An hour before midnight is worth two after or so my mother used to tell me as I sat down to breakfast after a particularly late night. But is it really true that sleep before 12 p.m. is twice as good for you as sleep after that hour? At the time, like most young people, I regarded this proverb as an old wive's tale with no relevance to my own life. I mean, an hour is an hour … it's 60 minutes, a.m. or p.m. However, now older and wiser, I remember my mother's words as I scramble into bed at 11 o'clock. I am now a firm believer in the value of getting at least one hour's sleep before midnight!

Advice about how to live a healthy life is one example of the type of received wisdom which is condensed and passed on to the next generation in the form of proverbs. Proverbs also serve to express general truths in a short and colourful way, for example, There's no smoke without fire, meaning that there is generally some truth in even the wildest rumours.

Another type of proverb acts as a reminder of the correct way to behave, for example, Don't wash your dirty linen in public. This means don't discuss personal or family problems in front of strangers or in public. Other proverbs are offered to people as means of comfort in times of trouble, for example, It's no use crying over spilt milk. This proverb advises that it really is a waste of time to weep over mistakes that have already been make. Instead, it is much better to Make the best of a bad job - to do your best whatever the situation.

Some English proverbs are native to Britain, for example, It never rains but it pours, a reference to the joys of the British weather! This proverb means that when one thing goes wrong, many other things go wrong as well. Another home-grown proverb is Every dog is allowed one bite. This proverb Is based on an old English law dating back to the 17th century. The law said that the first time a dog bit somebody, its owner did not have to pay compensation to the victim because one bite did not prove that the dog was vicious. Hence the idea carried in the proverb, that everyone should be allowed to make a mistake without being punished for it.

Other proverbs have come into the language from Latin or Greek. Lucretius, a classical Roman author, created the proverb One man's meat is another man's poison, meaning that what is good for one person can be harmful to another. And the proverb let sleeping dogs lie meaning don't cause trouble when it can be avoided, came into English form the French in the 14th century.

As Britain came into contact with other countries and cultures, English became enriched with the words and wisdom of different languages. From the Chinese, we borrowed the colourful proverb He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount, meaning that if you start on a dangerous enterprise, it is often easier to carry it through to the end than to stop halfway.

Some proverbs have been in the language for 1,000 years, for example, A friend in need is a friend indeed. The message here is that someone who stays with you and helps you in times of trouble, rather than turning their back, is a true friend. Other proverbs, however, are much more recent, and reflect changes in the way that we live.

From the United States come the following two pieces of new wisdom, Garbage in - garbage out, from the computer world, reminds people that computers are only as good as their programs. Form big business we have There's no such thing as a free lunch, meaning nothing is free. If someone buys you lunch, they will expect a favour in return.

[本段無錄音]Some English people are reluctant to sue proverbs in their every day conversation because they see them as vehicles of too much used wisdom. Nevertheless, proverbs are still quite common in both written and spoken English and continue to provide a homely commentary on life and a reminder that the wisdom of our ancestors may still be useful to us today.

每當在頭一天晚上我睡得特別晚，第二天早晨坐下來去吃早餐時，我母親過去總是會對我說"一半夜睡一個小時勝過下半夜睡兩小時"之類的話。但是半夜12點以前的睡眠質量真的會比半夜12點以后的睡眠要好一倍嗎？當時，我像絕大多數年青人一樣，認為這一句諺語是跟我自己的生活毫無關系的，這是一句不知老太婆們瞎編的愚蠢的話。我認為，一小時就是一小時，不管是上半夜還是下半夜，反正都是60分鐘。可是現在，因為我年齡大了，也比以前更懂事了，每當我在晚上11點鐘爬進被子里時，我就想起了我媽所說的話。現在我堅信在半夜零點以前取低限度要提前一個小時入睡，這的確大有好處。

關于如何才能活得健康的忠告就是公認的智慧的一個很典型的例子，并把這些智慧濃縮成諺語的形式代代相傳。條條諺語都能用簡明生動豐富多彩的方式表達普遍的真理。例如："無火不生煙，無風不起浪。"說的就是，即使是言過其實的流言蜚語，一般說來也總會有點真實的成分在里面的。

還有一種類型的諺語，它所起的作用就是提醒人們舉止行為要得體。例如，"別在公眾面前洗你的臟襯褲--家丑不可外揚。"這意思就是說，不要在陌生人群中或當著大家的面來討論個人隱私或者家務事。還有一些諺語在人們處于困境時給人以安慰，例如："牛奶灑了，哭也沒用。--覆水難收，悲有何益？"這條諺語勸告人們，既然已經做錯了事情，痛哭流淚、唉聲嘆氣實際上都是有浪費時間。與此相反，"要盡最大的努力把壞事干成好事--隨遇而安，轉禍為福。"這種態度要好得多--不論遇到任何情況總要用最大的努力把事情做好。

有些英文諺語來自英國。例如，"不雨則已，一雨傾盆--福無雙至，禍不單行。"這說明英國人都喜歡談天氣。這條諺語的意思是如果一件事出了差錯接連著很多其他事也都出了差錯。還有一條出自英國本土的諺語是"每條狗初次咬人都是可以原諒的--人非圣賢孰能無過。"這條諺語是17世紀時的一條古老的英國法律為基礎而衍化出來的。這條法律說，狗初次咬人，狗的主人不必向受害人支付賠償金，因為僅咬一口并不能證明這條狗就是一條惡狗。因此，這種想法，即允許任何人初次犯錯誤，不必給予懲罰，就包含在這條諺語當中了。

還有一些諺語是從拉丁文或希臘文移植到英語里面的。一位古典時期的古羅馬作家留克利希阿斯創造了下面這一條諺語："同一塊肉，吃肥了張三卻毒死了李四--穿衣戴帽各好一套，蘿卜白菜各有所愛。"意思是對某一個人有好處的可能對另一個人有害。而這一條諺語："讓睡覺的那群狗繼續躺著吧睡吧。--別捅馬蜂窩。"意思是能避免就盡量避免，不要去惹麻煩。這條諺語是從14世紀的法語移植到英語中來的。

由于英國逐漸同其他一些國家和其他一些文化打交道，不同語言的詞匯和智慧使英語逐漸豐富起來。從漢語，我們借用了這條活靈活現的諺語"騎虎難下"，意思就是如果你開創了一項危險而又艱巨復雜的事業，與其半途而廢，倒不如進行到底會更順利一些。

有些諺語在語言中已經流傳有1000多年了，例如，"患難中相助的朋友才是真正的朋友。--患難見真交"。這條諺語是說，你在患難時這位朋友仍然不離開你，仍然幫助你，而不是掉轉脊背就跑開了，這樣的朋友才是真正的朋友。但是，也有些諺語相當現代，這些新時興的諺語反映出我們的生活方式的一些變化。

從美國傳來了下列兩句絕妙的好詞："無用信息輸入--無用信息輸出，--廢料進，廢料出。"這源出自電子計算機的待業用語。它提示人們只有輸入計算機的程序編制得好電子計算機才能輸出好。從干大事業的人那里，我們學到一句話"根本就不會有白白請你吃頓飯那回事。--禮下于人必有所求。"意思是沒有任何時是可以不付出代價的。如果將來有人給你買了一份便餐，那個人肯定想從你那里得到好處以便作為報答。

有部分英國人在日常談話中不大愿意使用諺語，因為他們認為這些諺語過于老生常談了。然而，諺語在書面英語和口語英語中還是使用得很廣的。諺語可繼續用在以家常話來談論的日常生活當中，因而讓我們想到我們祖先的智慧在今天對我們還是十分有用的。