ON THE STUDY OF POPULAR SAYINGS. 657 



make a proverb are ' sense, shortness, and salt,' but the most essential characteristio 

 of all is popularity, acceptance and adoption on the part of the people. Figurativeness 

 Is a frequent quality, but there are also many sayings recognised as proverbs that 

 contain no figure of speech. On the other hand, there is hardly a proverb that does 

 not in its form, somehow or other, differ from ordinary speech. Rhythm, rhyme, and 

 alliteration are particularly prominent features. 



The proverbs of a people may be studied from different points of view. In many 

 cases their study has been the pursuit of philologists, who have been mainly interested 

 in the linguistic aspect of the subject. But as a source of information on the language 

 spoken by a people its proverbs must be handled with caution, as they may contain 

 expressions which are not found in the native idiom, but belong to another dialect 

 from which the proverb has been imported, or, as is often the case with Arabic 

 proverbs, have been taken from the literary language, which in many respects differs 

 from the modern vernaculars. 



Aaother method of studying proverbs is to examine their diffusion. Peoples 

 have at all times been taking proverbs from each other. Among the nations of Europe 

 we find a very large number of identical, or almost identical, proverbs which obviously 

 have a common origin. Very many of our proverbs have been borrowed from the 

 Romans, who themselves had borrowed many of theirs from the Greeks, and another 

 great source has been the Bible. Others have come from the mediaeval monasteries, 

 or been introduced into Europe by Jews or Arabs. The wanderings of proverbs are 

 a fascinating study, but one beset with considerable difficulties. The resemblance 

 betAveen proverbs may have another cause than diffusion, namely, the uniformity 

 of human nature, which makes men in similar situations think and feel alike. The 

 real test of a common origin is not the mere similarity of ideas and sentiments expressed 

 in the proverbs, but the similarity of formal expression, of course with due allowance 

 for modifications that are apt to occur when a saying is adopted from another language 

 and transplanted into a new soil. 



There is a third way of studying proverbs, which is primarily concerned with their 

 contents as a subject of sociological or psychological interest. That in the proverbs 

 of a people are found precious documents as regards its character and temperament, 

 opinions and feelings, manners and customs, is generally recognised. Lord Bacon 

 said that ' the genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.' 

 There may be some exaggeration in statements of this kind, as many of the proverbs 

 are not indigenous. But on the other hand a foreign proverb is hardly adopted by 

 a people unless it is in some measure congenial to its mind and mode of life ; it may 

 be modified so as to fit in with its new surroundings ; when sufficiently deeply rooted 

 it may in turn influence the native habits of thought and feeling ; and if it does not 

 succeed in being acclimatised in its adoptive country it will wither and die. As an 

 illustration of the insight a people's proverbs may give us into its life I choose to 

 read a brief extract from my collection of sayings relating to robbery, which I found 

 among a tribe of mountaineers in Northern Morocco who carry on robbery as a genuine 

 trade. 



Not infrequently some of the proverbs of a people contradict the teaching of 

 others. Such incongruities may be more apparent than real. Proverbs may have the 

 form of categorical imperatives on account of their necessary brevity, and in such 

 cases their one-sidedness has to be corrected by others dealing with particular circum- 

 stances that modify the general rule. Moreover, as people are not all alike one maxim 

 may appeal to one person and another different maxim to another. And there is, 

 further, the distinction between proverbs that represent ideals and others that are 

 based on realities which do not come up to these ideals. But it must not be assumed 

 that a people's proverbs on a certain topic always tell us the whole truth about their 

 feelings relating to it. The Moorish sayings concerning women and married life 

 may serve as a warning. They are uniformly unfriendly or thoroughly prudential, 

 and might easily make one believe that the men are utterly devoid of tender feelings 

 towards their wives. But here we have to take into account their ideas of decency. 

 Tt is considered indecent of a man to show any affection for his wife ; in the eyes of 

 the outside world he should treat her with the greatest indifference. 



Proverbs are not merely reflections of life but play an active part in it ; and this 

 functional aspect of the matter should also engage the attention of the student. 

 Proverbs teach resignation in adversity, they give counsels and warnings, they are 

 means of influencing the emotions, will, and behaviour of others, as they may influence 

 one's own, whether they are shaped as direct commands, or are statements of some 



1928 U U 



