One fair day the sultan walked about his city
Plain in dress, together with his high vizier.
On the spot he noticed lying in the gutter
A dime which he, stooping, picked up in great haste.
The vizier, who witnessed this parsimony
Made so bold in asking of his majesty:
‘Please forgive a question which I die to pose
And whose answer surely my soul would compose.
Tell me, dear master, how that dime, so little -
Which some see worth nothing, if the truth be told -
Has so caught your lordship, rich in many a treasure
Prompting you to take it?’ And the sultan answered:
‘He who, by his nature, disregards the farthing
Builds up much less care, from this trifling measure,
For the bigger money of so much more worth:
And the man who’s able well to live, judicious,
Can thus make the farthing guard each coin more precious;
You’ve just said a farthing’s not much of a thing -
But how bad when lacking, if you come to think!
Every dime’s a trifle yet it gains importance,
When one can’t buy one’s bread in its mere absence.
So, to preen the farthing is the wise man’s care -
As ‘t’were like a sovereign which one ought to spare;
And the mocking spendthrift who will let it go,
Soon he’ll live to miss it and be filled with woe.
Far be it from saying man should turn a niggard,
Or so take to silver that he end up haggard,
Staking all on money and his benefits;
All I say’s he’d better train himself for saving
So that when he gives out money he stays wary
With a view to stashing it for him and others,
Equally preventing everybody’s worry.
Why for him? To soothe himself in case misfortune
Should befall him, either being ill or needy,
And to work unable, and deprived of might
When so low in one’s luck and so crispy;
And then, why for others? To be filled with pity
And disposed to rescue people from their plight.
To give for Salvation’s sake one’s alms,
To end destitution and to have no qualms,
Dressing up the poor, victims of the fires,
And of rising water overflowing banks,
Those whom theft and plunder naked leave behind,
Seeing to their sorrow, wiping out their tears,
While extending money from one’s own stuffed purse.
On Discussion, or Pastimes and Joking
There’s a time to laugh and a time to cry (Ecclesiastes)
When they speak of laughter, this is not for crying,
And when of crying, it is not to make you laugh.
So don’t come with
Laughing mixed with crying.
As one neighbour said:
My husband’s lying in on his bier and here you’ve made me laugh.
Although
There can’t be death without laughter and wedding without tears.
And then
Guileless joking
Is like salt you taste while eating.
For
‘Tis with laughter and cheering
That they pick up fruit every harvest season.
And the best brandy’s for the usurer to use.
So don’t say that:
I’m in my throes
And he’s hopping on his toes.
But rather:
Let every thing come in good time
And when you pull a fast one
Don’t whip the cat
And don’t play the heel.
For
When two beasts swing with each other
They spoil the high old time and fine weather.
And
The friend in earnest
Will turn your foe after sending him up.
For
One man will pull a nifty
For the other man’s tizzy.
So
The fast one’s not the best one.
And again
If you go on a shindy
Don’t keep you mouth shut and be spoil sport.
But then
Talk too much and err even more
While also
You may answer a question even when you keep quiet.
‘Cause the wise man says:
Say something better than silence or keep silent.
So that you don’t get people replying:
‘Now you’ve had your say and keep coughing!’
Speak without much thinking
And you’ll eat a hasty pudding..
And
I wonder where he pulls his nifties from.
And
Wait until he opens his bag
If you want to hear a gag.
Which is as much as to say
Don’t indulge in too much talk,
Seal your lips with a good lock.
For all know
Slander’s the best messenger,
And so
The one word you said raised hell for you
So why not hear them say:
‘That’s a true man: he makes all the birds in the garden chirp with joy’
And
‘Everything’s hotsy-totsy providing he does all the talking’
Rather than hear this:
‘He’s somewhat off the point.’
Or even
‘He’s cooling us off as he’s always ranting.’
For they say
When big crowds won’t give their ear
To your worthy word
Let them be and disappear
And pretend you are at work.
For
It’s as good as cackling geese
And flies buzzing close to these.
Or again,
When they’ve started doing talking
It’s like Jewish Talmud reading.
On Saving
Don’t stretch your feet beyond the quilt
For
If you lay a crooked sheet on your bed you’ll sleep a crooked sleep.
And
Should you spend more than you earn you’ll have no milk left to churn.
Take a good look at the country and you’ll tell its custom too.
Eye the saint and guess his incense.
Sew and darn rather than buy new clothes for charm.
Weld the gap while it’s still narrow.
No man should come up bottom first in the market, but rather show his face up to people.
And again
Clothes can’t make a man any worthier.
Good cheese in a bad dog’s barrel.
Pearls and diamonds hanging from the pig’s neck.
Or
Golden ring stuck in the pig’s snout.
For
The garden flower differs from the posy.
And
You should spend a good deal to keep your cheek smooth to the touch.
Everyone knows his own sore spot.
Every man’s pocket kicks up a racket.
There’s no man without a flea in his ear now and then, here and there.
The bigger the boat, the higher the waves that sway it.
So
Don’t measure up to the uppity.
For
If you’ve got a great deal of pepper, you’ll sprinkle some in the porridge, too.
And
Fat the meat - pour some tallow, too, in it!
But
Though he’s learned some, he can now unlearn it!
As
There’s more days in a year than just Easter!
And
Show me the man who wouldn’t fain live like the hen at the mill!
‘Cause
He’s in such great need that he’ll end up living like the calf in the city!
And
Man can’t have his way; he has to see whither the will of God will lie.
My nuncle likes the stew but his teeth won’t help him chew.
It’s so hard way-down the slope and the way up’s beyond hope!
Woe to him who goes buying barley from the geese.
Fill your cellar with victuals - all in good time.
Summer garbage turns into good pepper in the winter.
A wise guy buys his sledge in the summer and his cart in the winter.
And
Tie the knapsack while it’s still round not when it’s reached the flat ground.
‘Cause
The bag you keep taking from without replenishing the stock will remain depleted.
Dimes are round on the edge and easy to roll hence.
Earning is hard and spending’s all too easy.
You take it one by one and spend it in handfuls.
And
Mind the millet ‘cause it’s too hard to pick.
For
Even the sun, big though he is, cannot keep all things always warm.
But
When your yard goes thirsty don’t pour water on the roads.
And
Wait until you see the clear water
Before you spill the muddy one.
And
Unless you’ve seen the good one, don’t cast away the bad.
For
Don’t crave for the sturdiest log which you won’t have the knack to crack!
He’ll be seized with the purse fever!
And so
There’s no more serious illness than the one called “purse emptiness”.
‘Cause
The man with no money is like the bird with no wings: the moment it would fly it will just fall down and die.
That’s why
You’d better stay well and have no need of the doctor.
For
Whoever lives with bare hopes is sure to die full of regrets.
A man’s relatives are the pocket full of money and the bag full of barley.
The well-fed man has no sympathy for the underfed.
It’ll be ages before the rich man feels benevolent towards the poor.
You bank on the father and the mother checks out.
There’s nothing as good as health and money.
Since
Good health makes money and money makes good health
On the sunny side of the street there lurk enemies.
But then
The man with no foes doesn’t live on the sunny side.
The money the eager beaver has isn’t frittered away with time.
Man makes money and money makes man what he is.
So
You’d better save for a rainy day.
When the dime comes your way, make sure you tie it up in nine knots.
Pick me when I lie on the road,
Get me every time you’re short.
‘Cause
Every madman knows how to earn money but not how to keep it.
He who doesn’t spare the farthing will take no pity on the sovereign.
