Note 234 — Chapter XXXIX

Mayans y Siscar, Orígenes, Tom. I. pp. 188-191, and the Diálogo de las Lenguas, p. 12, where the author says, “In our proverbs, you see the purity of the Castilian language”; and p. 170, where he says, “The purest Castilian we have is in our proverbs.” The “Don Quixote” will occur to every body as a book that proves how much proverbs enter into Spanish literature; but I should rather cite the “Celestina,” where their number is, I think, equally great in proportion, and their serious application more effective.