Italy Revisited by Mary Melfi

Folk Sayings Animals
Around the world - Pre 1969 or Italy, Click here

French speaking countries

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: French Folk Sayings, Axioms or Proverbs on Monkeys, Elephants...

o in English translation (literally): You can't teach old monkeys how to make faces.
- English equivalent: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
- French original: Ce n'est pas aux vieux singes qu'on apprend a faire des grimaces.

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English speaking countries

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: English Folk Sayings, Axioms or Proverbs on Insects

A

o An arrogant bug is a cocky roach.

o As snug as a bug in a rug (Meaning: To feel very comfortable under the bed covers.).

B
o The birds and the bees.

C
o A closed mouth catches no flies (Meaning: It is often safer to keep one's mouth shut.).
o Crazy as a Bessie bug. (Archaic)

F
o Family and friends welcome. Fleas are not.
o A fly may sting a horse and make him wince.

L
o Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.

Y
o You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (Meaning: Kind words are more effective than harsh ones.).

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German speaking countries

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: German Proverbs, Axioms or Folk Sayings on Insects

B

o A blind man swallows many a fly.

C

o A close mouth catches no flies.

H

o in English translation: Hit two flies with one blow.
- Meaning: Do two things at the same time.
- Equivalent: Kill two birds with one stone.
- German original: Zwei fliegen mit einer klappe schlagen.

T
o in English translation (Literally): To make an elephant out of a mosquito.
English equivalent: To make a mountain out of a molehil.
Meaning to blow things out of proportion.
German original: Aus einer mucke einen elefanten machen.

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French speaking countries

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: French Proverbs, Axioms or Folk Sayings on Insects

o Don't imitate the fly before you have wings.

o in English translation: You don't catch flies with vinegar. Equivalent: Honey catches more flies than vinegar.
French original: On ne prend pas les mouches avec du vinaigre.

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Spanish Speaking Countries

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: Spanish Proverbs, Axioms or Folk Sayings on Insects

o in English translation: A closed mouth catches no flies.
- Spanish original: En boca cerrada no entran moscas.

o in English translation (Literally): Fleas jump on a skinny dog.
- Meaning: The weak attract problems.
- Spanish original: A perro flaco se le suben las pulgas.

o Laws catch flies but let hornets go free.

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Around the World

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: The following list was taken from the book, "Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages" classified by subject, arranged alphabetically, compiled by Robert Christy (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1887).

Ass.
1. A braying ass eats little hay. Ital.

2. A dull ass near home needs no spur.

3. A goaded ass must needs trot. Fr, Ital.

4. A living ass is better than a dead doctor. Ital.

5. A low ass is easy to ride on. Turk.

6. A thistle is a fat salad for an ass's mouth.

7. All asses do not go on four feet. Ger.

8. All asses have not long ears. Ger,

9. An ass covered with gold is more respected
than a good horse with a pack saddle.

10. An ass does not hit himself twice against the
same stone. Dutch,

11. An ass is but an ass though laden with gold.

12. An ass is cold even in the summer solstice.

13. An ass is the gravest beast, an owl the gravest bird.

14. An ass let him be who brays at an ass.

15. An ass loaded with gold climbs to the top of
a castle.

16. An ass must be tied where the master will
have him.

17. An ass's tail will not make a sieve. Ital,

18. An ass that carries a load is better than a lion
that devours men.

19. An ass that kicketh against the wall receiveth
the blow himself.

20. An ass to an ass is a beauty; Latin.

21. An ass's trot does not last long. Ital.

22. An ass was never cut out for a lap-dog.

23. An ass with her colt goes straight to the mill.
Sp.

24. Asses' bridge.
The fifth proposition of Euclid.

25. Asses carry the oats and horses eat them.
Dutch.

26. Asses die and wolves bury them.

27. Asses must not be tied up with horses. Fr.

28. Asses sing badly because they pitch their
voices too high. Ger.

29. Asses that bray most eat least.

30. Better an ass that carries me than a horse
that throws me. Ger,, For.

31. Better be killed by robbers than by the kick
of asses. For

32. Better have a bad ass than be your own ass.
Sp., For.

33. Better strive with an ill ass than carry the
wood one's self.

34. Die not, mine ass, for the spring-time is coming and with it clover. Turk.

35. Either the ass will die or he that gossips it. Sp.

36. Even an ass will not fall twice in the same
quicksand.

37. Even an ass loves to hear himself bray.

38. For a stubborn ass a hard goad. Fr,

39. For a stubborn ass a stubborn driver. Fr,

40. For an ass buffoon is the best teacher. Ger.

41. Give an ass oats and he runs after thistles.

Dutch,

42. Good, good, but God keep my ass out of his
rye. Sp.

43. Hay is more acceptable to an ass than gold.

Latin,

44. He that is good for something is the ass of
the public.

45. He that makes himself an ass must not take
it ill if men ride him.

46. Horses run after benefices and asses get
them.

47. If any one say that one of thine ears is the
ear of an ass regard it not; if he say so of them
both procure thyself a bridle.

48. If one, two, three say you are an ass put on a
bridle.

49. It is better to strive with a stubborn ass than
to carry the wood on one's back. Sp,

50. Lay the burden on the slow-paced ass. Latin

51. Make yourself an ass and every one will lay
a sack on you. Ger.

52. Many guests matter little to the ass of the
inn. Wolqffs. ? {Africa.)

53. Nothing passes between asses but kicks.
Ital.

54. One ass among monkeys is grinned at by all.
sp.

55. One ass nicknames another long-ears. Ger,

56. One ass scratches another. Latin,

57. One's own ass is better than his neighbor's
stallion. Ger,

58. Out of a little grass comes a great ass. Ger,

59. Put not an embroidered crupper on an ass.

60. Rather an ass that carries than a horse that
throws. Ital.

61. "Rough as it runs," as the boy said when his
ass kicked him.

62. She was a neat dame that washed the ass's
face.

63. The ass and his driver do not think alike.
Ger,, Dutch,

64. The ass boasted there was no voice equal to
his, And no gait equal to that of his elder sister. Tamil.

65. The ass brays when he pleases.

66. The ass calls the cock big-headed. M, Greek.

67. The ass carries corn to the mill and gets thistles. Ger.

68. The ass does not know the worth of his tail
until he has lost it. Ital.

69. The ass embraced the thistle, and they found
themselves relations. For,

70. The ass even eating oats dreaths of thistles.
Ger,

71 . The ass is not learned though he be loaded
with books. Ger.

72. The ass knows well in whose face he brays.
Sp.

73. The ass loaded with gold still eats thistles.

74. The ass of many owners is eaten by wolves.
sp.

75. The ass of a king is still but an ass. Ger,

76. The ass that brays most eats least.

77. The ass that carrieth wine drinketh water.

78. The ass that is common property is always
the worst saddled.

79. The ass that is hungry eats thistles. For,

80. The ass .that trespasser on a stranger's premises will leave them laden with wood, i.e,, well cudgelled. For.

81. The ass's hide is used to the stick. Sp,

82. The ass's son brays one hour daily. For,, Latin.

83. The braying of an ass does not reach heaven.

Ital,

84. The golden ass passes everywhere.

85. The golden covering does not make the ass
a horse. Ger,

86. The mountaineer's ass carries wine and drinks
water. Fr.

87. The starving ass does not count the blows.

M. Greek.

88. There are more asses than carry sacks. Ital.

89. There goes more than one ass to market.

90. There is no ass but brays. Turk.

91. What good can it do an ass to be called a lion?

92. What's the use of putting honey in an ass's
mouth? Ger.

93. When all men say you are an ass, it is time to
bray.

94. When the ass bears too light a load, he wants
to lie down. Russian,

95. When the ass is too happy, he begins dancing
on the ice. Dutch.

96. Wherever an ass falleth, there will he never
fall again.

97. Wherever an ass is crowned to fame.

Both town and country bear the blame. Ger.

98. Who is in great haste should not ride an ass.

Ger.

99. Who would save an ass against his will?
Horace.

99. Who would save an ass against his will?
Horace.

BEE
1. A drone is one who does not labor. Bea.

2. A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay,
But a swarm in July is not worth a fly.

3. Bees do not become hornets.

4. Better two drones be preserved than one good
bee perish.

5. Drones suck not eagles' blood but rob bee-
hive. Shaks.

6. From the same flower the bee extracts honey
and the wasp gall. Ital.

7. Good bees never turn drones.

8. He has a bee in his bonnet lug.

9. I want no drones in my bee-hive. Ger.

10. Old bees yield no honey.

11. One bee is better than a handful of flies.
Ger. Sp,

12 The bee from his industry in the summer eats
honey all the winter.

13. Whatever the bee sucks turns to honey and
whatever the wasp sucks turns to venom. Por.

14. When bees are old they yield no honey.

15. When the bee sucks it makes honey, when
the spider, poison.

16. Where bees are there is honey.

Bird.
1. A bird can roost but on one branch. A mouse
can drink no more than its fill from a river. Chinese,

2. A bird is known by its note, and a man by
his talk.

3. A bird may be caught with a snare that will
not be shot. Dan.

4. A bird may be ever so small yet it always
seeks a nest of its own. Dan,

5. A little bird wants but a little nest.

6. A rare bird upon the earth, something like a
black swan.

7. A sly bird is often caught by two feet. M. Greeks.

8. According to his pinions the bird flies. Dan,

9. An old bird is not caught with chaff.

10. Bird never flew so high but it had to come to
the ground. Dutch.

11. Birds of prey do not flock together. For

12. Birds of prey do not sing. Ger,

13. Birds pay equal honors to all men.

14. Each bird loves to hear himself sing.

15. Early birds pick up the crumbs (worms).

16. Every bird is known by its feathers.

17. Every bird likes its own nest best.

18. Every bird must hatch its own eggs.

19. Every bird needs its own feathers. Dan,

20. Every bird sings as it is beaked. Dutch,

21. Every hooked beak is maintained by prey.
Fr,

22. Every shot does not bring down a bird.
Dutch,

23. Fine birds are commonly plucked.

24. Fine feathers make fine birds.

25. He that will take the bird must not scare it

26. He will ill catch a flying bird that cannot keep
his own in a cage.

27. However high a bird may soar, it seeks its
food on earth. Dan,

28. If every bird take back its own feathers, you'll
be naked.

29. If the partridge had the woodcock's thigh,
It would be the best bird that ever did fly.

30. If you be false to both beasts and birds, you
must like the bat fly only at night.

31. If you can't get the bird, get one of its feathers. Dan,

32. Ill fares the young bird in the urchin's hand.

For,

33. It is a dirty bird that fouls her own nest.

34. It is a foolish bird that stays the laying salt
upon her tail. *

35. It is a lazy bird that will not build its own
nest. Dan,

36. It is hard to catch birds with an empty hand.

37. It is rash to sell the bird on the bough.

38. Let no shovel beaked bird ever enter your
yard. Sp.

39. Little bird, little nest. Sp.

40. Little by little the bird builds its nest, J*r,

41. Old birds are hard to pluck. Ger.

42. Old birds are not caught with cats. Dutch,

43. Old birds are not caught with chaff.

44. Old birds are not caught with new nets.

45. One beats the bush, another catches the bird.

Ger., Dutch.

46. Small birds must have meat.

47. The bird feels not its wing heavy. Turk,

48. The bird once out of hand is hard to recover.

Dan,

49. The bird that can sing and won't sing
must be made sing.

50. The bird that offers itself to the net is fair
game to the fowler. Oriental.

51 . The first bird gets the first grain. Dan,

52. The fowler's pipe sounds sweet until the bird
is caught.

53. The nest made, the bird dead. For.
54. The nest of a blind bird is made by God.
Turk.

55. The nobody fowler catches no bird.

56. Though the bird may fly over your head let
it not make its nest in your hair. Dan,

57. Two birds of prey do not keep company with
each other. Sp.

58. When the cage is ready the bird is flown.

59. Where the bird was hatched it haunts.
Dutch.

60. You cannot catch old birds with chalf.

Camel.
1. A camel in Media dances in a little cab.

2. A mangy camel bears the load of many
camels. M. Greek,

3. Even a mangy camel will carry more than a
herd of asses. Latin,

4. Everything with a crooked neck is not a
camel. Ger,

5. If the camel once get his nose in the tent his
body will soon follow. Arabian,

6. Many old camels carry the skins of the
young ones to the market.

7. The camel carries sugar but eats thorns.
Kurd.

8. The camel going to seek horns lost his ears.
Turk,

9. The camel has his own opinion and the camel
driver has his. African,

10. The camel is dancing. {Said of one out of his
dement^ Latin.

11. The camel that travels often to Mecca will re-
turn lame at last. Arabian.

12. The kick of a camel is soft but stunning.
Turk,

15. "Why is your neck crooked?" was asked of
the camel. "What have I straight? " was the reply. Turk.

Cat.
1. A baited cat may grow as fierce as a lion.

2. A bawbee cat may look at a king.

3. A blate cat makes a proud mouse.

4. A cat may look at a king. Ger, Dutch,

5. A cat pent up becomes a lion. Ital

6. A cat that licks the spit is not to be trusted
with roast meat. Ital,

7. A cat that meweth much catcheth but few
mice. Dutch,

8. A mewing cat is never a mouser. Sp.

9. A smitten cat was never a good hunter.

10. All cats are alike gray in the night.

11. All cats are not to be set down for witches.

Fr.

12. An old cat laps as much as a young kitten.

13. An old cat likes young mice. M, Greek.

14. Cat after cat kind.

14. Cats eat what hussies spare.

15. Cats hide their claws.

16. Don't look for five feet on a cat.
Don Quixote.

17. He is like a cat, he always falls on his feet.

18. He who puts by for the night puts by for the
cat.

19. He's like a singed cat, better than he's
likely.

20. Honest is the cat when the meat is out of
reach.

21. How can the cat help it if the maid be a
fool. Ital.

22. I will keep no more cats than will catch
mice.

23. It is the cat and the dog that go where they
are not called. Turk,

24. It takes a good many mice to kill a cat.

Dan.

25. Keep no more cats than will catch mice.

26. Muffled cats are not good mousers.

27. Neither red-haired cat or dog is good. Sp,

28. Never was a mewing cat a good mouser.
Ital

29. Never was cat or dog drowned that could
but see the shore.

30. No one gives a cat to a hyena to keep.

Western Africa.

31. Singed cats live long. 6er,

32. The cat always leaves her mark upon her
friend. Sp.

33. The cat and dog may kiss yet are none the
better friends.

34. The cat broke the china.
33. The cat hath eaten her count.

36. The cat in gloves catches no mice.

37. The cat incites the mouse to a feast.

38. The cat is a good friend but scratches.
Sp,, For,

39. The cat is absent the mice dance. M, Greek,

40. The cat is hungry when a cries contents her.

41. The cat is in the cream pot,

42. The cat is in the dove house. Sp.

43. The cat knows whose lips she licks.

44. The cat loves fish but is loth to wet her feet.

Ital, Ger.

45. The cat sees not the mouse ever.

46. The cat steals the rice and the dog comes
and eats it. Chinese.

47. The cat well knows whose beard she licks.

For.

48. The cat's curse hurts the mice less than her
bite. Livonian,

49. The cats that drive away mice are as good as
those that catch them. Ger.

50. The liquorish cat gets many a rap.

51. The more you stroke the cat's back the more
she sets up her tail. Ital,

52. The scalded cat (or dog) dreads cold water.

Ital, Sp.

53. There is a cat in the meal tub.

54. They that bourd wi' cats, maun count uposcarts.

55. They whip the cat if our mistress does not
spin. Sp.

56. Though the cat wink awhile, yet :3ure she is
not blind.

57. Thou wilt get nae mair o' the cat but the
skin.

58. To a good cat a good rat. Fr,

59. To buy a cat in a poke. Fr,

60. Wanton kittens make sober cats.

61. "We are all well placed" said the cat, when
she was seated on the bacon. Dan,

62. Well might the cat wink when both her eyes
were out.

63. When cat and mouse agree the farmer has no
chance. Dan,

64. When cats are mousing they don't mew.
Dutch.

65. When the cat's away the mice will play.
Fr, Ger. Sp., Dan. For.

66. When the cat sleeps the mice play. Dutch,

67. When the cat's away it's jubilee to the mice.
Dutch.

68. When the cat wlnketh, little wots the mouse
what the cat thinketh.

69. When the weasel and a cat make a marriage
it is a very ill presage.

70. Which is the cat and which the rat? Hassan
Rajah of Borneo asked this question of Mr. Brooke
referring to the relative strength of England and
Holland.

71. Who is born of a cat will run after mice.
72. Who will not feed the cats, must feed the
mice and rats. Ger,

Chicken.
1. A capon eight months old is just for a king's
table. Sp. For.
2. A cock is crouse on his own midden.
3. A cock is valiant on his own dunghill.

4. A good cock was never fat. For,

5. A large cock does not suffer a small one to
crow.

6. A laying hen is better than a standing mill.
Scotch.

7. A setting hen never grows fat.

8. All cocks must have a comb. Dutch,

9. Black hens lay white eggs. Dutch,

10. Even clever hens sometimes lay their eggs
among nettles. Dan.

11. Every cock scratches toward himself.

12. Every hen knows how to tread on her own
chickens. Negro Africans of the West Indies,

13. Fat hens lay few eggs. Ger,

14. He who feeds the hen ought to have the egg.

Dan.

15. Hens are free of horse corn. Dutch,

16. Hens like to lay where they see an egg.
Dutch.

17. If the hen had not cackled, we should not
know she. had laid an egg. Ital,

18. In cold weather cocks crow at midnight.

Chinese,

19. It is a bad hen that eats at your house and
lays at another's. Sp,

20. It is a sairy hen that cannot scrape for one
bird.

21. It is not easy to guard the hen that lays her
eggs abroad. Dan,

22. It is not the hen that cackles most that lays
the most eggs.

23. Knowing hens lay even in nettles. Ger,

24. Large fowls will not eat small grain. Chinese,

25. Let the hen live though it be with the pip.

Don Quixote,

26. Prepare a nest for the hen and she will lay
eggs for you. Por.

27. She holds up her head like a hen drinking water.

28. The chicken gives advice to the hen.

29. The chicken is the country's but the city eats
it.

30. The cock often crows without a victory.
Dan,

31. The cock shuts his eyes when he crows be-
cause he knows it by heart. Ger,

32. The cock that sings untimely must have its
head cut off. Turk,

33. The hen flies not far unless the cock flies
with her. Dan,

34. The hen is ill off when the egg teaches her
how to cackle.

35. The hen lays upon an egg.

36. The hen likes to lay in a nest where there are
eggs already. Ger.

37. The hen lives by pickings as the lion by prey.
Dan^

38. The hen ought not to cackle in presence of
the cock. Fr,

39. The hen sits if it be but one egg.
Don Quixote.

40. The hen that stays at home picks up the
crumbs.

41. The hen's eyes are with her chickens. Fr.

42. The hen's eyes follow her eggs. Galician.

43. The scraping hen will get something, the
crouching hen nothing.

44. To force a hen to hatch chickens. Chinese.

45. To get the chicks, one must coax the hen.
Fr.

46. Where the cock is the hen does not crow.
For.

47. You are as busy as a hen with one chick.

48. Young cocks love no cooks.

Cow.
1. A cow from afar gives plenty of milk. Fr,

2. A cow is not called dappled unless she has
a spot. Dam

3. A cow may catch a hare.

4. A cursed cow has short, horns.

5. All is not butter that comes from a cow.

6. An ill cow may have a good calf.

7. Barley straw's good fodder when the cow
gives water.

8. Every cow licks her own calf. Servian.

9. He that owns the cow goes nearest her tail.

Scotch,

10. He who recovers but the tail of his cow does
not lose all. Fr,

11. If you buy the cow take the tail into the
bargain.

12. If you sell the cow you sell her milk too.

13. It by the head the cow gi'es milk. {By
goodfeeding.)

14. It is not for the good of the cow when she is
driven in a carriage. Dan,

15. It is not until' the cow has lost her tail that
she discovers its value. Ger.

16. It is the old cow's notion that she. never was
a calf. Fr.

17. Let him who owns the cow take her by the
tail.

18. Like the cow that gives a good pail of milk
and then kicks it over.

19. Like Mrs. Peabody's cow that drank all the
swill and gave no milk. Gm. Jo, Geiger,

20. Loud in the loan was never a good much
cow.

21. Many a cow stands in the meadow and looks
wistfully at the common. Dan, '

92. Many a good cow has a bad calf. Ger
23. Milk the cow but don't pull off the udder.
Dutch,

24." Of what use is it that the cow gives plenty of

milk if she upset the pail. Ger,

25. The beadle's cow may graze in the church-
yard. Ger.^ Dutch.

26. The cow give^ good milk but kicks over the
pail.

27. The cow gives milk through her mouth. {As
she satisfied Ger.

28. The cow is milked, not the ox; the sheep is
shorn, not the horse. Dan,

29. The cow licks no strange calf.

30. The cow that does not eat with the oxen,
either eats before or after them.

31. The cows that low most give the least milk.

Ger,

32. The cow that's first up gets the first o' the
dew.

33. The day is sure to come when the cow will
want her tail. Dan,

34. The laggard cow gets the sour grass. Dan,

35. *Tis well that wicked cows have short horns.

Dutch.

36. To come home like the parson's cow with a

calf at her foot

Crab.

1. The crab has not learned to keep his legs
straight. M, Greek.

2. The crab has stuck fast between two stones.
{Said of a person in difficulty.) Kaffir,

3. The crab of the wood is sauce very good for
the crab of the sea,
But the wood of the crab is sauce for the
drab, that will not her husband obey.

4. The greatest crabs are not always the best
meat.

5. You can never bring a crab to walk straight.

6. You look like a runner quote the devil to the
crab.

Crow.

1. A crow does not pick out a crow's eyes.

M. Greek.

2. A crow is never the whiter for often washing.

Dan,

3. An old crow croaks not for nothing.

Russian,

4. Crows are black all the world over. Chinese,

5. Crows are never the whiter for washing them-
selves.

6. Crows bewail the dead sheep and then eat
them.

7. Crows do not peck out crow's eyes. Por,

8. It is ill killing a crow with an empty sling.

9. It is not every hog that the crow will ride.

Dan,

10. Old crows are hard to catch. Ger,

11. One crow does not make a winter.

Ger., Dutch,

12. The crow thinks his own bird fairest.

13. The crow when stripped of her borrowed
feathers excites our laughter. Horace,

14. The crow will find its mate. Dan.

15. When the crow flies her tail follows.

Cuckoo.

1. More crafty than the cuckoo. {A cuckoo lays
her eggs in the nests of other birds,)

2. You are like the cuckoo : you have but one
song.

Dog.

1. A bad dog never sees the wolf. Geo, Herbert

2. A barking dog was never a good hunter. For

3. A bashful dog never fattens.

4. A cursed cur should be short tied.

5. A cur's tail grows fast. Ital

6. A dog has nothing to do and no time to rest.

7. A dog in the manger, that neither eats nor
lets others eat. Por

8. A dog is a dog whatever his color. Dan.

9. A dog is never offended at being pelted with
bones.

10. A dog is stout on his own dung-hill. Fr.

11. A dog knows his own master. Turk.
12. A dog may look at a bishop. Fr,

13. A dog never bit me but I had some of his
hair. Ital

14. A dog of an old dog, a colt of a young horse.
Some say, a calf of a young cow and a colt of an
old horse.)

15. A dog's life, hunger and ease.

16. A dog that bites silently. {An insidious
traducer.) Latin.

17. A dog will not cry if you beat him with a
bone.

18. A dog with a bone knows no friend. Dutch.

19. A good bone never falls to a good dog.

20. A good dog deserves a good bone.

21. A good dog hunts by instinct. Fr.

22. A good dog never barks at fault. Fr,

23. A good hound hunts by kind. Fr.

24. A hair of the dog cures the bite. Ital.
25. A hunting dog will at last die a violent death.
Chinese,

26. A kitchen dog was never good for the chase.
Ital

27. A lean dog gets nothing but fleas. Sp,

28. A man may provoke his own dog to bite him.

29. A man's best friend is his dog, better even
than his wife.

30. A man who wants to drown his dog says he is
mad. Fr,

31. A mastiff groweth the fiercer for being tied
up.

32. A mischievous cur must be tied short. Fr.

33. A shock dog is starved and nobody believes
It. Sp.

34. A sorry dog is not worth the whistling after.

35. A staff is quickly found to beat a dog. Shaks.

36. A stranger's care makes old the dog.

if/. Greek,

37. All bite the bitten dog. For,

38. Although dogs together fight they are very
soon all right. Chinese.

39. An ill hound comes halting home.

40. An ill-tempered dog has a scarred nose.
Dan.

41. An old dog biteth sore.

42. An old dog cannot alter its way of barking.

43. An old dog does not bark for nothing.

Fr, Ital

44. An old dog does not grow used to the collar.
Ital

45. An old dog will learn no tricks.

46. A waking dog barks from afar at a sleeping
lion.

47. Barking dogs don't bite. Fr., Ger., Dutch,

48. Better have a dog fawn upon you than bite
you.

49. Better have a dog for your friend than your
enemy. Dutch.

50. Beware of a silent dog and still water.

51. Beware the dog himself ; his shadow does not
bite. Dan,

52. Beware of the dog that does not bark. For,

53. Brabbling curs never want sore ears.

54. By gnawing skin a dog learns to eat leather.

Dan

55. Cats and dogs do not go together without
wounds. Ger.

56. Cut off the dog's tail he remains a dog. Ital.

57. Dogs are hard drove when they eat dogs.

58. Dogs bark and the wind carries it away.

Russian,

59. Dogs bark as they are bred.

60. Dogs bark at those they don't know. Ital

61. Dogs begin in jest and end in earnest.

62. Dogs gnaw bones because they cannot swallow them.

63. Dogs have more good in them than men think
they have. Chinese,

64. Dogs have teeth in all countries. Sp,
65. Dogs love no companion in the kitchen.

Latin,

66. Dogs never go into mourning when a horse
dies.

67. Dogs ought to bark before they bite.

68. Dogs that hunt foulest scent the most faults.

69. Dogs that put up many hares kill none.

70. Dogs wag their tails not so much to you as
your bread.

71.0DO not give a dog bread every time he wags
his tail. Ital

72. Dumb dogs and still water are dangerous.
Ger.

73. Every dog hath its day, and every man his
hour.

74. Every dog is a lion at home.

75. Every dog is not a lion at home. Hal.

76. Flesh never stands so high but a dog will venture his legs for it.

77. Give dog an ill nanie and you may as well
hang him.

78. Have a care of a silent dog and still water.

79. He fells twa dogs wi' ae stane.

80. He is as good a Catholic as Duke Alva's dog
who ate flesh in Lent.

81. He that is bitten by a dog must apply some
of its hair. Dutch,

82. He that keeps another man's dog shall have
nothing left him but the line.

83. He that pelts every barking dog, must pick
up a great many stones.

84. He that wants to beat a dog is sure to find a
stick. Ital.

85. He that wants to hang a dog is sure to find a
rope. Dan,

86. He that wants to hang a dog says it bites the
sheep. Dan.

87. He that would hang his dog gives out at first
that he is mad.

88. He who has loaves has dogs. Hal

89. He who has not bread to spare should not
keep a dog. Sp.

90. He who would buy a sausage of a dog must
give him bacon in exchange. Dan.

91. Hold your dog in readiness before you start
your hare. Dutch.

92. Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings.

93. I had rather be a dog and bay the moon,
Than such a Roman. Shaks.

94. I will never keep a dog to bite me.

95. "I will not bite any dog " says the shepherd's
dog, "for I must save my teeth for the wolf." Ger.

96. I will not keep a dog and bark myself.

97. If the bitch were not in such haste she would
not litter blind puppies. Ger.

98. If the dog bark go in, if the bitch bark go out.

99. If the old dog bark he gives counsel.

100. If you eat a pudding at home your dog shall
have the skin.

101. If you would have the dog follow you, you
must give him bread. Sp., Dutch.

102. In the mouth of a bad dog falls many a good
bone.

103. It grieveth one dog that another goeth into
the kitchen. - Dutch.

104. It is a good dog that can catch anything.

105. It is a hard winter when dog eats dog.

106. It is all one whether you are bit by a dog or
a bitch. Fr.

107. It is an ill dog that deserves not a crust.

108. It is bad coursing with unwilling hounds.

Dutch.

109. It is bad for puppies to play with cub bears.

110. It is easy robbing -when the dog is quieted.
Ital.

111. It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog.
Ital, Dutch.

112. It is ill to waken sleeping dogs.

113. It is the nature of the greyhound to carry a
long tail. Ital.

114. Let a dog get a dish of honey and he will
jump in with both legs.

115. Let the dog bark so he does not bite me. Sp.

116. Like dogs that snarl about a bone
And play together when they've none.

Butler,

117. Little dogs start the hare but great ones
catch.

118. Mad dogs get their coats torn. Dan,
119. Make the dog your companion but hold fasi
your staff. M. Greek.

120. Many dogs are the death of the hare. J?an.

121. Many dogs soon eat up a horse.

122. Many ways to kill a dog besides hanging
him.

123. Mastiff never liked greyhound.

124. Never yet the dog our country fed, .
Betrayed the kindness or forgot the bread.

125. No mad dog runs seven years. Bulwer.

126. Not every dog that barks bites. Fr.

127. Old dogs bark not for nothing.

128. One dog growls to see another go into the
kitchen. Ger,

129. One must talk soothingly to the dog until he
has passed him. Fr,

130. On finding a stone we see no do^, on seeing
a dog we find no stone. TamiL

131. Quarrelling dogs come halting home.

132. Rear dogs and wolf cubs to rend you. Latin,

133. Snarling curs never want sore ears. Fr,

134. Spaniels that fawn when beaten will never
forsake their master.

135- Stones or bread ? one must have something in
hand for the dogs. Ital

136. That dog barks more out of custom than care
o^ the house.

137. The best dog leaps the stile first.

138. The dog barks and ^the ox feeds. Ital

139. The dog barks and the caravan passes. Turk,

140. The dog does not get bread every time he
wags his tail. Ger.
141. The dog gets into the mill under cover of the
ass. Ital

142. The dog guards the night, the cock rules the
morn. Chinese.

143. The dog has no aversion to a poor family.

Chinese,

144. The dog in his kennel barks at his fleas, the
dog that hunts does not feel them. Chinese,

145. The dog rages at the stone, not at him who
throws it. Ger,

146. The dog that starts the hare is as good as the
one that catches it. Ger,

147. The dog that barks much is never good for
hunting. Por,

148. The dog that bites does not bark in vain. ItaL

149. The dog that has been beaten with a stick is
afraid of its shadow. ItaL

150. The dog that has his bitch in town never
barks well.

151. The dog that is forced into the wood will not
hunt many deer. Dan.

152. That dog that is idle never tires of running.

Turk.

153. The dog that is quarrelsome and not strong,
woe to his hide. Ital

154. The dog that kills wolves is killed by wolves.

Sp., For.

155. The dog that licks ashes is not to be trusted
with flour. Ital

156. The dog wags his tail not for you but for
your bread. ItaL Sp., For.

157. The dog understands his master's mood.

Chinese

158. The dog who hunts foulest hits at most
faults.

159. The dog will not get free by biting his chain.

Dan,

160. The dogs bite the hindermost. Ger,

161. The dog's kennel is not a place to keep a
sausage. Dan,

162. The flitch hangs never so high but a dog will
look out for a bone. Dan,

163. The gardener's dog is neither full nor hungry. Sp.

164. The greyhound that starts many hares kills
none. Sp, For

165. The hair of the dog is good for his bite.

166. The hindmost dog may catch the hare.

167. The honest watch-dog never barks when his-
own friends come round.

168. The hound that lies in the kitchen is not
hungry. Ger.

169. The lean dog is all fleas. Sp,
170. The leaner the dog the fatter the flea. Ger,

171. The mad dog bites its master. For,

172. The watch-dog does hot get sweet milk unless
there be drowned mice in it. Dan.

173. The well-bred hound if he does not hunt to-
day will to-morrow. Sp

174. There are more ways to kill a dog that hanging.

175. There are good dogs of all sizes. Fr,

176. There are more ways to kill a dog than to
choke him to death on bread and butter.

177. There is danger when a dog has once tasted
flesh. Latin,

178. There is never wanting a dog to bark at you.

For.

179. There is no dog, be he ever so wicked, but
wags his tail. Ital

180. There is no showing the wolf to a bad dog.

Fr.

181. Though the mastiff be gentle, yet bite him not
on the lip. Sp, For,

182. Throw no stones at a sleeping dog. Dan,

183. Throw that bone to another dog. Sp., For,

184. Timid dogs bark worse than they bite.

Latin,

185. Timid dogs bark most. Ger,
186. *Tis ii good dog can catch anything.

187. *Tis an ill dog deserves not a crust.

188. 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest
bark.

189. To beat the dog in presence of the lion. Fr,

190. Wash a dog, comb a dog, still a dog remains
a dog. Fr,, Dan.

191. We'll bark ourselves ere we buy dogs so dear.

192. What, keep a dog and bark myself ! Ger,

193. What matters the barking of the dog that does
not bite.

194. When a dog is drowning every one offers him
water. Fr,

195. When a dog runs away, hit him ! hit him !

196. When a man will throw at a dog, he soon
finds a stone. Ger

197. When an old dog barks, look out.

Ger, Dutch.

198. When mastiffs fight, little curs will bark.

199. When the dog is awake the shepherd may
sleep. Ger.

100. When the dog is down every one is ready to
bite him. Dutch,

201. When the old dog barks he giveth counsel.

Sp,, For.

202. When two dogs fight for a bone the third runs
away with it. Dutch.

203. While the dogs growled at each other, the
wolves devoured the sheep. Fr.

204. While the dogs yelp the hares fly to the wood.

Dan,

205. While you trust to the dog the wolf slips into
the sheepfold.

206. Who has no bread to share should not keep a
dog. Sp,

207. Whoso is desirous of beating a dog will
readily find a stick. Latin,

208. With the hide of the dog its bite is cured

209. Yelping curs may anger mastiffs at last.

Donkey.
1. He that is a donkey and believes himself a
deer finds out his mistake at the leaping of the ditch.
Ital

2. If you cannot drive an ox drive a donkey.

3. My donkey is dead; let no more grass grow.

M. Greek,

4. The donkey dies on the mountain, his loss
comes home. Turk.

5. The horse and the mule kick each other;
between the two the donkey dies. Turk.

6. There is no making a donkey drink against
his will. ItaL, Dutch.

Eagle.
1. An old eagle is better than a young sparrow^

Ger.

2. An old eagle is better than a young crow.

Ger.

3. Eagles catch no flies.

4. Eagles do not breed doves. Ger, Dutch.

5. Eagles fly alone, but sheep flock together.

6. The crow does not devour fowls: they are
the prey of the eagle. Chinese.

7. The eagle does not catch (or hunt) flies.

Fr., Ger.

8. The eagle does not war against frogs. Ital.

9. The eagle loves the mountain. Caucasian.

10. The eagle soars alone.

11. The old age of an eagle. {Applied to old to-
pers the eagle being supposed to live by suction in its
old age) Latin.

12. When the eagle is dead, the crows pick out
his eyes. Ger.

Eel.
1. A gray eel is better than a .variegated ser-
pent. Ger,

2. All that breed in the mud are not eels.

3. An eel escapes from a good fisherman.

4. An eel held by the tail is not yet caught.

5. As nimble as an eel in a sand bag.

6. As slippery as an eel.

7. Cover up the pot, there's an eel in it. Dutch,

8. He is as much out of his element as an eel in
a sand bag.

9. Holding an eel too fast is the way to let it
escape.

10. Mud chokes no eels.

11. The eel that will eat lettuce must come to
land. Ger.

12. There is an eel under the rock: />., if you
wish to find you must search, JFr,

13. There is as much hold of his words as of a
wet eel by the tail.

14. To begin skinning the eel at the tail. Fr.

15. To squeeze an eel too hard is the way to
lose it. Fr,

16. You cannot hide, an eel in a sack.

Elephant.
1. An elephant does not catch mice. Latin,

2. He hath an elephant on his hands. (Like,
the subject to whom an Eastern prince made a present
of an elephant and forbade his selling it or disposing of
it in any way.)

3. The elephant does not feel a flea bite. Ital,

Flea.
1. I will send him away with a flea in his ear.

2. One flea cannot raise a coverlet. Chinese,

3. One flea does not hinder sleep.
4. That's a valiant flea that dare eat his break-
last on the lip of a lion. Shaks,

5. The fatter the flea, the leaner the dog. Ger.

Fly.
1. A fly before his own eye is bigger than an
elephant in the next field.

2. A fly even has its anger. Latin,

3. Big flies break the spider's web. Ital

4. Even a fly hath its spleen (anger). Ital.
5. Even the lion must defend himself against

the flies. Ger.

6. Every fly has its shadow. For,

7. Flies are busiest about lean horses.

8. Flies are easier caught with honey than with
vinegar. Fr,

9. Flies don't light on a boiling pot. Fr, Ital

10. Hungry flies bite sore. Ger, Dutch,

11. Is it an emperor's business to catch flies?
12. No flies get into a shut mouth,
Fr., Italy Sp., For.

13. No flies light on a boiling pot. Sp.

14. One fly does not provide for another.

15. The busy fly is in every man's dish. Sp,

16. The fly flutters about the candle till at last
it gets burned. Dutch.

17. The fly that bites the tortoise breaks its
beak. Ital

i8. The fly that playeth too long in the candle
singeth her wings.

19. The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.

John Gay.

20. To a boiling pot flies come not.

21. Where the wasp has passed the fly sticks
fast. Fr.

22. You shall never beat the fly from the candle
though she burn for it.

Fox.

1. A fox is slyer than ten asses. Ger,

2. A fox sleeps but counts hens in his dreams.
Russian,

3. A good fox does not eat his neighbors' fowls.
Fr,

4. A good fox has three holes.

5. A running fox is better than a sleeping lion.

Ger.

6. An old fox don't go twice into the trap.

Ger,, Dutch.

7. An old fox is not lo be caught in a trap.

M, Greek.

8. An old fox needs not to be taught tricks.

9. As long as ye serve the fox ye man bear up
his tail.

10. As long runs the fox as he has feet

11. Bear and bull catch no fox. Ger,

12. But when the fox hath once got in his nose,
he'll soon find means to make the body follow.
Shaks.

13. Even foxes are caught. Ital.

14. Every fox likes a hen-roost. Ital

15. Every fox looks after its own skin. Dan,

16. Every fox must pay his own skin to the
flayer.

17. Every fox takes care of its tail. Russian,

18. "Fie upon hens," quoth the fox, because he
could not reach them.

19. Foxes are all tail and women all tongue. Ital,

20. Foxes come at last to the furrier.

21. Foxes dig not their own holes.

22. Foxes never fare better than when they are
cursed.

23. Foxes prey farthest from their earths.

24. Foxes when they cannot reach the grapes say
they are not ripe.

25. Fox's broth, cold and scalding.

26. "Good day to you all," said the fox when he
got into the goose pen. Dutch,

27. He is a proud to that win scratch his ain
hole.

28. He that will out-wit the fox must rise betimes.

29. He who has to do with foxes must look after
his hen-roost. Ger,

30. If the badger leave his hole the fox will creep
into it.

31. If the fox is a butler he will not die of thirst.

Ger,

32. If thou dealest with a fox think of his tricks.

33. If you would catch a fox you must hunt with
geese. Dan.

34. It is a poor fox that hath but one hole. Ger,

35. It is difficult to trap an old fox. Dan.

36. "It is not for my own sake," said the fox,
** that I say to the geese, that there is a good goose
green in the, wood." Dan.

37. No fox so cunning but he is caught at last.

Ger.

38. Old foxes are hard to catch.

39. Old foxes want no tutors.

40. One fox rarely betrays another. Ger.

41. Reynard is still Reynard though he put on a
cowl.

42. Take care of your geese when the fox
preaches. Dan.

43. The brains of a fox will be of little service,
if you play with the paw of a lion.

44. The fox advised the others to cut off their
tails because he left his own in the trap. Ital.

45. The fox barks not when he would steal the
lamb. Shaks.

46. The fox changes his skin but keeps the rogue*

Ger.

47. The fox does not so much mischief ir a year
as he pays for in an hour. Sp.

48. The fox does not go twice into the same trap.

Dan.

49. The fox does not prey near his hole. Ger.

50. The fox fares best when he is most cursed.
51. The fox goes at last to the shop of the furrier. Turk,

52. The fox goes through the corn and does not
eat but brushes it down with his tail. Gallician.

53. The fox has many tricks, the hedgehog only
one, but greater than all. Latin,

54. The fox is cunning but he is more cunning
that catches him. Sp,

55. The fox knows more than one hole.

56. The fox knows well with whom he plays
tricks. Sp.

57. The fox grows gray but never good.

58. The fox may lose his hair, but not his cunning. Dutch.

59. The fox praiseth the meat out of the crow's
mouth.

60. The fox preys farthest from his hole.

61. The fox said the grapes were sour.

^sop's Fables.

62. The fox says of the mulberries when he can-
not get at them, "They are good for nothing." Fr.

63. The fox that sleeps till the morning hath not
his tongue feathered. Fr,

64. The fox that tarries long is on the watch for
prey. Sp,

65. The fox thinks everybody eats poultry like
himself. Fr,

66. The fox with only one hole is soon caught.

Ger.

67. The fox's death is the hen's life. Ger,

68. The fox's wiles will never enter the lion's
head.

69. The more the fox is cursed the more prey he
Catches. Ital

70. The sleeping fox catches no poultry.

71. The tod (fox) ne'er sped better than when he
went on his ain errand.

72. The tod (fox) keeps aye his ain hole clean.

73. The tod's (fox's) whelps are ill to tame.

74. There is no fox so cunning he does not find
one more cunning. Ger,

75. There is ne'er a best among them, as the fel-
low said by the fox-cubs.

76. Though the fox runs, the chicken hath wings.

77. We never find that a fox dies in the dirt of
his own ditch.

78. What the fox cannot reach he allows to hang.

M. Greek,

79. When a fox is in his hole smoke fetches him
out. Sp,

80. When the fox comes out of the trap he is
more prudent than before. Ger,

81. When the fox is asleep nothing falls into his
mouth.

82. When the fox is hungry he pretends he is
asleep. M, Greek,

83. When the fox is judge, the goose wins her suit
with difficulty. Ger.

84. When the fox licks his paw let the farmer
look to his geese. Dan,

85. When the fox wishes tx catch geese he wags
his tail. Ger,

86. When you bargain with a fox beware of tricks.

Latin,

87. Where there are no dogs the fox is a king.
Ital
88. With foxes we must play the fox.

89. You cannot have more of a fox than his skin.

Frog.

I. Even a frog would bite if it had teeth. Ital

2. Like frogs in a well. {Applied in Japan to
those opposed to intercourse with foreigners.)

3. The frog cannot get out of her bog.

4. The frog does not bite because it cannot. Ital

5. The frog enjoys himself in water but not in
hot water. West African Negro.

6. The frog flew into a passion and the pond
knew nothing about it. M, Greek.

7. The frog learns his croak from himself. Ger,

8. The frog will jump back into the pool,
Although it sits on a golden stool. Dutch,

9. Where the swamps are wanting, frogs are
wanting, Ger,

Goat.

1. A lame goat will not sleep by day. Sp.

2. A piece of a kid is worth two of a cat.

3. An old goat is never reverend for his
beard.

4. By candle-light a goat looks like a lady. Ft

5. Goats are not sold at every fair.

6. If the beard were all the goat might preach.

Dan.

7. None ever saw a goat dead of hunger.

8. The goat cannot well cover herself with her
tail. Sp.

9. The kid that keeps above is in no danger of
the wolf.

10. The lame goat does not take a susta. For,

11. When the goat's foot is broken, then he finds
his master's door. West Indian Negro.

12. Where the goat is tied she must browse. Fr,

13. Where the goat leaps, leaps that which sucks
her. Sp.

Hare.

1. Hares are not caught with drums. Dutch.

2. He is as easily caught as a hare with drums.
Dutch.

3. In small woods may be caught large hares.

Dutch.

4. It is a mad hare that will be caught with a
tabor.

5. It is hard to catch hares with unwilling
hounds. Dutch,

6. Lame hares are ill to help.

7. One catches the hare and another eat3 it. Ger,

8. Running hares do not need the spur. Ital

9. The hare always returns to her form. Fr,

10. The hare draws a lion with a golden thread.

M. Greek,

11. The hare may pluck the dead lion by the
beard. Shaks,

12. The hare starts from where it is least expected. Ital. Sp,

13. The very falling of leaves frightens hares.

14. To catch a hare with a cart. Ital

15. When we least expect it the hare darts out of
the ditch. Dutch,

16. Where we least think there goeth the hare
away. Don Quixote,

17. Who hunts two hares together catches

neither. Ger,

Lion.

1. A lion may be beholden to a mouse.

2. An old lion is better than a young ass. Latin.

3. Dreadful is the lion's cave, though he's no
longer there.

4. Even hares pull a lion by the beard when he
is dead. Dutch.

5. He is a lion in a good cause.

6. If thy hand be in a lion's mouth, get it out as
fast as thou canst.

7. It is an ill office to file the teeth of the lion.
Ger,

8. It is little honor to the lion to sieze the mouse.
Ger.

9. It IS not good to wake a sleeping lion.

10. Like a worn-out lion in a cave.
That goes not out to prey.

11. Lions in time of peace ? deer in war. Latin.

12. Lions make leopards tame. Shaks.

13. Lions' skins were never cheap. Fr.
14. Little birds may pick a dead lion.
15. So when the lion quits his fell repast,
Next prowls the wolf, the filthy jackall last.
Byron.

16. The hind that would be mated by the lion
must die for love. Shaks,

17. The lion hath need of the mouse.

18. The lion is known by his claws. Ital,

19. The lion is not half so fierce as he is painted.
Sp.

20. The lion's skin is never cheap.

21. The old lion perisheth for lack

22. 'Tis better playing with the lion's whelp,
Than with an old one dying. Shaks,

23. 'Tis not a basket of hay, but a basket of flesh
that makes a lion war.

24. When the lion is dead the hares jump upon
his carcass. Ital

25. Where the lion's skill falls short, it must be
eked out with the fox's. Lysander,

26. Where the lion's skin falls short piece it out
with the fox's.

27. You may know the lion by his claw. Fr.

Owl.

I. The owl does not praise the light nor the wolf

the day.

2. The owl is not accounted the wiser for living
retiredly.

3. The owl thinks her children the fairest. Dan^

Ox
1. A long ox, a short horse.
2. An old ox makes a straight furrow.
Fr., Ital, Sp., For.

3. An old ox will find a shelter for himself.

4. An ox when he is loose licks himself at
pleasure.

5. Even he gets on who is drawn by oxen. Dan.

6. He lies hay upon his horn. {The ancients
thus marked mischievous oxen,)

7. He takes the bull by the horns; grapples
boldly with the difficulty,

8? He who greases his cart-wheels helps his
oxen. Sp.

9. He who has lost his oxen is always hearing
bells.

10. an ox won't drink you cannot make him
bend his neck. Chinese.

11. If the ox fall, whet your knife.

12. Is the crow aware of the pain it occasions in
picking the sore of an ox?

13. It b easy to frighten a bull from the window.
Ital.

14. It is not the best oxen that do the best day's
work.

15. No need to seek shelter for an old ox. Sp.

16. Old oxen have horns. Dan,

17. Old oxen tread hard. Ger,
18. Ox, keep to your grass.
19. The black ox never trod on his feet; he
never knew sorrow or adversity.

20. The fierce ox becomes tame on strange
ground
21. The ox comes* to the yoke at the call of his
feeder. Sp.
22. The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his
master's crib. Bidle,
23. The ox that tossed me threw me into a good
place.
24. The ox when weariest treads surest.
25. The ox without a bell is soon lost. Sp,
26. The tired ox plants his foot firmly. Sp,
27. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth
out the corn. Bible.

28. To what place must the ox go where he must
not plough.

29. When the ox falls there are many will help to
kill him.

30. Who leads an ox to drink must first wet his
own feet. Chinese,

31. You need not find a shelter for an old ox.
For,

Sheep.
I. A little sheep always seems young.

2. A mild sheep is sucked by ever lamb.

3. A sheep's bite is never more than skin deep.

4. Coupled sheep drown one another. Dutch,

5. Every lamb knows its own dam.

6. Every time the sheep bleats it loseth a mouthful.

7. Good pastures make fat sheep.

8. He who has sheep has fleeces. Sp,

9. It is a bad sheep that is too lazy to carry its
own fleece. Dan.

10. It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf her
confessor.

11. It is madness for a sheep to treat of peace
with a wolf.

12. Make thyself a sheep and the wolf is ready.
Russian,

13. Make yourself a sheep and the wolves will
eat you. Itai., Fr.

14. Many a sheep goes out woolly and comes
home shorn. Dan,

15. One mangy sheep spoils a whole flock. Dan,
16. One sheep follows another.

17. One stable will hold many patient sheep. Ger,

18. Shear the sheep but don't flay them. Fr,

19. Shear sheep that have them.

20. Silly sheep, where one goes all go. Sp,

21. That is a woeful silly sheep that goes to the
'wolf to confess.

22. That sheep has his belly full that butts his
companion.

23. The deceived sheep that went for wool came
back shorn. Sp,

24. The lamb goes to the spit as soon as the
sheep. Don Quixote,

25. The lamb has no choice when in the jaws
of the wolf. Chinese,

26. The scabbier the sheep the harder it bleats.

Dutch,

27. The sheep does not bite the wolf. Ger,
28. The sheep on the mountain is higher than the
bull on the plain, Fr.

29. The sheep out of the fold, the wolf eats it.
M, Greek,

30. The sheep should have his belly full who
quarrels with his mate. Bea,

31. The sheep that bleats is strangled by the
wolf. Ital,

32. The sheep that bleats most does rot give the
most wool. Ger
33. The sheep that bleats most gives the least
milk. Dan.

34. The sheep that bleats loses a mouthful.
Fr., Ital., For.

35. The sheep that is too tame is sucked by too
many Iambs. Fr.

36. The well-fed sheep makes a cloak of its tail.

37. Tis a silly sheep that makes the wolf her
confessor. Ital,

38. When one sheep is over the dam the rest follow. Dutch.

39. When one sheep leads the way the rest follow. Chinese,

40. Where every hand fleeceth the sheep goes
naked.

Snail
1. The snail slides up the tower at last though
the swallow mounteth it not.

2. The snail to be rid of annoyance bartered its
eyes for horns. Sp.

3. Tramp on a snail and she'll shoot out her
horns. Bailey.

Spider.
1. The spider lost her distaff, and ever since is
forced to draw her thread through her tail.
2. The spider's web lets the rat escape and
catches the fly. Sp.

Spiders.
I. Spiders might make silk if they could live in
harmony with each other.

Swallow.
1. One swallow does not make a summer.
Ital, Sp., Dutch, Dan.

2. One swallow makes not a spring, nor a wood-
cock a winter.

Swan.
1. It is not good for the swan to teach eaglets
to sing. Dan,

2. The swan sings when death comes.

3. When the rooks are silent the swans begin
to sing. Dan.

Tiger.
1. Draw a tiger incompletely and he*s like a.
dog. Chinese,

2. Fiercer than a cubless tiger.

3. He is a paper tiger. {Applied to a blustering
coward.) Chinese,

4. The tiger that has once tasted blood is never
sated with the taste of it.

5. He calls the tiger to chase away the dog.
Chinese.

Contributed by: Courtesy of www.archive.org

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Around the World

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: The following list of proverbs about againg was taken from the book, "The Antiquity of Proverbs Fifty Familiar Proverbs and Folk Sayings with Annotations and Lists of Connected forms, Found in All Parts of the World" by Dwight Edwards Marvin (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1922). The book is available for free at www.archive.org.

1. A BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH

VARIANT PROVERBS
A beggar ? who comes ? to foot quickly is better than a
master who comes to hand late. (Osmanli).

A bird in the hand is worth a dozen on wing. (Gaelic).

A bird in the cage is worth a hundred at large. (Italian).

A bird in the hand is better than a hundred ? or thousand ?
flying. (Spanish).

A bird in the hand is worth two fleeing by. (Scotch, Dutch, Portuguese).

A bird in the hand is worth two in the wood. (English).

A bird in the hand is worth two on the wing. (Guernsey).

A captured bird is worth a thousand on the green. (Latin) .

A crown in the pocket doth you more good than an angel
spent. (English).

A feather in the hand is better than a bird in the air.
(English).

An egg of today is better than the fowl of tomorrow. (Osmanli).

A pullet in the pen is worth a hundred in the fen. (English) .

A small benefit obtained is better than a great one in expectation. (Latin).

A sparrow in the hand is better than a bustard on the wing.
(Spanish).

A sparrow in the hand is better than a crane in the air*
(Persian).

A sparrow in the hand is better than a hawk in the air.
(Persian).

A sparrow in the hand is better than a peacock in expectation. (Persian).

A sparrow in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof.
(German).

A sparrow in the hand is better than a pigeon on the wing. (French).
A sparrow in the hand is worth a pheasant that flieth by.
(Latin, English).

A sparrow in the hand is worth more then a goose flying
in the air. (French).

A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the pool.
(Irish-Ulster).

A thousand cranes in the air are not worth one sparrow in
the fist. (Egyptian, Arabian).

A titmouse in hand is better than a duck in the air
(Welsh).

A titmouse in the hand is better than a crane in the air.
(Persian).

A worm in my hand is better than a crane in the air.
(Persian).

A wren in the hand is better than a crane to be caught. (Irish).

A young pumpkin now is better than a full grown one later
on. (Ancient Hebrew).

Better a bird in the hand than four ? or ten ? in the air.
(Latin, Ashanti, Dutch).

Better a finch in the hand than a parrot in the Indies.
(Portuguese).

Better a fowl in the hand than two flying. (English,
Scotch).

Better a leveret in the kitchen than a wild boar in the
forest. (Levonian).

Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow. (Italian,
Modem Greek),

Better an egg today than a pullet tomorrow. (Italian).

Better a sparrow in hand than a falcon in the forest.
(Serbian).

Better a sparrow in hand than a vulture on the wing.
(Latin, Spanish).

Better a wren in the hand than a crane in the air. (French).

Better is a wren in you: fist ? that is your property ? than a
crane ? or heron ? on loan. (Irish-Ulster).

Better one bird tied up than a hundred flying. (Hebrew).

Do not part with your ready money for future profit.
(Hindustani).

Eggs now are better than chickens tomorrow. (Latin).

Even the crow flesh that is to be had near is better than the
peacock flesh that is far off. (Singalese).

Give me wool today and take sheep tomorrow. (Arabian).

Hoping for something still in the womb, while abandoning
that which is in the lap. (Assamese).

Oat bread today is better than cake tomorrow. (Serbian).

One bird in the dish is better than a hundred in the air.
(German).

One bird in the hand is better than four outside it. (Latin).

One bird in the hand is worth ten in the sky. (Belgian).

One bird in the hand is worth two on the roof. (Dutch,
Portuguese).

One bird in the net is better than a hundred ? or thousand
? flying. (Hebrew).

One bird in your hand is better than ten birds in the sky.
(Ashanti),

One "here it is, " is better than two "you will get."
(Irish).

One "take this" is better than two "will give." (French,
Spanish).

One hour today is worth two tomorrow. (Latin) .

One quill is better in hand than geese upon the strand.
(Dutch).

Sheeps trotters in the hand are better than a leg of mutton
a year hence. (Bannu) .

The flow of cash is better than the sweetmeats of credit.
(Persian) .

The egg of today is better than the goose of tomorrow.
(Osmanli).

Today's fowl is better than tomorrow's goose. (Osmanli) ,

Why let the bird in hand go and snare one in the jungle?
(Tamil).

A clear loss rather than a profit of distant expectation. (Arabian).

A friend at hand is better than a relative at a distance.
(Japanese).

A palm of the hand never deceives me. (African, Youba).

Better good afar off than evil at hand. (English).

Forty birds that are in the mountain are worth one farthing.
(Osmanli).

God send you readier meat than running hares. (English).

He left the half and did not overtake the whole. (Hindustani.

He that leaves certainty and sticks to chance, when fools
pipe, he may dance. (Latin, English).

The moon is with thee, thou needest not to care about the
stars. (Arabian).

It's a rash bargain to sell the bird on the bough. (Italian).

I will not change a cottage in possession for a kingdom in
reversion. (Latin, English).

Like a leaping leech. (Telugu).

Sour milk which has been tried is better than untried
curds. (Syriac).

The sheep says they too get the child, but the shaking
sickness is what takes it. (Ibo-Nigeria).

They don't sell the duiker walking in the bush. (Ibo-
Nigeria).

This is better than the thing we never had. (Irish) .

PROVERBS FROM THE BIRD'S POINT OF VIEW

(Better be a bird in the wood than one (or ten) in the cage.
(Italian).

Better be a free bird than a captive king. (Danish).

It is a old sayin' dat one bird in de hand is worth two in de
bush. It may be wuth more ter de man, but it ain't wuth half as
much ter de bird. (Negro Plantation Proverb).

The figs on the other side of the hedge are sweeter. (Serbian).

2. A WHISTLING WOMAN AND A CROWING HEN ARE NEITHER LIKED BY GOD NOR MEN

VARIANT PROVERBS

A bustling woman and crowing hen are neither fit for God
nor men. (Chinese).

A hen which crows and a girl who whistles bring the house
bad luck. (French).

A whistling wife and a crowing hen will call the old gentle-
man out of his den. (English).

A whistling wife and a crowing hen will come to God, but
God knows when. (English).

A whistling wife and a crowing hen will fight the devil out
of his den. (English).

A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for
God nor men. (English).

A whistling woman and a crowing hen are two of the unluckiest things under the sum. (English ? Cornwall).

A whistling woman and a crowing hen will fear the old lad
out of his den. (English).

A woman who talks like a man and a hen which crows like
a cock are no good to anyone. (French).

Girls whistling and hens crowing ? both are considered
unnatural and out of place. (Gaelic).

Whistling girls and crowing hens always come to some
bad ends. (English).

Whistling of women and crowing of hens ? two forbidden
things. (Gaelic).

ALLIED PROVERBS

If the hen crows instead of the cock there won't be peace
in the fowl yard. (Japanese).

If you be a cock, crow; if a hen, lay eggs. (Persian).

Fares the hapless family that shows a cock that's silent
and a hen that crows. (English).

It goes ill with the house where the hen sings and the cock
is silent. (Spanish).

It is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock.
(English).

It is a sorry house in which the cock is silent and the hen
crows. (French, Italian).

It is said that even the hen reared by a talkative woman
crows. (Singalese).

It never goes well when the hen crows. (Russian).

That house is unhappy wherein the hen crows. (Bulgarian).

That were the hen crowing before the cock. (Gaelic).

The crowing of a hen is no rule ? i.e. Reliance cannot be
placed on the opinion of a woman. (Hindustani).

The hen is not a cock nor a woman a man. (Russian).

The hen should not crow like the cock. (Russian).

The house doth every day more wretched grow where the
hen louder than the cock doth crow. (French).

There is little peace in that house where the hen crows and
the cock is mute. (Italian).

What trust is there in a crowing hen? (Indian).

When girls whistle the devil laughs outright. (English-
Guernsey).

Where the hen crows the house falls to ruin. (Japanese).

Where the cock is the hen does not crow. (Portuguese).

3. BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER

Variant proverbs

A bird of the same feather. (English).

A dove with a dove, a goose with a goose; for things of the
same species always go together. (Persian).

A jackdaw always sits near a jackdaw. (Greek).

Birds of a feather flock together and so with men ? ^like to
like. (Hebrew).

Birds of one feather are often together. (Irish-Ulster).

Birds of one feather flying together. (Irish-Ulster).

Birds of the same kind fly together ? pigeon with pigeon
and hawk with hawk. (Persian).

Each bird draws to its flock. (Gaelic).

Every bird goes with its own flock. (Irish-Ulster).

Every sheep with its fellow. (Spanish).

It is one of its own family that a bird roosts with. (Ashanti).

Pigeon with pigeon, hawk with hawk. (Persian).

Where geese are, will goslings be. (Gaelic).

A bully fights with his peers, not with the grandees. (Oji).

A fly to a fly. (Telugu).

All gems in one place, all the snails in another. (Telugu).

A man is known by the company he keeps. (English).

Blood is thicker than water. (English).

Common oysters are in one spot and pearl oysters in
another. (Telugu).

Go nine ridges and nine furrows to (assist) your own people
than you would to the stranger. (Irish).

He that walketh with the virtuous is one of them. (English).

Like a black faced villain joining an oily legged sinner.
(Telugu).

Like packsaddle like quilt. (Telugu).

Likeness is the mother of love. (Greek).

Like to like. (English).

Like to like the world over. (Hebrew).

No worm-eaten bean remains without finding a half blind
measure. (Arabian).

One camel kneels in place of another. (Arabian).

One saint knows another. (Hindustani).

One with a shaved head should go to a village of shaved
heads. (Marathi).

Set a thief to catch a thief. (English).

The degenerate palm goes among the unfruitful reeds.
(Hebrew).

The good seek the good and the evil the evil. (English).

They are hornbills, we are sparrows, how can we possibly
fly in the same flock? (Malayan).

Those who resemble each other assemble with each other.
(French).

When the fiend goes to the Sabbat, he lodges with the
sorcerer ? i.e. When the devil goes to customs, he
stays with wizards and witches. (Oji).

CONTRADICTING PROVERBS

Babhams, dogs and elephants can never agree with their
own kind. (Behar).

Two birds of prey do not keep company with each other.
(Spanish).

Two nightingales do not perch on one bow. (Osmanli).

Two of a trade seldom agree. (English, Spanish).

Two proud men cannot ride on one ass. (English).

Two rope dancers do not play on one rope. (Osmanli).

4. DO NOT COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED

ALLIED PROVERBS

Bargaining for fish that is in the water. (Osmanli).

Before the bear be struck (slain) his skin is not sold. (Osmanli).

Boil not the pap before the child is born. (English).

Calculating at home on the fish in the sea. (Marathi).

Catch the bear before you sell his skin. (English).

Chickens are slow in coming from laid eggs. (German).

Count not four except you have them in a wallet. (English).

Do not bless the fish till it gets to land. (Irish).

Do not build the sty before the litter comes. (Irish).

Do not sell the hide before you have caught the bear.
(Dutch, Italian).

Do not sell the hide before you have caught the fox. (Danish).

Do not speak ill of the year until it be past. (Spanish).

Don't cry "chue " to the chick till it be out of the egg.
(Italian, Gaelic).

Don't sell the skin before the bear is shot. (Dutch).

Don't cry "Herring" until they are in the net. (Dutch).

Don't cry "Dried Fish" before they are caught. (Italian) .

Don't reckon your eggs before they are laid. (Italian).

Don't skin the deer till you get it. (Gaelic).

Eating sweet-meats of fancy. (Kumaun, Garhwal).

Estimating the value of the skin before you catch the badger. (Japanese).

First catch your hare. (English).

Grass at a distance looks thick. (Bengalese).

He gave a name to an unborn child. (Telugu).

He gives away the deer before it is caught. (Persian).

He that lives on hope will die fasting. (English).

He that waits for dead men's shoes may go long barefoot. (English).

It is ill waiting for dead men's shoes. (English).

Like the man who went stooping down from the place
where he intended to hang the lamp before he built
the house. (Bengalese).

Make not your sauce until you have caught your fish.
(English).

Never count the fish till they come out of the sea. (Irish, Gaelic).

Never praise a ford till you are over. (English).

One must catch the bear before he draws a ring through
its nose. (German).

One must not make the crib before the calf is born. (Guernsey).

Rubbing the lips with oil while the jack fruit is still on the
tree. When jack fruit, which is a glutinous fruit, is eaten
without putting oil on the lips it sticks and produces sores. (Assamese.)

Sell not the bear skin before you have caught him. (English, German, French, Italian, Dutch).

Soon enough to cry "Chick" when it's out of the shell.
(Scotch).

The cow had not been slaughtered, yet he had put the
soup tureen on his head for it. (Pashto).

The father is not yet born, but the son has taken his stand
behind.

This is a riddle: The father represents fire; the son,
smoke. As smoke generally precedes fire, the son in the proverb is said to come before the father. (Behar).

The trees in the orchard have not yet been planted, but
the woodworms have settled down there beforehand. (Behar).

They don't sell the duiker walking in the bush. (Ibo).

To build castles in the air. (English) .

To celebrate the triumph before the victory. (Latin).

To grind peppers for a bird on the wing. (Malayan).

To sell the bird in the bush. (Italian).

To take of one's boots before seeing the water. (Persian).

Twist a chain for the boy who is yet in the womb. (Kumaun, Garhwal).

Tying beads around an unborn child. (Telugu).

Unlaid eggs are uncertain chickens. (German, Dutch).

Wait till the hare's in the pot before you talk. (Mauritius
Creole).

We have no son and yet are giving him a name. (Spanish).

Ye must not sell the bear skin before the bear is killed.
(English, German, French, Italian, Dutch).

You cannot contract for the fish in the sea. (Turkish).

5. EVERY MAN THINKS HIS OWN GEESE SWANS

ALLIED PROVERBS
A son, although full of faults, is perfect in his father's eyes.
(Persian).

A son, although he is a lump of earth (worthless) still is the
light of the eyes to his parents. (Persian).

Black as the raven, he thinks his children fair. (Gaelic).

Black is the berry but sweet, black is my lassie but bonnie.
(Gaelic).

Every crow cry for he own calf. (British Guiana).

Every cow licks her own calf. (Serbian).

Every crow thinks her own birds whitest. (Scotch).

Every crow thinks her own nestlings the fairest. (English) .

Every man thinks his own chickens are the best. (English).

Every monkey thinks its young ones pretty. (Tamil, Louisiana Creole).

Every mother's child is handsome. (German).

Every mother thinks it is on her own child the sun rises.
(Irish).

Every owl thinks all her children the fairest. (Danish).

Every owl thinks her young ones beautiful. (English).

If they (my children) were a thousand, they would be dearer than my eyes. (Arabian).

If our child squints, our neighbor's child has a cast in both
eyes. (Livonian).

I love my dear one were he a black slave. (Syrian) .

Monkey never says its young are ugly. (Trinidad Creole) .

My heart is for my child and my child's heart is for a stone. (Syrian).

My own heart (I will sacrifice) rather than my children. (West African).

My own son is a son, a stranger's good for nothing. (Hindustani).

No ape but swears he has the handsomest children. (English, German).

Our own child is tender, another's is (as tough as) leather. (Marathi).
Sweepings, but from our own field; halt and lame, but our
own child ? hence valuable. (Marathi).

The beetle is a beauty in the eyes of its mother. (Arabian,
Egyptian).

The beetle is a bride in the arms of its mother. (Arabian) .

The crow likes her greedy blue chick. (Gaelic).

The crow's chick is dear to the crow. (Telugu).

The crow thinks her own ghastly chick a beauty. (Gaelic) .

The love of the ghoul is for his own son. (Syrian).

The monkey is a gazelle in the eyes of his mother. (Arabic,
Syrian).

The porcupine says, "Oh, my soft little son, softer than
butter," and the crow says, "My son, whiter than muslin." (Pashto).

The raven always thinks that her young ones are whitest.
(Danish).

The raven thinks her own bird the prettiest bird in the
wood. (Irish-Famey).

The scald crow thinks her daughter is the prettiest bird in
the wood. (Irish-Farney).

They asked the raven, " Who is the beautiful?" " My
little ones," he said. (Osmanli).

Though but a young crow, it is golden to its mother.
(Tamil).

Though earthen, one's own child is precious. (Tamil).

To everyone his own son appears the most beautiful.
(Persian).

To the eye of a crow, its young one has milk white feathers.
(Japanese).

Whether it is black, or dun, or brown; it is to her own kid
the goat gives all her affection. (Gaelic).

ALLIED PROVERBS

Every bird admires (loves) its own nest. (Osmanli).

Every bird thinks her own family the nicest in the world.
(Irish-Ulster).

Every bird thinks its own nest beautiful. (Italian).

Everybody thinks his own cuckoo sings better than
another's nightingale. (German).

Every man thinks his own copper gold. (German, Danish) .

Every man thinks his own owl a falcon. (German, Dutch) .

Every one's own property is precious to himself. (Osmanli).

Every peddler praises his own needles. (Spanish, Portuguese).

Every peddler praises his pot and more if it is cracked.
(Spanish, Italian).

Every potter values his own pot. (French).

My own crow (is better) than the nightingale of other folk. (Osmanli).

The hen he has caught has four legs. (Telugu).

The beloved is the object that thou lovest were it even a
monkey. (Arabian).

To everyone, what belongs to himself, is beautiful. (Modern Greek).

6. KILL NOT THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG

ALLIED PROVERBS

By filling it too much the sack burst. (Basque).

Covetousness as well as prodigality brings a man to a
morsel of bread. (English).

Covetousness brings nothing home. (English).

Covetousness bursts the bag. (English, Spanish).

Every man has a goose that lays golden eggs if he only
knew it. (American).

He has killed the goose that laid the golden egg. (English) .

He that leaves certainty and sticks to chance, when fools
pipe he may dance. (English).

One may buy gold too dear. (English, German).

The cord of a violin is broken in stretching it too much.
(Basque).

They quarrel about an egg and let the hen fly. (German) .

To avoid the smoke do not throw yourself into the fire.
(Turkish).

To fell a tree to catch a blackbird. (Chinese).

To gain a cat but lose a cow. (Chinese).

Too much good fortune is bad fortune. (English).

Too much will soon break. (German).

Too much zeal spoils all. (English, French).

Who undertakes too much seldom succeeds. (Dutch).

7. LOOK NOT A GIVEN HORSE IN THE MOUTH

VARIANT PROVERBS

A gift cow ? why has it no teeth? (Marathi).

A given horse look not at his teeth. (Modem Greek).

If anyone offers you a buffalo do not ask if she gives milk.
(Badaga).

If you are given a horse you won't insist on examining its
mouth. (Belgian).

The teeth of a gift horse are not inspected. (Osmanli).

The teeth of a horse presented are never observed.
(Turkish).

They made him a present of a beast of biffden and he
examined its teeth. (Modern Greek).

When somebody gives you a donkey, you musn't examine
the bridle. (Mauritius Creole).

CHARACTERISTICS OF HORSES IN PROVERBS

A blind horse goes straight forward. (German).

A dapple gray horse will sooner die than tire. (Scotch).

A galled horse will not endure the comb. (English).

A grunting horse and a groaning wife seldom fail their
master. (English).

A lean horse does not kick. (Italian).

Good luck for a gray mare. (English).

He is a horse with four white feet ? that is, he is unlucky.
(French).

Horses are good of all hues. (Scotch).

If he (the horse) has one (white foot) buy him; if he has
two, try him; if he has three, look about him; if he has
four come without him. (Scotch).

It is a bad horse that does not earn his fodder. (Italian).

It is a good horse that never stumbles. (French).

It is a silly horse that can neither whinny nor wag his tail.
(English).

It is certainly a good horse, but its circular marks are bad.
(Tamil).

Rub a scald horse on the gall and he'll wince. (English).

The best horse, the largest. (Welsh).

The biggest horses are not the best travelers. (English).

The blind horse is the hardiest. (English).

The gray mare is the better horse. (English).

The horse is judged by the saddle. (German, Chinese).

The horse that does not stumble is the best horse.
(Tamil).

The wounded horse as soon as he sees the saddle trembles.
(Modern Greek).

You can't judge of the horse by the harness. (English).

ALLIED PROVERBS

A gift cow eats thorns ? i.e. It has no teeth. (Marathi).

A gift of pulse. "Clean it before you give it to me." A
beggar's ungracious return for a meal. (Marathi).

A gift warm ? i.e. A gift is bestowed and he asks to have
it warm. (Marathi).

Better a blind horse than an empty saddle. (Dutch).

Better a poor horse than an empty stall. (Danish).

Do not trouble about the color of a gift horse. (Italian).

Like giving a horse in compensation to one who has been
stripped. (Tamil).

One knows the horse by his ears, the generous by his gifts,
a man by laughing and a jewel by its brilliancy.
(Bengalese).

The eye of a good horse serves for a tooth. (Arabian).

The guest likes the bread which his host likes. (Bannu).

The old horse must die in somebody's keeping. (English) .

They gave a cucumber to the beggar ? " I do not like it,"
he said, " it is crooked." (Osmanli).

To dine upon charity and call out for sauce. (English).

To have a dinner given you for nothing and to ask for
pepper. (Marathi).

"What is roughness to the ear to the man who gets grain
for nothing? (Telugu).

When a man is given a Putti of corn he complains of short
measure. A Putti is 500 lbs. (Telugu).

Who will sell a blind horse praises the feet. (German).

Who wishes a horse without defects ought to go on foot.
(Breton).

8. NEVER RIDE A FREE HORSE TO DEATH
ALLIED PROVERBS

A borrowed horse and your own spurs make short miles.
(Danish, Italian).

A dapple gray horse will sooner die than tire. (Scotch).

A little more breaks a horse's back. (English).

A good horse has no need of the spur. (Italian).

A hired horse and your own spurs make the miles short.
(German, Dutch).

A hired horse tired never. (Scotch).

All lay loads on a village horse. (English).

Another man's horse and your own spurs outrun the wind.
(German).

Another man's horse and your own whip can do a great deal. (Danish).

Beggars mounted run their horses to death. (English).

Give them a pea and they will take a bean. (Guernsey).

Invite them to your home for a while and they will take
possession of the whole house. (India).

Milk the cow but don't pull off the udder. (Dutch).

Mount not a horse that does not belong to you ? Boast
not of things of which you are ignorant. (Syriac).

The horse that draws always gets the whip. (German,
French, Italian).

9. NEVER BUY A PIG IN A POKE

VARIANT PROVERBS

A pig in a poke. (Modern Greek).

Buy no cats in bags. (Belgian).

You ne'er buy a blind bargain or a pig in a poke. (Scotch).

It is folly to buy a cat in a sack ? ^i.e. a game bag. (French).

To buy the cat in the bag. (German, Welsh) .

ALLIED PROVERBS

A cat is not sold in a bag, but openly produced. (African, Accra).

Do not look upon the vessel, but upon that which it contains. (English).

Don't bite till you know whether it is bread or a stone.
(Italian).

Nocturnal venison is not fat ? i.e. Game caught in the
night is poor. (Oji).

The horse is in the stable and you declare his price in the
market. (Hindustani).

To buy a cat for a hare . (French).

To settle the price of a buffalo while she is lying in the
water. (Marathi).

When the pig is proffered hold up the poke. (English).

When they give you a heifer make haste with the halter.
(Spanish).

10. ONE SWALLOW DOES NOT MAKE A SUMMER
VARIANT PROVERBS

A single flower or a single swallow does not always announce the Spring. (Armenian).

One actor cannot make a play. (Chinese).

One basket of grapes does not make a vintage. (Italian).

One brier does not make a hedge. (Italian).

One cloud does not make a winter. (Osmanli).

One crow does not make a winter. (German, Dutch).

One day of great heat never yet made a summer. (Breton).

One devil does not make hell. (Italian).

One finger does not make a hand nor one swallow a summer. (Portuguese).

One flower does not make spring. (Latin, Osmanli).

One flower makes no garland. (English).

One horseman does not raise a dust cloud. (Bannu).

One rain won't make a crop. (Negro ? Tide-water section
of Georgia).

One stone does not make a stone wall. (Osmanli.)

One swallow does not make a spring nor one woodcock a winter. (English).

One tree does not make a forest. (Negro ? Tide-water
section of Georgia).

ALLIED PROVERBS
One dose will not cure nor one feed make fat. (Gaelic).

One grain fills not a sack but helps his fellows. (English) .

One makes not a people ? ^nor a town. (African ? Accra).

What dust will rise from one horseman. (Bannu).

When one man has his stomach full it cannot satisfy every
man. (Vai-West Africa).

11. PEACOCK, LOOK AT YOUR LEGS
PROVERBS ABOUT THE PEACOCK

A dancer is never a good scholar because he guides his
feet (like the peacock) better than a pen. (English).

As proud as a peacock. (English).

Bachelor, a peacock; betrothed, a lion; married, an ass.
(Spanish).

Fly pride, says the peacock. (English).

He is as proud as a peacock and calls for ram's milk.
(Modern Greek).

If peacocks cry in the night there is rain to fall. (English) .

The peacock cries when he goes to roost and indeed
much at any time it is a sign of rain. (English).

If you exclaim, " O peacock! O peacock! " will it give you
its feathers. (Spanish).

I like writing with a peacock's quill because its feathers
are all eyes. (English).

Peafowl utter loud cries before a storm and select a low
perch. (English).

Proud as a peacock, all strut and show. (English).

The peacock cries before the rain. (English).

The peacock has too little on his head and has too much on
his tail. (German).

The peacock looking at his own feet wept. (Kumaim, Garhwal).

The sluggard like the peacock is afraid of rain. (Karanese) .

The squalling of a peacock by night often foretells a rainy day. (English).

When all men praised the peacock for his beautiful tail,
the birds cried out with one consent ? " Look at his
legs I and what a voice ! " (Japanese).

When the peacock and guinea fowls scream and turkeys
gobble expect rain. (English).

When the peacock loudly bawls, soon we'll have both rain
and squalls. (English).

Who has seen the peacock dance in the forest? (Hindustani).

12. SET A BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK AND HE WILL GALLOP

ALLIED PROVERBS

A beggar ennobled does not know his own kinsman. (Italian).

A beggar's son struts like a peer. (Hindustani).

A clown enriched knows neither relation nor friend.
(French).

A lion growls not in a den of straw but in a den of meat.
(Hebrew).

A little lizard does not know its mother. (Nigeria).

A man begs and then gets up on an elephant. (Kashmiri).

A novice was dressed in breeches and looked at them
every step. (Modern Greek).

A poor man's child with a fine name ? i.e. A boorish man
apes the gentleman. (Bengalese).

As soon as mulatto is able to own an old horse he will tell
you that his mother wash a nigger. (Martinique Creole).

A two legged mounting a four legged. (Kashmiri).

A wild boar in place of a pig would ravish the town, and a
slave made king would spare nobody. (Youba ? Africa).

Begging and riding upon a horse! A proud beggar. (Kashmiri).

Beggars mounted ride a horse to death. (English).

But yesterday out of the shell, today he despises the shell.
(Turkish).

Entering by the eye of a needle and coming out by the
elephant's stable door. (Kashmiri).

Everything may be borne but good fortune. (Italian).

First your walking stick and then your pet daughter.

Having asked to be your equal he wants to marry you:
daughter. (Kashmiri).

Give a cup to the low and he swells himself with water ?
i.e. He is puffed up with pride. (Panjab).

He has no trousers and yet orders a tent. (Persian).

He has put on a sword and says that he is a servant of the
king. (Persian).

He'll gang mad on a horse whose proud in a ponnie. (Scotch).

He sprang from a chestnut shell and he does not admire
his husk. (Osmanli).

He swells himself like a turkey cock. (Osmanli).

He who is on horseback no longer knows his own father.
(Russian).

If the plowman becomes a " lord " yet he is not then even
fit to sit upon the matting. (Kashmiri).

Just put a mulatto on horseback and he'll tell you his
mother wasn't a negress. (Louisiana Creole).

Mayest thou not give a poor wretch a goat to catch hold of
by the legs. (Pashto).
No pride like that of an enriched beggar. (English,
French).

Put a beggar on horseback and he does not trot, but he
gallops. (Dutch).

Set a beggar on horseback and he will ride to the devil.
(English).

She who from being a slave is become the mistress pierces
the bath basin with stones; he who from being a
servant is now a muezzin, shakes down the minaret
with his voice.

A muezzin is a mosque chanter. (Osmanli).

So is it worn, twizt the pack-saddle and the straw cloth.
(Gaelic).

The ass is the same but the pannel different. (Persian).

The be jeweled leg of a leper. (Malayan).

The blown out parrot fish that has only wind inside it.
(Malayan).

The bug that mimics the tortoise. (Malayan).

The cup fell into the hands of one who never saw one and
she drank till she died. (Hindustani).

The clown saw himself in plush breeches and was insolent
as could be. (Spanish).

The dog of the master of the house mounts upon the chief
sofa. (Osmanli).

The dog saw himself in fine breeches.? He would not
recognize other dogs. (Spanish).

The gourd grew and lengthened its neck. (Moroccan).

The man in boots does not know the man in shoes. (English).

The mean man being exalted regards the earth as a potsherd. (Bengalese).

The more riches a fool has the greater fool he is. (English).

The onion grew and became round and forgot its former
state. (Arabian).

The peasant saw himself in fine breeches and he was as
insolent as could be. (Spanish).

The plated ware that shows its nature when scratched.
(Malayan).

There is no pride like a beggar grown rich. (French).

The snake that apes the dragon. (Malayan) .

The tortoise that affects arboreal habits. (Malayan).

The Turk, if he be mounted on a horse, thinks " I am
a bay." (Osmanli).

The worm that plays the serpent. (Malayan).

They ask the mule, " Who is your father? " He says
"The horse is my uncle." (Osmanli).

Time made (him) come forth from the mud. (Osmanli).

What is past is past. (Persian).

What! You follow the trade of a barber and pretend to be
independent? ? A fling at one who being in some lowly
business puts on the air of importance. (Persian).

When a beggar gets on horseback the devil cannot out-
ride him. (German).

When a clown is on a mule he remembers neither God nor
the world. (Spanish).

When a Donkey becomes rich he runs mad.

A Donkey is one of a negro tribe in the interior of
Western Africa. The Donkos furnish the Oji
people with most of their slaves. (Oji).

When a man becomes rich the town goes to ruin.? He
loses all his public spirit in his effort to please himself.
(Oji).

When a slave becomes a freeman he will drink rain water
? i.e. He will become so lazy that he will drink
water that is nearest at hand. (Oji).

When a slave girl becomes mistress she does not mind
sending her slave girls out in bad weather. (Hindustani).

When a slave is emancipated he will call himself a nobleman. (Oji).

When a slave is freed he will call himself Sonneni.(Ashanti).

When fortune smiled on a mean person he ordered an
umbrella to be bought at midnight. (Telugu).

When he had filled his belly he began to vex the poor. (Hindi).

When the goat goes to church he does not stop till he gets
to the altar. (Old Irish).

When the poor man grows rich he beholds the stars at
noonday. ? i.e. He is purse proud and insolent.
(Bengalese).

When the slave is freed he thinks himself a nobleman. (Oji).

When wert thou changed into a queen, O pawn? ? The
reference is to a game of chess. (Arabian).

Wondrous God's power 1 Wondrous God's caprice! The
muskrat oils his head with jasmine essence. (Hindustani).

Yesterday he came out of his egg, today he does not admire
its shell. (Osmanli).

13. WHO KEEPS COMPANY WITH A WOLF LEARNS TO HOWL

VARIANT PROVERBS
A calf that goes with a pig will eat excrement. (Tamil).

A fowl brought up with a pig will eat dirt. (Tamil).

Amongst the honorable a man becomes honorable;
amongst the base, base. (Bannu).

Grapes derive their color from grapes. (Persian).

He who walks with the virtuous is one of them. (English) .

If you sit down with a lame man you will learn to halt.
(Modern Greek).

If you sit with one who squints before evening you will
become cat-eyed. (Modem Greek).

Keep company with good men and good men you'll imitate. (Chinese).

Keep company with good men and good men you'll learn
to be. (Chinese).

Live with him who prays and thou prayest; live with the
singer and thou singest. (Arabian).

Live with one who plays and thou playest. (Arabian).

Live with the singer and thou singest. (Arabian).

The manners of the flock one lives among will be followed.
(Gaelic).

The servant of a king is like a king. (Hebrew).

Who follows a thief learns to steal. (Ibo- Nigerian).

Who lives with a cripple learns to limp. (English, Dutch, Portuguese).

With the good we become good. (Dutch).

OTHER PROVERBS RELATING TO INFLUENCE

A bad friend is like a smith, who if he does not burrn you
with fire will injure you with smoke. (Arabian).

A collector of mummies will be one. (Japanese).

A crow learned to walk like a cuckoo and forgot his own
walk. (Kashmiri).

A crow tried to acquire the strut of the partridge and forgot
even its own ? On the Afghan frontier a red-legged
partridge is regarded as very graceful while the crow
is thought to be a t3rpe of awkwardness. (Pashto).

A little buttermilk, the size of a pearl, to a whole pail full of
milk. (Telugu).

A monkey sees its fellow jump and jumps too. (Nigerian).

A single scrap of spoiled meat taints the whole meat.
(Chinese).

A thief knows a thief and a wolf knows a wolf. (English) .

A thief knows a thief's ways. (Hindustani).

Approach the perfumer and thou wilt be perfumed. (Hebrew).

A wise man associating with the vicious becomes an idiot;
a dog traveling with good men becomes a rational
being. (Arabian).

Bad companions quickly corrupt the good. (German).

Bad company is friendship with a snake fencing with a
sword. (Telugu).

Blackness leaves the coal when the fire enters ? that is, the
evil becomes good by good association. (Bengalese).

Carry wood behind the owner of property ? i.e. Follow the
prosperous and you will prosper. (Hebrew).

Do not approach the black, there will be black contagion.
(Osmanli).

Evil companionships corrupt good morals. (Greek).

This proverb was probably in common use in the
first century. St. Paul quoted it in I Cor. 15: 33.
(Greek).

Follow the owl and he will lead you into a ruined place.
(Arabian).

He who goes to Ceylon becomes a demon. (Bengalese),

He who intimately frequents people for forty days becomes
one of their number. (Obsolete Arabian) .

He who introduces himself between the onion and its peel
goes forth with the onion smell. (Arabian).

He who lies down with dogs will get up with fleas. (English, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish).

He who mixes himself with draff will be eaten by the swine.
(Dutch).

He who sits among the rubbish must not be surprised if
pigs devour him. (Serbian).

He who speaks good hears good, he who speaks bad hears bad. (Osmanli).

If there be a Balija man as small as a clove of garlic, he will
ruin the whole village. (Telugu).

If you wrestle with a collier you will get a blotch. (English).

Near putrid fish you will stink. (Chinese).

Near to the perfumer is fragrance. (Hebrew).

Near vermillion one gets stained pink ; near ink one gets
stained black. (Chinese).

On account of the teacher the pupil has eaten ? i.e. Out of
respect to his teacher the pupil reflects his honors.
(Hebrew).

One bad goat will spoil the herd. (Vai-West African).

One ill weed mars the whole pot of pottage. (English).

One rotten apple in the basket infects the rest. (Dutch).

One scabby goat infects the flock. (Persian).

One scabby sheep's enough to spoil the flock. (English,
Italian, French).

Play with dogs and you will get fleas. (Martinique
Creole).

Should there be two dry logs and a fresh one together, the
dry logs set the fresh one on fire. (Hebrew).

The character of a man depends on whether he has good
or bad friends. (Japanese).

The goat and its companions eat palm leaves. (Nigerian).

The governor took us and the scent came into the hand. ?
i.e. He shook hands with us. (Hebrew).

The pickpocket is the thief's brother. (Hindustani).

The qualities of a tree depend on those of the seed from
which it sprung and those of a man on the company
he keeps. (Persian).

The rotten apple spoils its companions. (Spanish).

Thy neighbor is thy teacher. (Arabian).

Unless you had touched garlic your fingers would not have
smelt. (Telugu).

Vice and virtue arise from our associations. (Bengalese).

Whatever goes into a salt mine becomes salt. (Persian).

What is near vermillion becomes stained red; what is near
ink becomes stained black. (Chinese).

When one plum beholds another it sets forth color.
(Persian).

When the crow is your guide he will lead you to the corpses
of dogs. (Arabian).

When we strike mud we get smeared over. (Malabar).

Who lives with a blacksmith will at last go away with
burnt clothes. (Afghan, Bannu).

Who talks with a smith receives sparks. (Kurdish).

With whom you are, such one you are. (Dutch, Serbian).

You only stink your hand by killing a muskrat. (Bengalese) .

14. YOU CANNOT MAKE A SILK PURSE OUT OF A SOW'S EAR

ALLIED PROVERBS

A black rug cannot be made white by means of soap.
(Persian).

A carrion kite will never make a good hawk. (English).

A chicken will not be produced from an earthen egg.
(Persian).

A hog in armor is still a hog. (English).

A hog in a silk waistcoat is still a hog. (English).

A pestle cannot be made into a bow. (Marathi).

A pig's tail will never make a good arrow. (Spanish,
Portuguese).

Can you make a pipe of a pig's tail. (English).

Chamois leather is not made of camel's hide. (Persian).

Every block will not make a bedstead. (English).

Every man's no se will not make a shoeing horn. (English) .

Every reed will not make a pipe. (English).

How can a good sword be made from bad iron? (Persian).

It is hard making a horn of an ape's tail. (English).

It is hard making a good web of a bottle of hay. (English).

It is ill making a blown horn of a toad's tail. (Scotch).

Jack will never make a gentleman. (English).

Of a pig's tail you can never make a good shaft. (English,
Portuguese).

String cannot be made from stone. (Marathi).

Spears are not made of bulrushes. (English).

The bust of Mercury cannot be cut from every wood. (Latin).

The world would not make a race horse out of a donkey.
(Irish).

Though iron may be heated ever so much it will not be-
come gold. (Tamil).

You cannot make a good archbishop of a rogue. (Danish) .

You cannot make a good coat of bad wool. (Spanish).

You cannot make a good hunting horn of a pig's tail.
(English, Danish).

You cannot make a hawk of a buzzard. (French).

You cannot make a horn of a pig's tail. (English).

You cannot make a sieve of an ass's tail. (Greek, German).

You cannot make a whistle out of a pig's tail. (English).

You cannot make hawks of kites. (Gaelic).

You cannot make velvet out of a sow's ear, (English).

OTHER PROVERBS OF IMPOSSIBILITY

A dog's tail never became straight. (Persian).

A donkey's tail is not a horse's tail.

This proverb is used to indicate the same as "You
cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." (Mauritius Creole),

Asking wool of a goat and the making of a piece of cloth of
a pucan. (Irish).

A thing cannot be at the same time both true and false.
(Chinese).

A thousand men cannot undress a naked man. (Modem
Greek).

A toad propping a bedpost firmly. (Chinese).

Can you change the shape of a dog*s tail? (Tamil).

Can you obtain musk from a polecat? (Tamil).

Heather bells do not bear cockle shells. (Scotch).

I cannot rtm and sit at the same time. (English).

I cannot sell the cow and have the milk. (Scotch).

I cannot spin and weave at the same time. (English).

Is it possible to cover a kittle drum with 'the skin of a
mouse? (Behar).

Ivory does not come from a rat's mouth. (Chinese).

No man can call again yesterday. (English).

No man can flay a stone. (English).

No one can be caught in places he does not visit. (Danish).

No one can blow and swallow at the same time. (German).

No one is bound to do impossibilities. (French, Italian).

One actor cannot perform a play. (Chinese).

One cannot be and have been. (French).

One cannot be both old and young at the same time. (German).

One cannot be in two places at once. (English).

One cannot drink and whistle at the same time. (Italian) .

One cannot ring the bells and walk in the procession.
(French).

One cannot wash a blackamoor white. (German).

One can't shoe a running horse. (Dutch).

One foot cannot stand on two boats. (Chinese).

Pounding an ass to make him a horse. (Bengalese).

Should even the water of life fall from the clouds you
would never get fruit from the willow. (Persian).

That which has been eaten out of the pot cannot be put in
the dish. (Danish).

The eyebrow of the new moon will not become green with
the dye of the sky. (Persian).

The water that comes from the same spring cannot be
both pure and salt. (English).

The wonderful and the impossible have collided. (Kaffir).

To believe a business is impossible is the way to make it so.
(English).

You cannot clap with one hand. (Chinese).

You cannot coax de morning glory to climb de wrong way
roim' the cornstalk. (Negro ? Plantation Proverb).

You cannot damage a wrecked ship. (Italian).

You cannot draw blood from a turnip. (Italian).

You cannot draw wine out of an empty cask. (German).

You cannot drive a windmill with a pair of bellows. (English).

You cannot get blood from a stone. (English).

You cannot get oil out of a wall. (French).

You cannot pull hard with a broken rope. (Danish).

You cannot shear the sheep closer than the skin. (Danish).

You cannot strip two skins off one cow. (Chinese).

You cannot take a cow from a man that has none.
(Danish).

You cannot eat your cake and have it too. (English).

Wash a dog, comb a dog, still a dog is but a dog. (French).

CONTRADICTING PROVERBS

By labor fire is got out of a stone. (German, Dutch).

It is always the impossible that happens. (French).

Labor conquers all things. (Latin).

Labor makes bread out of stone. (German).

Madam, if it is possible, it is done; if it is not possible it
shall be done. (French).

Nothing is so difficult but we may overcome it by perseverance. (Scotch).

Nothing is difficult to a willing mind. (Italian, English,
French).

Nothing is impossible to pains and patience. (English).

Persevere and never fail. (English).

The gods sell everything for labor. (English).

The will does it. (German).

To a brave heart nothing is impossible. (French).

To him that wills ways are not wanting. (English).

Where there is a will there is a way. (English, Spanish,
Italian).

Contributed by: Courtesy of www.archive.org

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Around the World

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: The following list was taken from "Aphorisms of Wisdom: or, a Complete Collection of the Most Celebrated Proverbs in the English, Scotch, French, Spanish, Italian, and other languages: Ancient and Modern," collected by Thomas V. Fuller, M.D., (GLASGOW: (R. & D. MALCOLM, 1814).

Cats
A cat has nine lives, and a woman has nine cats' lives*

As a cat loves mustard.

As grey as Grannum's cat.

Can a mouse fall in love with a cat?

How can the cat help it, if the maid be a fool?

Cat after kind.

Cats are hungry when a crust will content them.

Cats hide their claws.

Dogs

An old dog can't alter his way of barking.

Dogs are hard drove when they eat dogs.

Dogs bark as they are bred.

Dogs never go into mourning when a horse dies.

Dogs once scalded are afraid even of cold water.

Dogs ought to bark before they bite.

Dogs that bark at a distance never bite.

Dogs that hunt foulest hit off most faults.

Dogs that put up many hares kill none.

Dogs wag their tails, not so much in love to you as your bread.

Give a dog an ill name and his work is done.

Like the gardener's dog, that neither eats cabbage himself
nor lets any body else.

Like the smith's dog, that sleeps at the noise of the hammers, and wakes at the crashing of teeth.

Like those dogs, that meeting with nobody else bite one
another.

Like Wood's dog, he will neither go to the church nor stay
at home.

Little dogs start the hare, but great ones catch it.

Love me, love my dog.

He that strikes my dog, would strike me if he durst.

He that would hang his dog gives out first that he is mad.

Misc

A bird is known by its note, and a man by his talk.

A black hen will lay a white egg.

A goose-hawk beats not at a bunting.

A hog in armour is still but a hog.

A hog that is bemired, endeavours to bemire others.

A hog upon trust grunts till he is paid for.

A horse is neither better nor worse for his trapping.

A horse that will not carry a saddle must have no oats.

A lamb is as dear to a poor man as an ox to the rich.

A lion may come to be beholding to a mouse.

A little bird is content with a little nest.

A long ox and a short horse. A mad beast must have a sober driver.

A mad bull is not to be tied up with a packthread.

A man may come to market though he do not buy oysters.

A man may lead his horse to water but cannot make him
drink.

A pretty pig makes an ugly old sow.

A quiet calf sucks its dam, and another cow also.

A scabbed horse is good enough for a scabbed knight.

A short horse is soon curried.

A sparrow in hand is worth a pheasant that flyeth by,

A swine fatted hath eat its own bane.

A toiling dog comes halting home.

All is fish that comes to the net.

An angler eats more than he gets.

An ape may chance to sit amongst the Doctors.

An Argus at home, and a mole abroad.

An artful fellow is a devil in a doublet.

An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.

An ass is the gravest beast, an owl the gravest bird.

An ass laden with gold overtakes every thing.

An ass loaded with gold, climbs to the top of a castle.

An ass must be tied where the master will have him.

An ass that carries a load, is better than a lion that devours men.

An ass that kicketh against the wall, receives the blow
himself.

An ass was never cut out for a lap-dog.

An atheist is got one point beyond the devil.

An egg. and to bed.

An emmet may work its heart out, but can never make honey.

An old ape hath an old eye.

An old fox needs not to be taught tricks.

An old fox understands a trap.

An old goat is never the more reverend for his beard.

An old ox makes a straight furrow.

An old ox will find a shelter for himself.

An ox, when he is loose, licks himself at pleasure.

As a wolf is like a dog, so is a flatterer like a friend.

As brisk as a bee in a tar-pot.

As high as a hog, all but the bristles.

As like as an apple is to a lobster.

As nimble as a cow in a cage.

As nimble as an eel in a sand-bag.

As the old cock crows, so crows the young.

As useless as monkey's grease.

As wary as a blind horse.

As willful as a pig, that will neither lead nor drive.

As wise as Waltham's calf, that ran nine miles to suck a bull.

Apes are never more beasts, than when they wear men's
clothes.

Are you there with your bears?

Asses die, and wolves bury them.

Asses that bray most, eat least.

Better be a shrew than a sheep.

Bees that have honey in their mouths, have stings in their tails.

Birds pay equal honours to all men.

Chickens, now-a-days, cram the cock.

Dirty troughs will serve dirty sows.

Early sow, early mow.

Every bird is known by its feathers.

Every bird likes its own nest best.

Every bird must hatch its own ecro.

Every monkey will have his gambols,

Every sow deserves not a sack-posset.

Every sparrow to its ear of wheat.

Fish and guests smell at three days old.

Fish are not to be caught with a bird-call.

Fish makes no broth.

Fish ought to swim thrice.

Fishes follow the bait.

Good goose, don't, bite.

Good horses cannot be of a bad colour.

He eats the calf in the cow's belly.

He has brought up a bird to pick out his own eyes.

He knows not a hawk from a hand-saw.

He knows not a pig from a dog.

He that cannot ride a gentle horse must not attempt to
back a mad colt.

He that sets his net betimes, may expect a fuller draught
than he that fishes later.

Holding an eel too fast is the way to let her escape.

Honest is the cat when the meat is upon the hook.

I have a crow to pluck with you.

I will never keep a dog to bite me.

I will never stoop so low to take up just nothing at all.

I will not buy a pig in a poke.

I will not keep a dog and bark myself.

If every bird take back its own feathers, you will be naked.

If I had a dog so good for nothing as thou art, I would hang him.

If it were a bear it would bite you.

If the frog and mouse quarrel, the kite will see them a~
greed.

If you buy the cow, take the tail into the bargain.

If you sell a cow, you sell her milk too.

It is a base thing to tear a dead lion's beard off.

It is a foolish bird that stayeth the laying salt upon her
tail.

It is a silly horse that can neither whinney nor wag his tail.

It is at courts as it is in ponds, some fish, some frogs.

It is hard to break an old hog of a custom.

It is no good hen that cackles in your house,, and lays in
another's.

Let not the mouse-trap smell of blood.

Let the best horse leap the hedge first.

Like a dog in a manger, you'll not eat yourself, nor let the
horse eat.

Like a loader's horse, that lives among thieves.

Like a mill-horse, that goes much, but performs no journey.

Like a hog, he does no good till he dies.

More flies are taken with a drop of honey than a ton of vinegar.

Neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.

One barking dog sets all the street a barking

One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Pigs love that lie together.

Pigs play on the organ at Hogs-Norton.

Right, Roger, your sow's good mutton*

Serpents engender in still waters.

She looks like a cow turd stuck with primroses.

She shines like a dry cow turd.

That dog barks more out of custom than of care of the
house.

The ass brays when he pleases.

The ass that carrieth wine drinketh water.

The bee from her industry in the summer eats honey all
the winter.

The black ox never yet trod upon your feet.

The cat knows whose lips she licks.

The cat sees not every mouse.

The fox fares best when he is most cursed.

The fox knows much, but more he that catcheth him.

The fox may grow grey, but never good.

The fox praiseth the meat out of the crow's mouth.

The fox's wiles will never enter into the lion's head.

The wolf and fox are both privateers.

The wolf doth something every week, that hinders him
from going to church a Sunday.

The wolf never wants for a pretence against a lamb.

They are scarce of horses when two ride on a doo*.

To sing like a bird called a swine.

To turn cat in pan.

What is a crab in a cow's mouth?

When an ass is anions a parcel of monkeys, they all make
faces at him

When the fox could not reach the grapes, he cried they
are sour.

When the frog and mouse would take up the quarrel, the
kite decided it.

When the old dog barks he giveth counsel.

When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke.

You are like a cuckoo, you have but one song.

You are like a hog, never good while living.

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Around the World

Date: Centuries-old

Notes: The following list was taken from "A BOOK OF QUOTATIONS PROVERBS AND HOUSEHOLD WORDS, a Collection of Quotations from British and American Authors, Ancient and
Modem; with many Thousands of Proverbs, Familiar Phrases and
Sayings, from all sources, including Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and other Languages" by W. GURNEY BENHAM (PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY & London: CASSELL & Company, 1907).

A bad cat deserves a bad rat.

A bad dog never sees the wolf. (G.H.)

Better a fowl in the hand nor two flying. (R. Sc.)

Better one bird in hand than ten in the wood.

A feather in hand Is better than a bird in the air. (G. H.)

One bird in the net is better than a hundred flying. ?

A bleet (timid) cat makes a proud mouse. (E. Sc.)

A carrion kite will never make a good hawk. (R.)

A dog's life, hunger and ease. (E.)

A fox never dies in the dirt of his own ditch. ? Hebrew.

A good cat deserves a good rat. (Fr.)

A good cow may have an ill calf. (E. Sc.)

A good dog deserves a good bone. (E.)

A good bone never comes to a good dog. (Fr.)

A good dog never barketh about a bone. (E. Sc.)

A good whelp will not come of a bad dog. ? {Hebrew.)

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