As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal

who change their trade make soup in a basket ENGLAND

      3 The basket that has two handles can be carried by two EGYPT

      4 A basket-maker who makes one basket makes a hundred BRAZIL

      5 A basket with its bottom burst is useless NIGERIA

      6 Do not fill your basket with useless shells of coconuts KENYA

      7 Even the bottom of a basket finds something to hold MADAGASCAR

      8 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket ENGLAND

      9 Better a handful of bees than a basketful of flies MOROCCO

73 BOTTLES – CANS

      1 The sweeter the perfume, the uglier the flies which gather round the bottle CHINA

      2 You can’t look into a bottle with both eyes TOGO

      3 The one who has put an egg into a bottle can easily take it out NIGERIA

      4 Save your bottles; it may rain whiskey USA

      5 Those who want the last drop out of the can get the lid on their nose NETHERLANDS

      6 Every alley has its own tin can USA

74 CUPS – GLASSES

      1 There’s many a slip between cup and lip ENGLAND

      2 The fuller the cup, the sooner the spill CHINA

      3 A full cup must be carried steadily ENGLAND

      4 Three glasses of wine drive away the evil spirits, but with the fourth they return GERMANY

      5 A broken glass can’t be hurt ENGLAND

      6 You don’t have to buy a dairy just because you want a glass of milk USA

75 DISHES – PLATES

      1 One bird in the dish is better than a hundred in the air GERMANY

      2 All’s lost that’s put in a broken dish SCOTLAND

      3 Enjoy your ice-cream while it’s on your plate USA

      4 Every plate that is made breaks AFGHANISTAN

      5 It is with its own face that the plate receives the soup NIGERIA

      6 It’s a poor crust that can’t grease its own plate USA

      7 Those who come too late find the platter turned over NETHERLANDS

76 POTS – BOWLS – JUGS

      1 Beauty does not make the pot boil IRELAND

      2 Flies never alight on boiling pots UKRAINE

      3 A little drop of water silences a boiling pot GERMANY

      4 The devil makes pots, but not always lids ITALY: SARDINIA

      5 I can tell by my own pot how the others are boiling FRANCE

      6 When the beans get too thick, the pot burns USA

      7 A watched pot never boils ENGLAND

      8 It is the pot that boils, but the dish gets the credit CAMEROON

      9 Those who were surprised by a turtle are surprised by a pot cover KOREA

      10 The sun cannot shine into an inverted bowl CHINA

      11 The basin must hold what the cauldron cooks ESTONIA

      12 While it rains, fill the jar TURKEY

      13 Whether the stone bumps the jug, or the jug bumps the stone, it is bad for the jug USA8 COUNTRY VARIATIONS – ARTEFACTSVehicles, games, money, musical instruments, and other artefacts often give a proverb some local colouring.Every day cannot be a feast of lanterns (CHINA)Don’t hold the dime so near your eye that you can’t see the dollar (USA)If you don’t toot your own horn, nobody else will (USA)A love-letter sometimes costs more than a three-cent stamp (USA)Good nature is stronger than tomahawks (USA)Learn to handle a writing-brush, and you’ll never handle a begging-bowl (CHINA)Those who do not know how to squander their money – buy some porcelain and drop it (NETHERLANDS)In chess the fools are nearest the kings (FRANCE)Carrying-poles which bend easily do not break (CHINA)A canoe is paddled on both sides (NIGERIA)If all get into the palanquin, who will be the bearers? (INDIA)The wife of the amber-turner wears pearls of glass (IRAN)An untouched drum does not speak (LIBERIA)Straps come from the same leather (ARGENTINA)The woman who sells fans often shades her eyes with her hands (CHINA)Beauty is an empty calabash (CAMEROON)Those who cannot build the dyke should hand over the land (NETHERLANDS)SEE ALSO Country variations – climate; animals; plants; beliefs and behaviour

77 SPOONS – LADLES

      1 What’s the good of a spoon after the meal is over? LATVIA

      2 God gives the wideness of the mouth according to the bigness of the spoon POLAND

      3 A dry spoon scratches the mouth RUSSIA

      4 The spoon is prized when the soup is being eaten CZECH REPUBLIC

      5 Food tastes best when one eats it with one’s own spoon DENMARK

      6 If in the pot, it will come into the spoon INDIA

      7 Without fingers the hand would be a spoon SENEGAL

      8 Until the soup boils over, the ladle has no value TURKEY

      9 When is a cook’s ladle hungry or a beer jug thirsty? ESTONIA

78 WELLS

      1 Painting the pump will not clean out the well ENGLAND

      2 Dig a well before you are thirsty CHINA

      3 Cast no dirt into the well that has given you water ENGLAND

      4 Well water does not invade river water CHINA

      5 If the bucket has been long in the well, it ought to come out with water NIGERIA

      6 A well without a bucket is no good USA

79 OTHER CONTAINERS

      1 Sharp acids corrode their own containers ALBANIA

      2 Precious ointments are put in small boxes FRANCE

      3 A coconut shell full of water is a sea to an ant ZANZIBAR

      4 Beauty is an empty calabash CAMEROON

      5 A beautiful maiden is a devil’s pocket PHILIPPINES

      6 Even in the sheath the knife must be sharp FINLAND

      7 Two swords cannot be kept in one sheath INDIA

      8 The pig dreams of his trough FINLAND

      9 In the choicest vase are found the ugliest cracks CHINA

80 LOADS

      1 There is no light burden on a long road CHINA

      2 On a level road a small stone upsets the cartload ESTONIA

      3 If you want to be acquainted with the past and the present, you must read five cartloads of books CHINA

      4 It takes little effort to watch someone carry a load CHINA

      5 It is easier to throw the load off the cart than to put it on CZECH REPUBLIC

      6 Not the load, but the overload kills SPAIN

      7 Let every pedlar carry his own pack GERMANY

      8 The label is bigger than the package GREECE

      9 Dynamite comes in small packages USA

81 BIG SIZE

      1 Big tree but no shade PHILIPPINES

      2 A fly before one’s own eye is bigger than an elephant in the next field CHINA

      3 A big nose never spoiled a handsome face FRANCE

      4 The