prouerbiall saying: teaching that it was an other manier of kyngdome whereof the prophetes had spoken."--_Udall._

[172:A] A quaint old English proverb warns us that "A hog upon trust grunts until he is paid for," a very discomposing habit.

[172:B] "For thilke verrei prouerbe befelde to him--The hound turnyde agen to his castyng, and a sowe to waischen in walewing in fenne."--_2 Peter_, chap. ii. Wyclif's translation.

[174:A] The date we have given is that of Suetonius, from whose writings we quote it. It was probably an ancient saying in his day.

[175:A] "Dat Deus immiti cornua curta bovi."

[175:B] Pliny, in speaking of the goose, says that "It may be thought there is visible in the creature some sparks of wisdom, for Lacydes, the philosopher, is said to have had one of them attached to him as a constant companion, which would never leave him night or day, neither in the open street nor in the baths." One does not quite see where the wisdom comes in. It appears either to suggest that the bird showed great fidelity, or, as some might think it, became an intolerable nuisance.

However that may be, Pliny points to a remedy for the latter when he adds quaintly--"But our countrymen are wiser, who know how to make a dainty of their liver!" He then goes on to describe the cramming to which they are exposed. Polladius says that they were chiefly fed on powdered figs. Martial also mentions the great size to which the liver was developed--all of which goes to show that "There is nothing new under the sun," and that the equivalent of Strasburg pate has been an appreciated delicacy for many years before Derby hampers were dreamt of.

[179:A] "One swallow proueth not that summer is neare."--"Treatise against Dauncing," 1577.

[181:A]

"The eagle suffers little birds to sing, And is not careful what they mean thereby."

[182:A]

"Pheasants are fools if they invite the hawk to dinner.

And wer't not madness then To make the fox surveyor of the fold."

--_Shakespeare._

[182:B] On the other hand, the Portuguese warn those who do not want to be taken for wolves not to wear the skin: "Quem nao quer ser loubo nao che vista a pelle."

[184:A] "That's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion."--SHAKESPEARE, _King Henry V._

[185:A] As, for instance, in Gascoigne's "Steele Glas," 1575, where we read: