THE PROVERBS OF CERVANTES.

It has been declared, without provoking contradiction, that Spanish proverbs are undoubtedly wiser and wittier, as well as more numerous than those of any other language. At least a dozen collections of these tabloids of wisdom have been published in Spain; the largest, which was compiled by Juan de Yriarte, containing no fewer than 24,000 proverbs. At least half-a-dozen volumes were in existence in the time of Cervantes; and from these sources it may be presumed he went for much of the sage and pointed witticisms with which Sancho Panza garnishes his conversation. Though it was not the purpose of the author of Don Quixote to select the most characteristic and representative specimens in the language, he has brought together in his book some 300 examples of the refranes which were then in current use; and from those which he considered worthy of quotation I have made the following selection:

“The devil lurks behind the cross.”—I. 6; II. 33, 47.

“What is good is never too abundant.”—I. 6.

“Many go for wool, and come back shorn.”—I. 7; II. 14, 43, 67.

“One swallow does not make a summer.”—I. 13.

“There is no recollection which time does not obliterate, nor grief which death does not destroy.”—I. 15.

“There is nothing certain in this life.”—I. 15.

“What hath been, hath been.”—I. 20.

“All will come out in the washing.”—I. 20, 22; II. 36.

“Do not ask as a favour what you can obtain by force.”--I. 21.

“When one door is shut, another is opened.”—I. 21.

“Let him be wretched who thinks himself so.”—I. 21.

“No discourse that is long can be pleasing.”—I. 21.

“Man goes as God is pleased.”—I. 22.

He who sings frightens away his ills.”—I. 22.

“‘No’ contains the same number of letters as ‘Ay.’”—I. 22.

“To do good to low fellows is to throw water into the sea.”—I. 23.

“The absent feel and fear every ill.”—I. 25.

“Many think to find bacon where there are not even hooks to hang it on.”—I. 25; II. 55, 65, 73.

“He who does not intend to pay is not troubled in making his bargain.”—I. 28.

“The danger is generally in the delay.”—I. 29, 46; II. 41, 71.

“A bird in the hand is better than an eagle on the wing.”—I. 31; II. 12, 71.

“We must suit our behaviour to the occasion.”—I. 31; II. 3.

“To know where the shoe pinches.”—I. 32.

“You often find a good drinker under a bad cloak.”—I. 33.

“He who gives quickly, gives twice.”—I. 34.

“There is a great distance between said and done.”—I. 46.

“Diligence is the mother of success.”—I. 46.

“Every one is the son of his own works.”—I. 47.

“Since I am a man, I may come to be Pope.”—I. 47.

“When the head aches, all the members feel it.”—II. 2.

“Honours change manners.”—II. 4.

“Everyone is as God has made him, and very often worse.”—II. 4.

“He who covers thee, discovers thee.”—II. 5.

“The virtuous maid and the broken leg must stay at home.”—II. 5, 49.

“Better a daughter ill-married than well kept.”—II. 5.

“Great deeds are reserved for great men.”—II. 5.

“He who cannot take advantage of fortune when it comes, should not complain if it passes him by.”—II. 5.

“The counsel of a woman is not worth much, but he who does not take it is worth nothing.”—II. 7.

“Many littles makes much.”—II. 7.

“He who shuffles the cards does not cut them.”—II. 7.

“The lamb goes (to the butcher) as soon as the sheep.”—II. 7.

“Tell me with whom you live, and I will tell you what you are.”—II. 9.

“Truth always gets above falsehood, as oil above water.”—II. 9.

“Not with whom thou art bred, but with whom thou art fed.”—II. 10, 32, 68.

“Madness must necessarily have more followers than discretion.”—II. 13.

“Those who seek adventures do not always find happy ones.”—II. 13.

“It is other people’s burdens that kill the ass.”—II. 13.

“If the blind lead the blind, both are in danger of falling into the ditch.”—II. 13.

“There is no road so level as to have no rough places.”—II. 13.

“To know how many three and two make.—II. 13, 36.

“The lance never blunted the pen, nor the pen the lance.”—II. 16.

“Between a woman’s Yes and No I would not venture to stick the point of a pin.”—II. 19.

“For God who sends the wounds, sends the cure.”—II. 19.

“Love looks through spectacles which make copper appear gold, riches poverty, and weak eyes distil pearls.”—II. 19.

“Every sheep with his fellow.”—II. 19.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”—II. 20.

“Let him preach well who lives well.”—II. 20.

“He who does not rise with the sun, does not enjoy the day.”—II. 23.

“He who errs and repents recommends himself to God.”—II. 28.

“To talk of a rope in the house of one who has been hanged.”—II. 28.

“Where you least expect it up starts the hare.”—II. 30.

“He who lives a long life, must needs go through many evils.”—II. 32.

“Associate with good men and thou wilt be one of them.”—II. 32.

“The little birds have God for a caterer.”—II. 33.

All is not gold that glitters.”—II. 33.

“Four yards of Cuenca cloth keep one warmer than as many of fine Segovia serge.”—II. 33.

To begin an affair is to have it half finished.”—II. 33.

“At night all cats are grey.”—II. 33.

“Nobody is born learned; and (even) bishops are made of men.”—II. 33.

“I am an old dog, and ‘tus, tus,’ will not do for me.”—II. 33, 69.

“A good name is better than great riches.”—II. 33.

“The corpse of the Pope takes no more ground than that of the sacristan.”—II. 33.

“The fire gives light, and the flames brightness, and yet they may both destroy us.”—II. 34.

“We make less account of that which costs us little.”—II. 34.

“A good heart overcomes evil fortune.—II. 35.

“The ass laden with gold mounts lightly up the hill.”—II. 35.

“There is nothing that costs less than civility.”—II. 36.

“There is no avenging yourself upon a rich man.”—II. 37.

“You may lose as well by a card too much as by a card too little.”—II. 37.

“Make yourself into honey and the flies will devour you.”—II. 43, 49.

“To ‘Get out of my house!’ and ‘What do you want with my wife?’ there is no answer.”—II. 43.

“We are all equals when we are asleep.”—II. 43.

“The foolish sayings of the rich man pass for saws in society.”—II. 43.

“As much as you have, so much you are worth.”—II. 43.

“Heaven always favours good desires.”—II. 43.

“To whom God wishes well, his house knows it.”—II. 43.

“There can be no true pleasantry without discretion.”—II. 44.

“We do not know what is good until we have lost it.”—II. 48.

“It is better for him whom God helps than for him who always rises early.”—II. 49.

“She who desires to see, desires also to be seen.”—II. 49.

“When God sends the dawn, He sends it for all.”—II. 49.

“As long as I am warm, let them laugh (who will).”—II. 50.

“Ingratitude is the child of pride.”—II. 51.

“When you are at Rome, do as you see.”—II. 54.

“Man proposes and God disposes.”—II. 55.

“Until death, all is life.”—II. 59.

“He who falls to-day, may rise to-morrow.”—II. 65.

“Said the pot to the kettle, ‘Get away, blackface!’”—II. 67.

“What the eyes see not, breaks not the heart.”—II. 67.

“The righteous sometimes suffer for sinners.”—II. 67.

“Do away with the motive, and you do away with the sin.”—II. 67.

“He who rails is not far from forgiving.”—II. 70.