Habding. — On Unwritten Literature. 443 



One cause of this scrupulous accuracy was, that the omission 

 or change of a single word in a powerful charm was sufficient 

 to destroy its efficacy, and lead to dire disaster. This regard 

 for verbal accuracy is commonly supposed to be characteristic 

 of a somewhat advanced stage in literature. Loose quotation 

 seems to be a feature in all old writings, and is common 

 enough still with hasty and slovenly writers. 



It is easy to disparage the quality of native lore on the 

 ground that it is elliptical, obscure, and at times when literally 

 translated wholly unintelligible. The difficulty which meets 

 the translator or collector on the very threshold of his work is 

 the allusiveness characteristic of all the songs and sayings. 

 The most brief and pointed proverb may embody some refer- 

 ence to an old hero, a national custom, the habit of some 

 obscure plant or animal, or to some well-known fable or story. 

 Before it can be understood, a great mass of native lore must 

 be mastered, and if literally rendered it is meaningless without 

 annotation. 



This quality may be readily illustrated by a little considera- 

 tion of our own proverbial expressions, which in numberless 

 cases owe all their force to their allusion to some familiar story, 

 native or exotic. Nearly every one of iEsop's fables has 

 crystallized into a proverbial phrase, as for example : "to 

 cry ' Wolf ! ' " "to nourish a viper in one's bosom," " to bite 

 at a file," " to grasp at a shadow," " sour grapes," &c. Leav- 

 ing out the Scripture references and phrases with which 

 common conversation and literature abound, we could collect 

 innumerable every-day phrases from the " Arabian Nights," 

 from the works of the masters of fiction, and from nearly 

 every work which has made an abiding mark on our literature. 

 Shakspeare is quoted unconsciously in the most ordinary 

 conversation. And not to old writers alone does this rule 

 apply. The pointed sayings of living men have passed into 

 the literary currency, and the great poet whose loss we all 

 mourn has left us no small store of " jew T els five words long, 

 that on the stretched forefinger of all time sparkle for ever." 

 As the same rule is of universal application, foreign proverbs 

 and phrases, conveying no idea to us, may be full of meaning 

 to those by whom they are in daily use. I have already re- 

 ferred to Milton's " Paradise Lost." No one can appreciate 

 or even understand the greater part of that work without 

 some acquaintance with classic fable, Scripture history, 

 rabbinical tradition, and the vocabulary of architecture and 

 other arts. A work of a much simpler and more popular kind, 

 the "Pilgrim's Progress," is so saturated with Scripture 

 phrases and references that a very thorough acquaintance 

 with the Bible is necessary to follow its allusions. To those 

 who can appreciate the references, they add a great charm to 



