was one enlivened by a soul which Heaven had enriched with the greatest part of its most valuable graces ... who was unrivalled in wit, matchless in courteousness, a phœnix in friendship ... prudent and grave without pride, modest without affectation, pleasant and complaisant without meanness; in a word, the first in everything good, though second to none in misfortune.”
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.