17 Don’t stand by the water and long for fish; go home and weave a net CHINA
18 Going slowly doesn’t stop one arriving GUINEA
19 What goes up must come down ENGLAND
20 Conversation is a ladder for a journey SRI LANKA
21 Only those who have travelled the road know where the holes are deep CHINA
22 If the swing goes forward it will go backward too SRI LANKA
23 Garbage in, garbage out USA
24 Every flood will have an ebb SCOTLAND
25 One must draw back in order to leap further FRANCE
26 Who plays at bowls must expect the ball returned NETHERLANDS
27 God, what things we see when we go out without a gun! SOUTH AFRICA
122 WALKING
1 Promise is a bridge of words, unsafe to walk across GERMANY
2 When walking through your neighbour’s melon-patch, don’t tie your shoe CHINA
3 An empty sack can’t stand, nor a dead cat walk IRELAND
4 Walk as your shoes will let you SCOTLAND
5 The more one walks the more hills one sees FINLAND
6 You have to learn to crawl before you can walk ENGLAND
7 Knock before crossing even a stone bridge KOREA
8 Don’t cross a bridge until you come to it ENGLAND
9 A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat ETHIOPIA
10 Those who have to go ten miles must regard nine as only halfway GERMANY
11 Those who go barefoot aren’t pinched by their shoes GERMANY
12 Fools rush in where angels fear to tread ENGLAND
13 Wider will the cow-dung be for trampling on it WALES
14 When you have trodden on the cat, what help is it to stroke her back? SWITZERLAND
123 RIDING
1 It is not enough for people to know how to ride; they must know how to fall MEXICO
2 When two ride on one horse one must sit behind ENGLAND
3 Sickness comes riding on horseback and goes away on foot BELGIUM
4 The toughest broncs is always them you’ve rode some other place USA
5 There’s no such thing as a horse that can’t be rode or a cowboy that can’t be throwed USA
6 Those who are not in the habit of riding forget the spurs IRELAND
7 A horse never goes straight up a hill USA
124 CARRYING
1 It takes little effort to watch someone carry a load CHINA
2 When a blind person carries the banner, woe to those who follow FRANCE
3 Let every pedlar carry his own pack GERMANY
4 A full cup must be carried steadily ENGLAND
5 You can’t carry what you can’t lift LATVIA
6 The dog barks, the wind carries ESTONIA
7 The one who carries the bludgeon owns the buffalo INDIA
8 The basket that has two handles can be carried by two EGYPT
9 People carrying elephant’s flesh on their head should not look for crickets underground NIGERIA
10 An anchored ship doesn’t carry much cargo USA
11 The shrimp that sleeps is carried away by the current CHILE
12 Those who are carried down the stream need not row ENGLAND
13 If you don’t hear the story clearly, don’t carry it off with you under your arm THAILAND
14 Carrying-poles which bend easily do not break CHINA
15 The absent always bear the blame NETHERLANDS
16 If all get into the palanquin, who will be the bearers? INDIA
17 Those who bring good news knock hard ENGLAND
18 Fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts LATIN
19 One buffalo brings mud and all the herd are smeared with it MALAYSIA
125 TRAVEL BY LAND
1 If you can’t drive your car, park it USA
2 A good driver turns in a small space FRANCE
3 Don’t quit until the hearse comes round USA
4 Never look an auto bargain under the hood USA
5 Before God and the bus-conductor we are all equal GERMANY
6 If you don’t have a ticket, you don’t ride USA
7 Don’t get on the streetcar before it stops CANADA
8 If my aunt had wheels, she might be an omnibus NETHERLANDS
9 Oats pull the cart out of the mud SERBIA
10 Don’t put the cart before the horse ENGLAND
11 It is easier to throw the load off the cart than to put it on CZECH REPUBLIC
12 If all get into the palanquin, who will be the bearers? INDIA
13 One broken rail will wreck a train USA
14 Every train has a caboose USA
15 Luck and bad luck are driving in the same sledge RUSSIA
16 A low stump upsets the sledge FINLAND
17 If you go to the wedding you cover up the sledge ESTONIA
18 It is better to be once in the church sleigh than always in the back runners FINLAND
19 Any spoke will lead the ant to the hub USA
20 A greased cartwheel does not squeak ESTONIA
21 The longer the spoke, the greater the tire USA
22 The wheel that does the squeaking is the one that gets the grease USA
23 Creaking wagons are long in passing NETHERLANDS
24 A fifth wheel in the wagon hinders more than helps FRANCE
25 The steam that blows the whistle never turns the wheel USA
26 Gossip needs no carriage RUSSIA
126 TRAVEL BY SEA
1 Before going to war say one prayer; before going to sea, two; before getting married, three POLAND
2 Better lose the anchor than the whole ship NETHERLANDS
3 An anchored ship doesn’t carry much cargo USA
4 Those who wish to learn to pray must go to sea ENGLAND
5 Those who go to sea without biscuits return without teeth FRANCE: CORSICA
6 Don’t quote your proverb until you bring your ship to port SCOTLAND
7 We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails GERMANY
8 It’s no wonder that the herring vessel smells of herring SCOTLAND
9 In a calm sea everyone is a pilot ENGLAND
10 One should not board a ship without an onion NETHERLANDS
11 You cannot damage a wrecked ship ITALY
12 Don’t spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar ENGLAND
127 TRAVEL BY RIVER
1 If you cross in a crowd, the