Never be ashamed to eat your meat.

Apud mensam verecundari neminem decet. Erasmus takes notice that this proverb is handed down to us from the ancients, save that the vulgar add, neque in lecto: whereas, saith he, Nusquam magis habenda est verecundia ratio quàm in lecto et convivio. Yet some there are, who, out of a rustic shame-facedness, or over-mannerliness, are very troublesome at table, expecting to be carved to, and often invited to eat, and refusing what you offer them, &c. The Italians say almost in the same words, A tavola non bisogna haver vergogna. And the French, Qui a honte de manger a honte de vivre. He that is ashamed to eat is ashamed to live.

Every man must eat a peck of ashes before he dies.

Lose nothing for asking.

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

An ass was never cut out for a lap-dog.

An ass covered with gold is more respected than a horse with a pack-saddle.

A kindly aver will never make a good horse.

This is a Scotch Proverb, quoted by King James in his Basilicon Doron. It seems the word aver in Scottish signifies a colt, as also appears by that other proverb, An inch of a nag is worth a span of an aver. In our ancient writings averium signifies any labouring beast, whether ox or horse, and seems to be all one with the Latin jumentumn.

Awe makes dun draw.

B.

THAT which is good for the back is bad for the head,

Omnis commoditas sua fert incommoda secum.

He loves bacon well that licks the swine-sty door.
Where bad's the best, naught must be the choice.

A bad bush is better than the open field.

Il n'y a pas si petit buisson qui ne porte ombre.-Fr. That is, it is better to have any though a bad friend or relation, than to be quite destitute, and exposed to the wide world.

A bad shift is better than none.

Some say, Better half an egg than an empty shell.

When bale is hext, boot is next.

Hext is a contraction of highest, as next is of nighest. Bale is an old English word, signifying misery; and boot, profit or help. So it is as much as to say, When things are come to the worst they'll mend. Cim duplicantur lateres venit Moses

A bald head is soon shaven.

Quien pequeña heredad tienea pasos la mide. Span.

Make not balks of good ground.

A balk, Latin scamnum: a piece of earth which the plough slips over without turning up or breaking. It is also used for narrow slips of land left unploughed on purpose in champagne countries, for boundaries between mens' lands, or some other convenience.

A good face needs no band; and a bad one deserves none. Some make a rhyme of this, by adding, And a pretty wench no land. At a great bargain make a pause.

More words than one go to a bargain.

A good bargain is a pick-purse.

Bon marché tire l'argent hors de la bourse.-Fr.

Mercadoria barata,

roubo das bolsas.-Port. Good cheap is dear, for it tempts people to buy what they need not.

Bare walls make giddy house-wives.

i. e. Idle house-wives, they have nothing whereabout to busy themselves, and shew their good house-wifery. We speak this in excuse of the good woman, who doth, like St. Paul's widow, mɛpiéρxeodai ràc oirías, gad abroad a little too much, or that is blamed for not giving the entertainment that is expected, or not behaving herself as other matrons do. She hath nothing to work upon at home; she is disconsolate, and therefore seeketh to divert herself abroad: she is inclined to be virtuous, but discomposed through poverty. Parallel to this I take to be that French proverb, Vuides chambres font les dames folles, which yet Mr. Cotgrave thus renders, Empty chambers make women play the wantons; in a different sense.

The greatest barkers bite not sorest; or, dogs thai bark at a distance bite not at hand.

Cane chi abbaia non morde.-Ital. Chien qui abbaye ne mord pas.-Fr. Canes timidi vehementiùs latrant. Cane tibi cane muto et aquâ silente. Have a care of a silent dog and a stiil water. Cao que muito ladra nunca bom pera caça.-Port.

Sir John Barleycorn's the strongest knight.

"Tis a hard battle where none escapes.

Be as it may, be is no banning.

Every bean hath its black.

Vitiis nemo sine nascitur.-Horat.

πάσησι κορυδάλοισι χρῆ λόφον

Omni malo punico inest granum

tyyɛvélaι. Non est alauda sine cristû.

pure. Ogni grano ha la sua semola. Every grain hath its bran.-Ital,

Sell not the bear's skin before you have caught him.

Non vender la pelle del orso inanzi che sia preso. Ital.

He must have iron nails that scratches a bear.
A man may bear 'till his back breaks.

If people find him patient, they'll be sure to load him.

He'll bear it away, if it be not too hot or too heavy.

Spoken of a pilferer.

You may beat a horse 'till he be sad, and a cow till she be mad.

All that are in bed must not have quiet rest.

Where bees are, there is honey.

Where there are industrious persons, there is wealth; for the hand of the diligent maketh rich. This we see verified in our neighbours the Hollanders.

A beggar pays a benefit with a louse.

Beggars must be no choosers.

The French say, Borrowers must be no choosers.

Set a beggar on horse-back, he'll ride to the devil.

Asperius nihil est humili cùm in altum.-Claudian. Il n'est orgueil que de pauvre enrichi.-Fr. There is no pride equal to the enriched beggar's. Il villan nobilitado non conosce il parentado.-Ital. The clown ennobled will not own his kindred or parentage. The Spaniards say, Mete mendigo en tu pajar, y hazersete ha heredero.

Sue a beggar, and get a louse.

Rete non tenditur accipitri neque milvio. Terent. Phorm.

Much ado to bring beggars to stocks; and when they come there, they'll not put in their legs.

Beggars breed, and rich men feed.

A beggar can never be bankrupt.

'Tis one beggar's woe to see another by the door go.

Kai πτшXÒÇ πTWxŵ plovéɛ.—Hesiod. Etiam mendicus mendico invidet.

It is better to be a beggar than a fool.

E meglio esser mendicante, che ignorante. Ital.

A lord's heart and a beggar's purse agree not.

A good beginning makes a good ending.

De bon commencement bonne fin.-Fr. Et de bonne vie bonne fin. A good life makes a good death. Boni principii finis bonus. The Portuguese say, A boa vontade supre a obra.

Well begun is half done.

Dimidium facti qui cæpit habet.-Horat. Which some make pentameter by putting in bene before cœpit. Barba bagnata mezza rasa.—Ital. A beard once washed is half shaven.

Believe well and have well.

The belly hath no ears.

Venter non habet aures. Ventre affamé n'a point d'oreilles.--Fr. Discourse to or call upon hungry persons, they will not mind you, or leave their meat to attend. Or, as Erasmus, Ubi de pastu agitur, non attenduntur honestæ rationes. Nothing makes the vulgar more untractable, fierce, and seditious, than scarcity and hunger. Nescit plebes jejuna timere. There is some reason the belly should have no ears, because words will not fill it. El vientre ayuno, no oye a ninguno.-Span.

Better belly burst than good drink or meat lost.
Little difference between a feast and a belly-full.

A belly-full's a belly-full, whether it be meat or drink.
When the belly is full, the bones would be at rest.
The belly is not fill'd with fair words.

Best to bend while it is a twig.

Udum et molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri,
Fingendus sinè fine rotû.

Pers.

Quæ præbet latas arbor spatiantibus umbras,
Quo posita est primùm tempore virga fuit.
Tunc poterat manibus summâ tellure revelli,

Ovid.

Nunc stat in immensum viribus acta suis. Quare tunc formandi mores (inquit Erasmus) cùm mollis adhuc ætas ; tunc optimis assuescendum cùm ad quidvis cereum est ingenium. Ce qui poulain prend en jeunesse, il le continue en vieillesse.-Fr. The tricks a colt getteth at his first backing, will whilst he continueth never be lacking.-Cotgr. They have need of a besom that sweep the house with a turf. The best is best cheap.

Lo barato es caro.-Span. For it doth the buyer more credit and service.

Best is best cheap, if you hit not the nail.

Make the best of a bad bargain.

The best things are worst to come by.

Difficilia quæ pulchra: χαλεπὰ τὰ καλὰ.

Better untaught than ill taught.

Beware of Had I wist.

Beware of him whom God hath marked.

Do as you're bidden, and you'll never bear blame.
Birchen twigs break no ribs.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Like will to like. The Greeks and Latins have many proverbs to this purpose, as 'Αιεὶ κολοιὸς πρὸς κολοιὸν ἱζάνει. Semper graculus assidet yraculo. Τέττιξ μὲν τέττιγι φίλος, μύρμακι δὲ μύρμαξ. Theocrat. Cicala cicada chara, formica formica. Ως άιεὶ τὸν ὁμοιον ἄγει θεὸς ὡς τὸν

opolov.-Homer. Odyss. 5. Semper similem ducit Deus ad similem. "Opovor ὁμοί φ φίλον. Simile gaudet simili; et Ομοιον ὁμοίου ἐφίεται. Simil appetit simile, unde et Ομοιότης τῆς φιλότητος μήτηρ. Likeness is the mother of love. Equalis æqualem delectat. Young men delight in the company of the young, old of old, learned men of learned, wicked of wicked, good fellows of drunkards, &c.-Tully in Cat. maj. Pares cum paribus (ut est in vetere proverbio) facillimè congregantur.

He's in great want of a bird that will give a groat for an owl. One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Better have

E meglio aver oggi un uovo, che dimani una gallina.-Ital. an egg to-day, than an hen to-morrow. Mieux vaut un tenez que deux vous Lauren.Fr. τὴν παρούσαν ἄμελγε, τί τὸν φευγοντα διώκεις.—Theocr. Præsentem mulgeas, quid fugientem insequeris? Nýmis ös Tà čтоμа MTV Távéтоiμa dikεL.-Hesiod. He that leaves certainty, and sticks to chance, when fools pipe, he may dance. The Spaniards say, Mas vale paxaro en la mano, que buytre volando. A sparrow in hand is worth more than a vulture flying. A small benefit obtained, is better than a great one in expectation.

'Tis an ill bird that bewrays it own nest.

Τὸν οἴκοι θησαυρὸν διαβάλλειν.

Every bird must hatch her own egg.

Tute hoc intristi omne tibi exedendum est.--Terent. It should seem this Latin proverb is still in use among the Dutch. For Erasmus saith of it, Que quidem sententia vel hodie vulgo nostrati in ore est. Faber compedes quas fecit ipse gestet.-Auson.

The bird that can sing, and will not sing, must be made to sing.

Small birds must have meat.

Children must be fed, they cannot be maintained with nothing.

Birth is much, but breeding more.

If

you cannot bite, never shew your teeth.

He that bites on every weed, must needs light on poison.
He that is a blab is a scab.

A Spanish shrug will sometimes shift off a lie as well as a louse.

Black will take no other hue.

This dyers find true by experience. It may signify, that vicious personA are seldom or never reclaimed.

-Plin. lib. 8. h. n.

Lanarum nigræ nullum colorem bibunt.

He that wears black, must hang a brush at his back.

A black plum is as sweet as a white.

The prerogative of beauty proceeds from fancy.