In point of condensation, the wit of the proverb has the advantage. Coleridge relates an incident which illustrates that “even a fool when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” He once saw, at a dinner table, “a dignified man with a face as wise as the moon’s.” The awful charm of his manner was not broken until the muffins appeared, and then the imp of gluttony forced from him the exclamation—“Them’s the jockeys for me!”
There is a passage concerning the tongue in the Book of James, full of sayings quite as terse and striking as any in the Book of Proverbs. “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” “The tongue is a little member and boasteth great things; behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth.” “Every kind of beasts and birds and serpents is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind; but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. * * * Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. * * * Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”
This passage from James may be placed side by side with the familiar story of Æsop. His master, Xanthus, sent him to market to procure the best things it afforded. When the dinner hour arrived, Xanthus discovered that nothing but tongues had been provided. “What,” he exclaimed in a rage, “did I not tell you to procure the best things the market afforded?” “And have I not obeyed your orders? Is there anything better than a tongue? Is it not the bond of civil society, the organ of truth and reason, the instrument of our praise and adoration of the gods?” The next day Æsop was directed to go to the market and purchase the worst things it afforded. He did so and again purchased nothing but tongues. “What!” cried Xanthus, “tongues again?” “Certainly; for the tongue is surely the worst thing in the world; it is the instrument of all strife and contention, the inventor of law-suits, and the source of all division and wars; it is the organ of errors, of lies, of calumnies, and blasphemies.”
“Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, and therewith curse we men who are made after the likeness of God; out of the same mouth cometh forth cursing and blessing.”
4. The Scold.
To return to the proverbs. Solomon had some unhappy domestic experiences, and such proverbs as these may have been the outcome: “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman without discretion.” “A continual dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike. Whosoever hideth her, hideth the wind.” “It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman.” “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” “It is better to dwell in the corner of a house top than with a brawling woman in a large house.”
5. The Power of Money.
The proverbialists had been close observers of human nature, and of the ways of the world. “Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of a man are never satisfied.” “A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry; but money answereth all things.” “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” These wise men had seen much to justify the sharp arrows they shot at those “who crook the pregnant hinges of the knee where thrift may follow fawning.” “The poor is hated even of his own neighbor, but the rich hath many friends.” “Many will entreat the favor of a prince, and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.” “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” There is an incident in the second Book of Kings, that exemplifies, with touches of humor, the truth of these proverbs. “And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, (king of Israel,) for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year.” The king of Assyria is greatly shocked at this sign of disrespect. His feelings are outraged and wounded at receiving no present. It is suspicious, very suspicious! Let this Hoshea be looked to. The man who fails to bring the usual present is fit for “treasons, stratagems and spoils.” There is no telling what evil he may be plotting. Surely there is “conspiracy in him.” “Therefore, the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.” Solomon was right—“A man’s gift bringeth him before great men,” but the absence of it bringeth him into prison as a traitor!
6. Miscellaneous.