English people believe in Christianity, which is by far the most influential religion in the west. Every aspect of man’s life is touched by this religion, so that it has become part of western culture. And the Bible, which includes the Old Testament and the New Testament, is regarded as the scriptures. Almost every family has a version of Bible, so it has come to be one of the major sources of English culture. Many English proverbs show the doctrines of their religion. For example, Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.[6]According to the doctrines of Bible: all human beings are brothers and sisters, and they should help each other. So when you give hands to others, never keep the memory that you have helped them. Another example, If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. [7] It implies that if one has little knowledge, it is difficult for him to teach others some useful things. Even if he tried to help others, he would do nothing good to them.
2.3 Originating from literary works
Many English proverbs involve events or characters of English literature, especially from Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s insight into human beings, his sensitivity to the problem of state, and his genius with words have left an everlasting mark on the English language and the thinking of English-speaking people all over the world. Native speakers of English quote his works every day, often without realizing they are doing so. Although his plays were written over three hundred years ago, many English proverbs from his plays are cited commonly in daily English.
Shakespeare’s works are probably the most colorful literature origin of proverbs. For example, All is not gold that glitters. This proverb is from the great works of Shakespeare The Merchants of Venice. It shows us that those who have a good appearance are not really learned. So we should be careful not to be deceived by those who are superficially flashy but without substance. Another example, Patience perforce is medicine for a mad dog[8] is from Shakespeare’s works Antony and Cleopatra. It tells us that those who cannot endure anything would lose his temper likes a mad dog.
Many English proverbs are also from The Fables of Aesop. These proverbs are very concise and humorous, and they reflect the essence and the true meaning of life. It is very easy for people to understand them and to put them into practice. Many of them are passed down till today. For example, The camel going to seek horns, lost his ears.[9] The general idea of the allusion is: a cow showed off his horns in front of a camel. The camel was envious of cow’s horns, so he requested Zeus to give a pair of horns to him. Zeus was very angry, because he thought that the camel was greedy to ask for horns with his so huge body. At last, he made a decision that he let the camel have horns but with the cost of cutting off a part of his ears. This proverb tells us that if one is greedy to occupy everything, he will be punished by his greed.
Another proverb is also from the Fables of Aesop. “The grapes are sour”, as the fox said when he could not reach them.[10] The allusion, which this proverb came from, is generally like this: one day, a hungry fox saw a lot of ripe grapes hanging on the grape vine. He beat his brains hard but could not find a way to pick the grapes. The hungrier he felt, the angrier he got. Finally, he gave up. In order to comfort himself, “The grapes are sour”, the fox said while walking away. Nowadays, people widely use it to express that someone who wants to take hold of something with all his effort but fails to get it will lower the value of this thing.
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