ing storm flees to a river or lake and leaps therein so as to be under cover when the rain begins to fall.

Disraeli tells us in his Curiosities of Literature that the saying was borrowed by the English and applied to themselves. "It may be found," he declares, "among the Persians: In the 'Bustan' of Sadi we have Infers piper in Hindostan— "To carry pepper to Hindostan.' Among the Hebrews, 'To carry oil to the city of olives'; a similar proverb occurs in Greek."

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: Gen. 33: 8, 9; Exod. 36:5-7; Matt. 13: 12; 25: 29; Mark 4:25; Luke 6:38; 8: 18; 19: 26.

"He betook himself to the town of Ephraim, twenty miles north of Jerusalem and five northeast of Bethel, on the margin of the wilderness of Judea. Ephraim is unknown to fame. It was situated in a wheat growing district, and the Jews had a proverb, 'Carry straw to Ephraim," much like our 'Carry coals to Newcastle." DAVID SMITH, A.D. 1866, In the Days of His Flesh.

"Proverb literature testifies to a universal abundance of that class of gifts which provoke a 'thank you for nothing.' 'Coals to Newcastle' is our national expression but for such superfluous presents the Greeks had many a mocking adage."-London Quarterly Review, July, 1868.

VARIANT PROVERBS

A farthing to the millions of Crœsus. (Greek).
Carrying saut to Dysart and puddings to Tranent.

Sometimes this saying is used only in part and
treated as two proverbs. (Scotch).

Carry vegetables to the town of vegetables. (Hebrew). Like selling needles in the blacksmith's street. (Telugu). Like selling pots in Potter's Street. (Telugu).

Putting salt into the sea. (Gaelic).

Selling needles at the iron mungers. (Bengali).

Sending salt to the salt pit. (Welsh).

That were sending butter to a dairyman's house. (Gaelic).

That were sending wood to Lochaber.

(Gaelic).

To add a farthing to the riches of Croesus. (Latin).

To act cupbearer to the frogs. (Greek).

To carry apples to Alcinous. (Greek).

To carry blades to Damascus. (Asiatic).

To carry box to Cytorus. (Greek).

To carry brine to Apamæa and fish to Acco. (Hebrew).

To carry cockles to St. Michael. (French).

To carry cumin seed to Kirmin.
To carry fish to the Hellespont.
To carry indulgences to Rome.

(Persian).
(Greek).
(English).

To carry leaves to the woods. (French).

To carry muria to Spain or fish to Acco. (Ancient Hebrew). To carry oil to the city of olives-sometimes quoted "To carry oil to Olivet." (Hebrew, Greek).

To carry owls to Athens. (Greek).

To carry peppers to Hindustan. (Persian).

To carry straw to Ephraim.

Ephraim being the wheat growing district of
Palestine. (Ancient Hebrew).

To carry the clod to the plowed field. (Greek).

To carry water to the river. (French).

To carry wood to the forests. (Latin).
To carry wood to the mountain. (Spanish).

To cart water to the Thames. (English).

To offer honey to one who owns beehives. (Spanish,
Portuguese, Italian).

To pour water into the Severn. (Welsh).
To send enchantments to Egypt. (Hebrew).

To send fir to Norway. (Dutch, Danish).

To send water to the sea. (French, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Spanish, Osmanli).

To sell shells to those who come from St. Michel. (French).

To show the path to one who knows it. (Welsh).

To throw brine into the sea.

(Welsh).

To throw water into the river. (Persian).

ALLIED PROVERBS

Cress is not sold to the cress seller, nor tarragon to him who vends tarragon. (Osmanli).

Do not sell sun in July. (Italian).

It is foolish to show glow worms by candle light. (Italian). Nobody gathering mushrooms deposits them on an anthill. (Oji-Africa).

Of what use is a torch at midday? (Hebrew).

Sending ducks to fetch the geese from the water. (Welsh). The beggar stands at the beggar's door. (Panjabi).

The healthy seeking a doctor. (Welsh).

The lamb teaching the sheep to graze. (Welsh).

The light of a lamp amid the glare of a torch. (Assamese).

To carry a lantern in midday. (Hebrew).

To grease a lump of lard. (Welsh).

To jump into the water for fear of rain. (French).

To light a lamp amid the glare of a torch. (Assamese).

To sell honey to buy sweet things. (Welsh).

To sell the sow and buy bacon. (Welsh).

To show the sun with a torch.

(French).

To sink a well by the riverside. (German).

When it rains everybody brings drink to the hens. (Armenian).

Where there is a market for greenstuff, there I take my

greenstuff. (Ancient Hebrew).

11, 86

TO ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL

To take from one and give to another.

The proverb is very old. Its origin is unknown. Many believe that it was not used earlier than 1560. On Dec. 17, 1550, the abbey church of St. Peter's, Westminster, was made a cathedral. Ten years later the Westminster lands were so wasted that they became insufficient to support the cathedral and were therefore in part sold and the money used to repair St. Paul's Cathedral, London. It has been thought that the proverb came into use at that time. But Walter W. Skeat says truly that such a derivation of the proverb is a mere guess and quoted the phrase as found in Lanfranc's Science of Cirurgie written about the year 1400 where the following expression is found: "For sum medicyne is for Peter that is not good for Poule, for diuersite of complexioun." The two names Peter and Paul being used not with reference to the apostles but in a general sense and because of the alliteration. He further reminds us that Heywood in 1562 quoted the proverb-"Rob Peter to pay Paul," which is the true form with no application to the Westminster incident. It is not at all improbable