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Many a little makes a mickle ;'1 and farther, 'Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink2 a great ship;' and again, Who dainties love shall beggars prove; and, moreover, 'Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them.'4

"Here you are all got together at this sale of fineries and nicknacks. You call them goods; but if you do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they may for less than they cost; but if you have no occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what poor Richard says, 'Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.' 7 And again, • At a great pennyworth, pause a while.'8 He means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only; or the bargain, by straitening thee in thy business, may do thee more harm than good. For in another place he says, Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths.'10 Again, as poor Richard says, "It is foolish to lay out money in a purchase of repentance;' and yet this folly is practised every day at auctions, for want of minding the Almanac.

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Many a one, for the sake of finery on the back, have gone with a hungry belly,11 and half starved their families: Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, (as poor Richard says) put out the kitchen fire.' These are not 12 the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be called the conveniences; 13 and yet, only because they look pretty, how many want to

1Les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières' (PROVERB).

2 Turn, 'It only requires (use falloir) a small leak (fente),' &c. 3 Les gens friands seront mendiants.

Les fous font les fêtes, les sages en ont le plaisir' (PROVERB). 5 et peut-être seront-ils en effet vendus au-dessous du prix coûtant ('cost price '),-or, prix courant (current price').

6 n'en avez que faire.

7Qui achète ce qu'il ne peut, vend après ce qu'il ne veut' (PRO

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have them?1 By these and other extravagances, the genteel 2 are reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly despised, but who, through industry and frugality, have maintained their standing;3 in which case, it appears plainly, that A ploughman on his legs is higher 5 than a gentleman 6 on his knees,' as poor Richard says. Perhaps they have had a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of; they think, 'It is day, and will never be night;' that a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding.10 But 'always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom;' '11 then, as poor Dick says, • When the well is dry, they12 know the worth of water.' But this they might have known before, if they had taken 13 his advice: If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some; for he that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing; 14 and, indeed, so does he that lends to such people,15 when he goes to get it again.'16 Poor Dick farther advises, and says,

'Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse: Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse.' 17 And again, 'Pride is as loud a beggar 18 great deal more saucy.' 19

1 brillent à la vue, combien de gens s'en font un besoin !

2 les gens du bel air. This expression is always used in a bad sense,-ironically.

3 Simply, ' have maintained

themselves by industry and frugality.'

4 in which case,' &c.; turn, simply, by which (page 7, note 17) proves that.'

5 sur ses pieds est plus grand. 6 gentilhomme, here. 7 had.' 8without knowing how this fortune had been acquired.'

9 'It is day, they thought;' see page 145, note 12.

10 what does so paltry an expense make on such a sum?'

11 Turn, 'But by dint (d force) of taking out of (puiser à) the meal-tub, without putting any

as Want, and a When you have bought one

thing in it, we find the bottom of it.'

12

as says poor Dick; and it is then, it is when the well is dry (a sec, here) that they (on).' 13 followed.'

14

'Argent emprunté porte tristesse' (PROVERB).

15 et, de fait, non seulement à l'emprunteur, mais au prêteur même, lorsqu'il a affaire (page 248, note 11) à certaines (page 89, note 10) gens.when; turn, 'and when (page 17, note 6).'

16 il veut rentrer dans ses fonds. 17 "L'amour de la parure, abominable vice,

18

Nous vole notre bourse en flattant un caprice."

'a beggar that cries as loud.' 19 and with a great deal more sauciness.'

fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece ;1 but poor Dick says, ' It is easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.' And it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell, in order to equal the ox.3

Vessels large may venture more,

But little boats should keep near shore.' 4

"Tis, however, a folly soon punished; for Pride that dines on 5 vanity, sups on contempt,' as poor Richard says. And, in another place, Pride breakfasted with Plenty, dined with Poverty, and supped with Infamy.' And, after all, of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked, so much is suffered? It cannot promote health, or ease pain, it makes no increase of merit in the person; it creates envy ; it hastens misfortune.

"But what madness must it be to run in debt? for these superfluities! We are offered by the terms of this sale six months' credit; and that perhaps has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it.10 But, ah! think what you do when you run in debt. You give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time,11 you will be ashamed to see your creditor: you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses,12 and by degrees come 13 to lose

1 pour que vos anciennes et vos nouvelles acquisitions ne jurent pas entre elles.

2 réprimer. 3 Add, in size.'-See the LA FONTAINE, Fable iii., page 5. 4 "Le grand vaisseau peut risquer davantage;

de.

Mais toi, petit bateau, tiens-
toi près du rivage."

"

your veracity, and

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12 Simply, vous inventerez de pitoyables excuses.

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13 See page 56, note 3, and page 23, note 5. See also page 59, note ; but, whereas we cannot dispense with en, here, if we use venir to happen to --page 15, note 16), en is not, after all, strictly necessary with arriver, which we may very well use, instead of venir, in the sense of the

6 Put this verb and the next two (as venir à means

in the present.

7 envie de paraître.

8 éveille la jalousie.
9 s'endetter.
10 Turn,

because, not having text.

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sink into base downright lying; for, as poor Richard says, 'The second vice is lying;2 the first is running in debt.' And again, to the same purpose, 'Lying rides upon debt's back ;'3 whereas a freeborn Englishman ought not to be ashamed nor afraid to speak to any man living. But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue: It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright,' as poor Richard truly says. What would you think of that 5 prince, or that government, who would issue an edict, forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or servitude? Would you not say, that you were7 free, have a right to dress as you please, and that such an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are about to put yourself under that tyranny when you run in debt for such dress! 10 Your creditor has authority, at his pleasure, to deprive you 11 of your liberty, by confining you in gaol for life, or by selling you for a servant,12 if you should not be 13 able to pay him. When 14 have got you your bargain, you may, perhaps, think little of payment; but 'Creditors (poor Richard tells us) have better memories 15 than debtors and in another place he says, Creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days 16 and times.'

1 dans les mensonges les plus tortueux et les plus vils.

2 Turn, Lying is but the second vice; but leave the construction of the rest of the sentence as it is.

3Debt carries lying upon its back, says he again on (a) this subject.' We must obviously use a different turn from the English, as to ride' is monter à cheval (or, à âne, &c.), or, elliptically, monter, when the rest is well understood: the former expression, of course, could not do, and the latter would decidedly be ambiguous and obscure (monte la dette would certainly be understood to mean, though it would make no sense with what precedes, 'raises-increases the debt,' and monte sur le dos, &c., to signify merely, 'gets

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The day1 comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made before you are prepared to satisfy it. Or if you bear your debt in mind, the term which at first seemed so long, will, as 2 it lessens, appear extremely short: Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as well as his shoulders. Those have a short Lent (saith poor Richard) who owe money to be paid at Easter.'3

"At present, perhaps, you may think yourselves in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little extravagance without injury; but

'For age and want save while you may,

No morning sun lasts a whole day,' 5

as poor Richard says. Gain may be temporary and uncertain; but ever, while you live, expense is constant and certain and 'it is easier to build two chimneys, than to keep one in fuel,' as poor Richard says. So, Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.'7

6

'Get what you can, and what you get hold,

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'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold,' 8

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as poor Richard says. And when you have got the philosopher's stone, sure you will no longer complain of bad times, or the difficulty of paying taxes.10

"This doctrine, my friends, is 11 reason and wisdom:

1 Le jour de l'échéance.

2 à mesure que, in this sense,indicating a progress, succession, or proportion; see p. 150, n. 4, and p. 235, n. 6.

3 Fais une dette payable à Pâques, et tu trouveras le carême court' (PROVERB).

4 and able to.' The English construction is not allowed in French, on account of the want of symmetry it exhibits in those two parts of the attribute which are separated by and.'

5 Gardez pour vos besoins,
pour l'âge de retour :

Le soleil du matin n'est pas
pour tout le jour."

Or, in four lines:

"Gardez pour les besoins et l'âge de retour,

Gardez pour la soif une
poire,

Si vous voulez reboire :
Le soleil du matin n'est pas

pour tout le jour."

This idiomatic expression, garder une poire pour la soif, corresponds to to lay something by for a rainy day.'

6than to keep one warm.'

7Il vaut mieux se coucher sans souper que de se lever avec des dettes' (PROVERB).

8 "Gagne autant que tu peux, du gain fais un trésor : C'est la pierre qui change argent et cuivre en or." 9 cette pierre philosophale. 'have; see page 52, note 2. 10 l'impôt. 11 is that of.

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