浅谈英语谚语的来源、功能及其修辞(7)

3. The function of English proverbs
The functions of English proverbs are that they express some rules of conduct and quite often convey some advice or counsel. In other words, most English proverbs possess philosophic depth or instructive function. For thousands of years they have been instructing and inspiring English people, so they have been regarded as the guideline of people’s thoughts and deeds, which means English people are thinking or doing things by following the direction of their proverbs either consciously or unconsciously. English proverbs have become an important sources of inspiration just because they contain truth, wisdom, counsel, rule of conduct, etc. Following will mention two functions of English proverbs.
3.1 The function to advise
Some proverbs are intended to persuade and teach people. To persuade is to praise justice, to fight against the bully. To teach is to guide people to adopt a correct attitude towards life, to take a proper way to get along well with others. For example, Better die with honor than live with shame; Don’t have cloak to make when it begins to rain. Such proverbs sound very firm and resolute and they can strengthen people conviction and awaken people consciousness of life or better their thinking methods. They are very helpful for people to make distinction between right and wrong, to be clear about what to love and what to hate. Because they are good for people’s self-cultivation and they can call for deep thought, many people take these proverbs as their life motto.
Some other proverbs reveal and criticize the dark side of the ages or society. They attack the dirty practices of the society so as to remind people to keep conscious and maintain sharp warning. For example, The fox changes his skin, but not his habit; A leopard cannot change its spots. People tend to recite such proverbs when they are disclosing the evil in the society or when they are reminding others to keep alert.
3.2 The function to spread experiences and knowledge
Many proverbs summarize knowledge of people’s daily life such as The best wine comes out of an old vessel; Soft fire makes sweet malt. As people’s daily life is complicated and extremely trifling, such proverbs are numerous. They summarize people’s knowledge in their life and they tell people what to do and how to do it. They are just like an encyclopedia to guide people’s daily life. From them, people may broaden their knowledge and outlook so as to avoid making mistakes. Some proverbs of this type are concerned with a particular field, like farmer proverbs and meteorological proverbs. Peasants of different ages, in their over years’ work, practice and prove the farming experience and productive rules. From generation to generation, they sum up their experience and the farming rules into some vivid, concise and lively sentences. These sentences are farmer proverbs and they are practiced and testified year after year and they have been proved true and accurate. They reflect the peasants’ farming experience and agricultural law and show the working people’s wisdom. Farmer proverbs are a precious and valuable part of agricultural data. Peasants of different ages have some of them as guide in their farming. And meteorological proverbs, which summarize the fundamental meteorological knowledge of generations, are also a big help in people life. For example, April showers bring forth May flowers; A cold May and a windy makes a full barn and a findy; Dry August and warm does harvest no harm; A fair day in winter is the mother of a storm; A misty morning may have a fine day; Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings.