DISCOVERY 



271 



The saying, " The youngest son remains on the stem," 

 illustrates this. 



Private property in personal articles and effects is 

 held in esteem, and no one should violate the eighth 

 commandment. " God wUl punish him who steals," 

 " Take from others, and you wiU lose your own," 

 " You wUl not become rich with stolen property," are 

 popular opinions of the crime against projjerty. 



Russians were always an inland race, cut off from 

 the seas by different nations. They had an outlet to 

 the WTiite Sea at Archangel, but that hardly modified 

 the situation. It was not till the beginning of the 

 dghteenth century that Russia secured a footing in 

 the North on the Baltic, and by the end of the same 

 century on the Black Sea in the South. It is therefore 

 natural that the people should have experienced an 

 almost holy dread before that great, mysterious, un- 

 known stranger — the Sea. A number of proverbs 

 point to this fact ; " Where there is water, there is 

 misfortune," declares one. Others say : " Far from 

 sea, far from grief " ; " Always expect misfortune 

 when sitting on the shore " ; " He who has not been 

 to sea knows not sorrow," and so on. 



Humility is recognised as a national characteristic 

 in the Russian. Great writers like Tolstoy and 

 Dostoyevsky preached it in season and out of season. 

 The proverb also testifies to its efficacious influence. 

 " Humility pleases God, ennobles the mind, saves the 

 soul, and consoles men," is the popular verdict on that 

 quality. 



Russians are justly reputed for being very hospitable. 

 " When a visitor is in the house, God is there," declares 

 one adage. Another stamps the unsociable man as 

 " evil." " He is evil who pays no visits and invites no 

 guests." It is an overbold statement, but no doubt 

 it reflects the general opinion in Russia. 



As might well be expected, a large number of maxims 

 reflect the well-founded belief in the therapeutic value 

 of diet and the simple life. " Live wisely and you'll 

 need no doctors " ; " He lives long who lives simply," 

 are examples of a large number of sayings dealing with 

 that subject. 



Many adages warn against excess in eating or 

 drinking. Some of these express the danger arising 

 therefrom by an arresting comparison : " He who 

 eats when satiated digs his ^-ave with his own teeth," 

 declares one. Another is of the opinion that " One 

 does not die from hunger, but from surfeit," quite 

 oblivious of the fact that hundreds of thousands died 

 in Russia of hunger-typhus during the years when the 

 harvest failed. 



A long list of precepts set forth the truth of the 

 good effect on health of a spare diet. " Keep your 

 head cool, your belly in hunger, and avoid doctors, 

 and you'll live to be a hundred," or " WTiere there is 



a feast, there is disease " ; while another summarises 

 the situation in " Moderation is the mother of health." 



The great value of sleep in resting the body is fully 

 recognised in a number of proverbs. One puts it 

 bluntly in : " Sleep is dearer than father and mother " ; 

 another pays to sleep the great compliment of compar- 

 ing it to riches : " Sleep, like riches, the more you 

 have the more you want." 



But there is an evident danger in too much sleep. 

 It causes laziness, and may bring about the ruin of the 

 peasant's household. " He who sleeps much will have 

 nought"; " If you lie on the stove you will have to 

 eat bricks," and a number of similar proverbs contain 

 the warning to the peasants of the dangers of sleeping 

 too much. 



Idle Ufe is pointed out as the source of ill-health. 

 " The poor man is looking out for disease, while the 

 rich is sought out by it." " Idleness does not feed a 

 man, but only makes him ill," is another truism. 



A number of precepts advocate the necessity of 

 being charitable. Charity is considered the essence of 

 true religion. Stories like Tolstoy's Where Love is, 

 God is, fully embody this national conception. Also 

 in folk-lore we can trace the same ideal in sayings 

 like, " Don't buUd a church, support an orphan " ; 

 or " Don't build seven churches, bring up seven 

 orphans." One cannot help thinking, had the whole 

 world been permeated by the principles dominating, 

 to a large extent, the illiterate peasantry of Russia, 

 this earth would now be a pleasanter place to live in. 



Books of the Month 



The following is our monthly selection of books 

 which we commend to the notice of our readers. 



Sir Harry. By Archibald Marshall. (Collins, 



7s. 6d.} 

 Penny Plain. By O. Douglas. (Hodder & Stough- 



ton, 8s. 6i.) 

 Foolish Lovers. By St. John Ervine. (Collins, 



7s. 6d.) 

 Eastern Nights and Flights. By " Contact " (Alan 



Bott). (Blackwood, 7s. 6d. net.) 

 This appeared originally as a serial in Blackwood's 

 Magazirie. 

 The Crisis of the Naval War. By Viscount Jellicoe. 



(Cassell, 3IS. 6d.) 

 A Constitution of the Socialist Commonwealth of Great 



Britain. By Sidney and Be.^trice Webb. 



(Longmans, 12s. 6d.) 



