Lions and Crocodiles

One of the pleasures of proverbs is to see how, in different parts of the world, the same idea may be expressed.

The familiar saying 'The leopard does not change his spots' can be matched by an African warning that the essential nature of something will not change: 'No matter how long a log floats in the water, it will never become a crocodile.'

The adjuration 'Put your trust in God, but keep your powder dry' finds an echo in the note of caution struck by an Arab proverb: 'Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.'

The Japanese saying 'Poke a bush, a snake comes out' has clear affinities with the more familiar 'Let sleeping dogs lie.'

The modern saying 'History is written by the victors' has an African equivalent in the proverb 'Until the lions produce their own historian, the story of the hunt will glorify the hunter.'

The familiar 'No rose without a thorn' finds an echo in the Indian proverb, 'If you live in the river you should make friends with the crocodile.'

The English saying 'Every herring must hang by its own gill', meaning that everyone is accountable for their own actions, embodies the same essential idea as the Chinese proverb, 'Those who eat salty fish will have to accept being thirsty.'

Sometimes, of course, different approaches are emphasized. The idea that someone not naturally suited to a task will perform poorly is traditionally expressed by the proverb 'A sow may whistle, though it has an ill mouth for it.' A much more positive approach is found in the African saying, 'If you can talk, you can sing, and if you can walk, you can dance.'

'To understand the people acquaint yourself with their proverbs' runs an Arab saying, but the colour and life in the proverbs now establishing themselves in the English language make them worth finding, and enjoying, for their own sake.

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Phrase, Saying, and Quotation published September 2006

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