HINDU PROVERBS.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2212, 3 June 1879, Page 2

HINDU PROVERBS.

The power of money is alluded to in the proverbs of ornr nation, bat only • Bengali would thiuk of saying, " One could buy oneself tiger's if one had only money ; or, when in a difficulty, of declaring it was as hard to do, "as to kill seven snakes with one stroke." " Old servants and old rice are best/ is a kind of Hindu proverb reminding us that 6delity is not unknown in the East. In many Indian proverbs we find that half-humor-ous observation of the habits of animals which we mi^ht expect in the authors of so many fable-books. They say of a hypocrite — " The crane is a choice saint," referring to the sanctimonious gravity with which thai bird wait* for its prey. A terrible phrase of Hindi} life is «ugij^tid hy a curious Bengali proverb that .sa} > a man in a timer's mouth is not so much afraid of the tiger's teeth as of the jungle he is going to, meaning that even in the presence of great calamities small future ones seem more terrible. An enually cruel enemy of the Hindoo is alluded to in tho following prudent pro* verb : " What I Dwell in the water and quarrel with tlte crocodile V Here is a proverb Hindu all over : " The snakecharmer can make the snake sneeze," intimating that a man understands the business on which he in always engaged. And hero are two more : " I won't give you the water I wash my cowries in," and "Tho pin-fi»h gees on falling into the haiuU of a bad cook." The pin-fish is a great delicacy, and the proverb means that a clevor person can ntv«r bt oodtr* stood by a fool.