Character Index | Proverb Index
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| Character Index | Proverb Index |
A Man bitten by a Dog was in search of something to heal him. A friend suggested he soak a piece of bread in blood from the wound and feed it to the Dog who bit him. The Man laughed at this and said: "If I do as you say I would just whet the appetite of that Dog and every other dog in town."
Townsend version
A Man who had been bitten by a Dog went about in quest of someone who might heal him. A friend, meeting him and learning what he wanted, said, "If you would be cured, take a piece of bread, and dip it in the blood from your wound, and go and give it to the Dog that bit you." The Man who had been bitten laughed at this advice and said, "Why? If I should do so, it would be as if I should beg every Dog in the town to bite me."
Moral
Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.
L'Estrange version
One that was bitten by a dog, was advis'd, as the best remedy in the world, to dip a piece of bread in the bloud of the wound, and give it the dog to eate. Pray hold your hand a little (says the man) unless y'ave a mind to draw all the dogs in the town upon me; for that will certainly be the end on't, when they shall find themselves rewarded instead of punish'd.
Moral
Good nature is a great misfortune, where it is not manag'd with prudence. Christian charity, 'tis true, bids us return good for evil; but it does not oblige us yet to reward where we should punish.
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Tom Simondi, All Rights Reserved