Teach me how to eat, give me information on subjects with which you are acquainted, and I shall readily listen to you, hut do not pretend to instruct me in matters of which you have no knowlege, was said by Bacchus to Hercules, who was laying down rules for the construction of tragedies and other poems: Hercules being as famed for the voraciousness of his appetite, as for his great bodily strength.

The camel, discontented at not having horns, lost its ears likewise. The adage teaches that we should be thankful for those faculties and powers with which it has pleased Providence to endow us, and not to ask for properties inconsistent with our state, and which would be rather injurious to us than beneficial, as horns would be to the camel, whose strength does not lie in his neck. The fable seems to have taken its rise from the camel's having shorter ears than most animals of its size, and to its not being or reputed not to be quick of hearing. Hence the ancients feigned, that Jupiter, offended at their asking for horns, had deprived them of their ears also.

See the camel is dancing, may be said, when we see a very austere person laughing, or any one doing what is contrary to his usual habit or disposition.

Barking dogs rarely bite, and Brag is a good dog, but hold-fast is a better. Cowards are fond of noise and blustering, under which they hope to hide their baseness; but men of couragre, having nothing that they wish to conceal, are sedate and quiet, as the deepest waters flow with the least noise. Churchill has well depicted cowardice in the following lines.

–––«Caution before
With heedful steps the lanthorn bore,
Pointing at graves, while in the rear,
Trembling and talking loud went Fear».

To be always singing the same tune, or telling the same stories, which, though at the first they might be interesting and pleasant, at length become, by repetition, tiresome and disgusting. Dieu nous garde d'un homme qui n'a qu'une affaire; God keep us, the French say, from a man who is only acquainted with one subject, on which he is capable of conversing; he will introduce it on all occasions, though it have no affinity to the subject which the company are discussing. He will lug it in by the neck and shoulders.

It is the perfection of art or of management that every one should conform himself to his circumstances and situation in life, that the rich and great should not descend to the manners of the poor, nor the poor emulate those of the rich; that the aged should not mix in the sports and amusements of the young, nor the young imitate the gravity of those advanced in years.

See the young whelps looking big, and attempting to imitate their elders, was used to be said of servants affecting the state and grandeur of their masters. This is more particularly seen in the conduct of the clerks in public offices, who often expect to be addressed with more ceremony, and to have more attention paid to them than is required by their superiors. «The insolence of office» is recorded by Shakespeare, as constituting no small part of the miseries of this life.

More changeable than the chamæleon, which was supposed, though not truly, to assume the colour of every object it approached.

The Chians purchased for themselves masters. When their country was conquered by Mithridates, they were delivered, bound with chains, to their slaves, whom they had purchased, to be by them transported to Colchis. The adage was used when any one by mismanagement had brought upon himself any severe calamity.

Cast not the children's provision to the dogs. Talk not on moral or religious subjects before persons of loose manners, who are disposed to ridicule every thing that is grave and serious; neither enter into arguments with persons who are obstinate, or ignorant; who are either incapable of understanding, or predetermined not to adopt what you advise.

Quicker than boiling asparagus, was frequently in the mouth of the Emperor Augustus, when he wished any business to be executed speedily, the asparagus requiring to be boiled only a few minutes; or Aphya ad ignem, a kind of salted fish, which in dressing it, required only to be shewn the fire.

Would you attempt to wrest his club from the hands of Hercules? may be said to any one undertaking what is much beyond his capacity to perform. Such was anciently the reverence paid to Homer, that to imitate his verses was thought to be as difficult as to take by force his club from Hercules, or the thunderbolt from the hands of Jupiter. The adage may also be applied to any one entering into a contest with persons superior to him in fortune and power. You may as well take a bear by the tooth.«He that meddleth with strife that doth not belong to him, is like one that taketh a mad dog by the ear».

Relationship excites envy. We rarely envy the good fortune of those with whom we are little acquainted; it is those who are nearer to us, in the same school, college, or regiment; or with whom we are intimately related, or associated in the same business, or who are in the same rank in life with ourselves, whose superior success disturbs us. For the success of persons very much superior to us rarely gives rise to this detestable and tormenting passion, which undermines the health, and when in excess occasions melancholy, and even madness. «As a moth gnaws a garment», Saint Chrysostom says, «so doth envy consume a man».

––––«If she but tastes
The slenderest pittance of commended virtue,
She surfeits of it».

In the same spirit Swift says,

«To all my foes, O Fortune send
Thy gifts, but never to a friend
I scarcely can endure the first,
But this with envy makes me burst».

You are kicking against the pricks, may be said to persons, who, impatient under any affliction or injury, by attempting to avenge themselves, increase their misfortune; or who contend with persons capable of inflicting a much severer punishment, than that which they are suffering. «Paul, Paul, why persecutes thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks». The adage takes its rise from the custom of goading oxen, to make them go forward, with sticks, having sharp points. If they are restive and push backwards, they force the points of the sticks into their flesh.

Striving against the stream, which those may be said to do who attempt to convince obstinately perverse persons of the impropriety of any thing they have once resolved to defend, or of undertaking any project they have determined to accomplish.

Let not care corrode and gnaw your heart, lest you should fall into a state of despondency, and to avenge some disappointment or trouble, throw away all the blessings you enjoy, and with them your life. To this purport the Psalmist, «Fret not thyself, lest thou be moved to do evil». Por mucho madrugar, no amanece mas aína. The Spaniards say, early rising makes it not day the sooner, or too much anxiety and care will not enable you the sooner to obtain your point; and the Italians Cento carre di pensieri, non pagaranno un'oncia di debito an hundred cartloads of care will not pay an ounce of debt. Cura facit canos, care brings gray hairs, and «care», we say, «killed the cat». But who is without care, or can escape its fangs! «Man that is born of a woman is of short continuance, and full of trouble; all his days are sorrow, and his travels grief, his heart also taketh not rest in the night». And «you may as soon», Burton says, «separate weight from lead, heat from fire, moistness from water and brightness from the sun, as misery, discontent, care, calamity, and danger from man». Such being the state of man, and as we are assured, «that it is as natural for him to suffer, as for sparks to fly upwards», we should bear our afflictions with patience, by which alone the heaviest of them will be in some degree softened, and appeased. «Si gravis brevis, si longus levis». If the pain be very severe, it cannot last; if it be moderate and of longer duration, it may be borne. «Nullum est malum majus, quam non posse ferre malum», no greater misfortune can happen to us, than not to be able to bear misfortune.

To live a debauched and voluptuous life, like the Corinthians. Corinth of old, like Venice in modern times, was famed for entertaining multitudes of courtezans, and for the great homage that was paid to them. They served as decoys to attract to the city, the most wealthy of the inhabitants from all parts of Greece, to the great emolument of the artizans and traders, and improvement of the revenue of the state. Lais, one of the courtezans, was esteemed to be the most beautiful and accomplished woman of the age in which she lived. She drew visitors from the most distant countries, to whom she sold her favours at a very high price. Of Demosthenes, who wished to pass an evening with her, she required ten thousand drachmas. Astonished at the boldness and largeness of the demand, he quitted her, «not choosing», he said, «to buy repentance at so dear a rate».

The crow seizing on a scorpion, and thinking he had got a delicate morsel, was stung to death. The adage is applicable to persons, who, meditating mischief to others, find the evil recoil upon themselves with redoubled force.

A Corycæan has been listening. This was said when any one found that a transaction to which he thought no one was privy, had been discovered. The Corycæans, a band of robbers inhabiting a mountain of that name, contrived, in order that they might know where to levy contributions with certainty, to mix among the merchants and traders, and by listening to their discourse, learned what sort of goods each of them carried with them, where they were going, and at what time they meant to set out on their journey; when taking with them as many associates as they thought necessary, they met, and robbed them.

By frequent repetition, even the most pleasant and agreeable story tires, and at length nauseates, as do also the most favourite viands. The particular plant called Crambe by the ancients is not now known. It was thought to have the power of preventing the inebriating effects of wine, and hence we are told, a portion of it, previously baked, was usually taken by the Ægyptians, and some other nations, before sitting down to their tables, that they might indulge more freely in drinking; but twice baked, or too often taken, it excited nausea and disgust, whence the proverb.
«Occidit miseros crambe repetita magistros». -JUVENAL.
To hear the same lesson, so oft repeated, is the death of us poor masters.