PROl'ERBS. 337 



It may be said of this farce, which was in great favour when first written, 

 that each line is redolent of Gallic proverbs, and that for more than three 

 centuries the people of Paris adopted the proverbial sayings which it contains. 

 Moreover, most of the farces played by the Pont-Alais troupe, by the clerks 

 of the Basoche, by the brotherhood of the Mere Sotte, and by other strolling 

 bands, were full of common and vulgar proverbs which excited the hearty 

 laughter of the audience. 



The proverb also prevailed in all kinds of poetry, and especially in 

 that which addressed itself to the people. Frai^ois Villon, himself 

 a true Parisian, bore this in mind when he inserted in his two "Testa- 

 ments " a number of popular sayings and adages which had become, 

 or were fitted to become, proverbs. Indeed, his ballads are, in reality, 

 an ingenious paraphrase of the rhymed proverb which forms the refrain, 

 as in the ballad "Dames du temps jadis," which contains the oft-quoted 

 line 



" Mais oil sont los neiges d'anUn ':" 

 (Where are last year's snows ?) 



It is not surprising that Pierre Gringoire, who had long been at the head 

 of the dramatic association of the Mere Sotte, before becoming herald of arms 

 at the court of Lorraine, gave a large place to proverbs in all his works. 

 Many of his poetical compositions are merely collections of rhymed proverbs ; 

 amongst others, the " Menus Propos," the " Abus du Monde," and especially 

 the " Fantaisies de Mere Sotte." This last collection, the best known of all 

 terminates thus : 



" Femme est 1'ennemy de 1'auiy, 

 Femme eat peche inevitable, 

 Fcmme est familier cnnemy, 

 Femme decoit plus que le diable. . . . 

 Femme est tetnpebte de maison. . . . 

 Femme est le serpent des serpena." . . . 



Prince Charles of Orleans, who was a court poet, and who composed 

 nothing but ballads and roundelays for the young nobles and young dames of 

 France and England, did not think it undignified to embody in them several 

 popular proverbs, which were pearls picked up from the dungheap. Amongst 

 others, he quoted the proverb 



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