27 A clever bird builds its nest with other birds’ feathers ZIMBABWE
28 When rats infest the palace a lame cat is better than the swiftest horse CHINA
29 You can’t make a cheap palace USA
30 In one stable there may be a steed and an ass BELGIUM
66 HOUSES
1 In every house there are always cobwebs SERBIA
2 A word flies away like a sparrow and returns to the house like a crow GERMANY
3 The clock must be the master in the house SWEDEN
4 When the house is built the carpenter is forgotten INDIA
5 A quarrel in a neighbouring house is refreshing INDIA
6 Little houses have fat mice TANZANIA
7 A book holds a house of gold CHINA
8 When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee’s house some day REPUBLIC OF CONGO
9 Woe to the house where there is no chiding ENGLAND
10 A house is not built on earth, but on a woman SERBIA
11 Look the other way when the girl in the tea-house smiles JAPAN
12 A little dog is really brave in front of his master’s house HAITI
13 Those who haven’t seen a church bow before a fireplace POLAND
14 It is in vain to look for yesterday’s fish in the house of the otter INDIA
15 A long beard does not prevent a house going to bed hungry CAMEROON
16 The only insurance against fire is to have two houses NIGERIA
17 If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? RWANDA AND BURUNDI
18 The house with an old grandparent harbours a jewel CHINA
19 An old broom still sweeps the room ESTONIA
20 People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones ENGLAND
21 Those who live in the attic know where the roof leaks NIGERIA
22 Do not jump high under a low ceiling CZECH REPUBLIC
23 Rain does not fall only on one roof CAMEROON
24 When it rains, the roof always drips the same way LIBERIA
25 Small termites collapse the roof ETHIOPIA
26 Communities begin by building their kitchen FRANCE
27 It is no use standing with an open mouth in front of an oven DENMARK
28 Insects do not nest in a busy door-hinge CHINA
29 Sweep off your own back porch first USA
30 Only the sweep knows what is up the chimney ITALY
31 Every chimney makes its own smoke ITALY
67 DOORS – WINDOWS – KEYS
1 They must stoop who have a low door SCOTLAND
2 A door must either be open or shut FRANCE
3 Teachers open the door; you enter by yourself CHINA
4 When one door shuts, another opens SCOTLAND
5 Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot IRELAND
6 Shut your door in such a way that you can open it again DENMARK
7 Why seek the key of an open door? INDIA
8 Let everyone sweep before their own door GERMANY
9 You must go behind the door to mend old breeches ENGLAND
10 There’s a puddle at every door, and before some doors there are two SCOTLAND
11 On going into a church leave the world behind the door SPAIN
12 A hole here and there is not the same as a window KENYA
13 It is no use applying eye-medicine from a two-storey window JAPAN
14 Don’t put all your goods in your shop window USA
15 ‘If I rest, I rust’, says the key GERMANY
16 The used key is always bright ENGLAND
17 Those who would enter paradise must have a good key ENGLAND
18 Beware of the door which has several keys INDIA
19 All the keys in the land do not hang from one girdle SCOTLAND
20 The key that opens is also the key that locks REPUBLIC OF CONGO
68 GUESTS
1 Seven days is the length of a guest’s life MYANMAR
2 A guest and a fish after three days are poison FRANCE
3 Let the guests at table be three or four – at the most five GREECE
4 Children regard their father’s guest as a slave REPUBLIC OF CONGO
5 Aching teeth are ill tenants ENGLAND
6 The later in the evening, the nicer the people NETHERLANDS
69 ABSENT – PRESENT
1 Absence makes the heart grow fonder ENGLAND
2 You cannot shave a man’s head in his absence NIGERIA
3 The absent get farther off every day JAPAN
4 The absent always bear the blame NETHERLANDS
5 Whose presence does no good, their absence does no harm ENGLAND
6 Easy come, easy go ENGLAND
7 Away from the battle all are soldiers GERMANY
8 An apple a day keeps the doctor away ENGLAND
9 Take away the wife of a strong man only when he is out UGANDA
10 Time to catch bears is when they’re out USA
11 Here today and gone tomorrow ENGLAND
12 Present to the eye, present to the mind CHINA
13 While the cat’s away, the mice will play ENGLAND
14 A proverb characterizes nations, but must first dwell among them SWITZERLAND
70 BAGS – SACKS
1 Don’t rely on the label of the bag FRANCE
2 An empty bag cannot stand upright ENGLAND
3 At the bottom of the bag one finds the bill NETHERLANDS
4 It is folly to put flour into a bag facing the wind GERMANY
5 After the game the king goes into the sack like the pawn ITALY
6 If you look in a chief’s bag you will always find something UGANDA
7 That which goes last into the sack comes out first SWEDEN
8 The string of our sack of patience is generally tied with a slip knot JAPAN
9 An empty sack can’t stand, nor a dead cat walk IRELAND
71 BARRELS – CASKS
1 Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel CHINA
2 One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel ENGLAND
3 Two barrels of tears will not heal a bruise CHINA
4 A sip at a time empties the cask NORWAY
5 The fuller the cask, the duller its sound GERMANY
6 A cask of wine works more miracles than a church full of saints ITALY
72 BASKETS
1 A