A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

woeful see WILFUL waste makes woeful want.

Do not call a WOLF to help you against the dogs

Russian proverb.

1975 A. SOLZHENITSYN ‘Words of Warning to America’ in Imprimis Sept. We

have a Russian proverb: ‘Do not call a wolf to help you against the dogs.’ If dogs are

attacking and tearing at you, fight against the dogs, but do not call a wolf for help.

Because when the wolves come, they will destroy the dogs, but they will also tear you

apart. 2001 on http://www.peace.ca Which presents PBI with the classic dilemma of the

unarmed civilian: Should PBI call the ‘official’ Colombian army for help? Or should PBI

heed the Russian proverb ‘If the dogs attack you don’t call the wolf for help.’

assistance; strength and weakness

wolf see the CARIBOU feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf who keeps the caribou strong;
HUNGER drives the wolf out of the wood.

A WOMAN, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be

‘The old custom of beating a walnut-tree was carried out firstly to fetch down the fruit and
secondly to break the long shoots and so encourage the production of short fruiting spurs’: M.
Hadfield British Trees (1957) Cf. L. nux, asinus, mulier verbere opus habent, a nut tree, an ass,
and a woman need a beating.

1581 G. PETTIE tr. S. Guazzo’s Civil Conversation III. 20 I have redde, I know not

where, these verses. A woman, an asse, and a walnut tree, Bring the more fruit the more

beaten they bee. 1670 J. RAY English Proverbs 50 A spaniel, a woman and a walnut tree,

The more they’re beaten the better still they be. 1836 T. C. HALIBUR-TON Clockmaker

1st Ser. xxv. There was an old sayin there [Kent], which.. is not far off the mark: A

woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, The more you lick ’em, the better they be. 1929 E.

LINKLATER Poet’s Pub xii. A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, The more you beat ’em,

the better they be. 1945 F. THOMPSON Lark Rise v. A handsome pie was placed before

him.. such as seemed to.. illustrate the old saying, ‘A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the

more you beat ’em the better they be’. 1981 Daily Telegraph 5 Feb. 17 It’s not right to

batter your wife. It is like the old saying, ‘A wife, a dog and a walnut tree, the more you

beat them the better they be.’ It’s just not true. women