A wise man associating with the vicious becomes an idiot; a dog traveling with good men becomes a rational being. (Arabian).

Bad companions quickly corrupt the good. (German). Bad company is friendship with a snake fencing with a sword. (Telugu).

Blackness leaves the coal when the fire enters—that is, the evil becomes good by good association. (Bengalese). Carry wood behind the owner of property-i.e. Follow the prosperous and you will prosper. (Hebrew). Do not approach the black, there will be black contagion. (Osmanli).

Evil companionships corrupt good morals. (Greek).

This proverb was probably in common use in the first century. St. Paul quoted it in I Cor. 15: 33. (Greek).

Follow the owl and he will lead you into a ruined place. (Arabian).

He who goes to Ceylon becomes a demon. (Bengalese). He who intimately frequents people for forty days becomes one of their number. (Obsolete Arabian).

He who introduces himself between the onion and its peel goes forth with the onion smell. (Arabian).

He who lies down with dogs will get up with fleas. (English, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish).

He who mixes himself with draff will be eaten by the swine. (Dutch).

He who sits among the rubbish must not be surprised if pigs devour him. (Serbian).

He who speaks good hears good, he who speaks bad hears bad.

(Osmanli).

If there be a Balija man as small as a clove of garlic, he will ruin the whole village. (Telugu).

If you wrestle with a collier you will get a blotch. (Eng

lish).

Near putrid fish you will stink. (Chinese).

Near putrid fish you will stink, near the epidendrum you will be fragrant. (Chinese).

Near to the perfumer is fragrance.

(Hebrew).

Near vermillion one gets stained pink; near ink one gets stained black. (Chinese).

On account of the teacher the pupil has eaten―i.e. Out of respect to his teacher the pupil reflects his honors. (Hebrew).

One bad goat will spoil the herd. (Vai-West African). One ill weed mars the whole pot of pottage. (English). One rotten apple in the basket infects the rest. (Dutch). One scabby goat infects the flock. (Persian).

One scabby sheep's enough to spoil the flock. (English, Italian, French).

Play with dogs and you will get fleas. (Martinique Creole).

Should there be two dry logs and a fresh one together, the dry logs set the fresh one on fire. (Hebrew).

The character of a man depends on whether he has good or bad friends. (Japanese).

The goat and its companions eat palm leaves. (Nigerian). The governor took us and the scent came into the hand.i.e. He shook hands with us. (Hebrew).

The pickpocket is the thief's brother. (Hindustani). The qualities of a tree depend on those of the seed from which it sprung and those of a man on the company he keeps. (Persian).

(Arabian).

The rotten apple spoils its companions. (Spanish).
Thy neighbor is thy teacher.
Unless you had touched garlic your fingers would not have
smelt. (Telugu).

Vice and virtue arise from our associations. (Bengalese).
Whatever goes into a salt mine becomes salt. (Persian).
What is near vermillion becomes stained red; what is near
ink becomes stained black. (Chinese).

When one plum beholds another it sets forth color. (Persian).

When the crow is your guide he will lead you to the corpses of dogs. (Arabian).

When we strike mud we get smeared over. (Malabar). Who lives with a blacksmith will at last go away with burnt clothes. (Afghan, Bannu).

Who play wid de puppy get bit wid de fleas. (British Guiana).

Who talks with a smith receives sparks.

(Kurdish).

With whom you are, such one you are. (Dutch, Serbian). You only stink your hand by killing a muskrat. (Bengalese).

349

YOU A LADY AND I A LADY, WHO WILL PUT THE SOW OUT

If there is no one but you or me to perform the task and I cannot do it by reason of my social position, how is the work to be done?

This old proverb is generally used when urging someone to perform a hard or disagreeable task. The service must be rendered by one or the other and as neither one thinks that he has the ability or time what is to be done? It is sometimes quoted ironically by one member of a family to another in seeking to induce him to perform some disagreeable task. Its origin is unknown.

Among the Behar peasants it is customary to speak disparagingly of people who leave any special line of work in which they are engaged and to which they are adapted that they may enter some other calling that has taken their fancy. In referring to such people they instinctively think of one of their religious customs and ask: "Who will search the pots and pans for food if all the dogs go on a pilgrimage to Benares?" or in other words, who is going to do the work of the world if everyone becomes a religious pilgrim?

"There is and always must be some rough

work to be done in the world; work which, though rough, is not therefore in the least ignoble; and the schemes, so daintily conceived, of a luxurious society, which repose on a tacit assumption that nobody shall have to do this work, are touched with a fine irony in this Arabic proverb: If I am master, and thou art a master, who shall drive the asses?"-RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH, A.D. 1807-1886.-Proverbs and their Lessons.

VARIANT PROVERBS

I am an esquire, you are an esquire, who will harness the horses? (Osmanli).

I am a queen, and you are a queen, so who is to fetch the water? (Hindustani).

If I am master, and you are a master, who shall drive the asses? (Arabian).

I stubborn and you stubborn, who is to carry the load? (Spanish).

I the mistress, and you the young lady, who will sweep the house? (Spanish).

The mother-in-law is great, the daughter-in-law is also great, the pot is burnt, who will take it off the fire? (Kashmiri).

You a gentleman, and I a gentleman, who will milk the cow? (Turkish).

You a lady, I a lady, who shall drive the hogs afield? (Gallican).

You are a queen, I am queen, but who will husk the millet? (Kumaun, Garhwal).

You stout, and I stout, who will carry the dirt out? (English).

ALLIED PROVERBS

Every ass thinks himself worthy to stand with the king's horses. (English).