Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
114
"Jump
at
it
like
a
cock
at
a
gooseberry."
Then
the
idea
of
durableness
is
thus
expressed
in
a
Wiltshire
proverb:--
"An
eldern
stake
and
a
blackthorn
ether
[hedge],
Will
make
a
hedge
to
last
for
ever"--
an
elder
stake
being
commonly
said
to
last
in
the
ground
longer
than
an
iron
bar
of
the
same
size.[1]
A
person
who
is
always
on
the
alert
to
make
use
of
opportunities,
and
never
allows
a
good
thing
to
escape
his
grasp,
is
said
to
"have
a
ready
mouth
for
a
ripe
cherry."
The
rich
beauty,
too,
of
the
cherry,
which
causes
it
to
be
gathered,
has
had
this
moral
application
attached
to
it:--
"A
woman
and
a
cherry
are
painted
for
their
own
harm."
Speaking
of
cherries,
it
may
be
mentioned
that
the
awkwardness
of
eating
them
on
account
of
their
stones,
has
given
rise
to
sundry
proverbs,
as
the
following:--
"Eat
peas
with
the
king,
and
cherries
with
the
beggar,"
and:--
"Those
that
eat
cherries
with
great
persons
shall
have
their
eyes
squirted
out
with
the
stones."
A
man
who
makes
a
great
show
without
a
corresponding
practice
is
said
to
be
like
"fig-tree
fuel,
much
smoke
and
little
fire,"
and
another
adage
says:--
"Peel
a
fig
for
your
friend,
and
a
peach
for
your
enemy."
This
proverb,
however,
is
not
quite
clear
when
applied
to
this
country.
"To
peel
a
fig,
so
far
as
we
are
concerned,"
writes
Mr.
Hazlitt[2],
"can
have
no
significance,
except
that
we
should
not
regard
it
as
a
friendly
service;
but,
in
fact,
the
proverb
is
merely
a
translation
from
the
Spanish,
and
in
that
language
and
country
the
phrase
carries
a
very
full
meaning,
as
no
one
would
probably
like
to
eat
a
fig
without
being
sure
that
the
fruit
had
not
been
tampered
with.
The
whole
saying
is,
however,
rather
unintelligible.
'Peeling
a
peach'
would
be
treated
anywhere
as
a
dubious
attention."
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
