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A creaking door hangs long on the hinges

After a storm comes a calm

A hungry man is an angry man

A little pot is soon hot

All is well that ends well

A friend in need is a friend indeed

A rolling stone gathers no moss

As fit as a fiddle

As is the workman so is the work

A measure for measure

Among the blind, the one eyed man is king

A scalded dog fears cold water

As snug as a bug in the rug

As the fool thinks, so the bell clinks

A stitch in time saves nine

As you sow, you shall mow

A wolf in sheep’s clothing

A wonder lasts but nine days

Beauty lies in lover’s eyes

Be slow to promise and quick to perform

Better die standing than live knelling

Between and betwixt

Between the devil and the deep sea

Birds of a feather flock together

Bit by bit

Burn not your house to rid of the mouse

By hook or by crook

Cheapest is the dearest

Children are poor men' s riches

Choice of the end covers the choice of means

Crows don’t pick crows’ eyes

Curiosity killed the cat

Cut your coat according to your cloth

Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you

Dot your i’s and cross your t’s

East or West-home is best

Eat at pleasure drink with measure

Every country has its customs

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools learn in no other

Extremes meet

Far from eye, far from heart

First come first served

First think, then speak

For sure

Fortune favors the brave

From mouth to mouth

Give every man thy ear, but very few thy voice

Good health is above wealth

Habit cures habit

Haste makes waste

He gives twice who gives quickly

He laughs best who laughs last

He that has no head needs no hat

He that mischief hatches mischief catches

High winds blow on high hills

Honesty is the best policy

Hunger is the best sauce

If you laugh before breakfast, you’ll cry before supper

In a roundabout way

It’s an early bird that catches the worm

It’s enough to make a cat laugh

Joy and sorrow are as near as today

Joys shared with others are more enjoyed

Let sleeping dogs lie

Life is not all cakes and ale

Little knowledge is a dangerous thing

Look before you leap

Many men many minds

Many words hurt more than swords

Men may meet but mountains never

Near and dear

Necessity is the mother of invention

Neither here nor there

New lords – new laws

No living man all things can

No news is good news

No pains no gains

No sweet without sweat

Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm

Old birds are not caught with chaff

One man is no man

Out of sight out of mind

Prosperity makes friends, and adversity tries them

Respect yourself or no one will respect you

Roll my log and I will roll yours

Saying and doing are different things

Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours

Seeing is believing

Sink or swim

Six of one is half a dozen of the other

Slow and steady wins the race

Soon learnt, soon forgotten

Soon ripe, soon rotten

Speech is silver, but silence is gold

Strictly speaking

Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves

Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves

The exception proves the rule

The last straw breaks the camel’s back

The least said the soonest mended

The pot calls the kettle black

The proof of the pudding is in the eating

There and then

There is no place like home

There is no rose without a thorn

The voice of one man is the voice of no one

Time works wonders

To beat about the bush

To go through thick and thin

To call a spade a spade

To carry coals to Newcastle

To hope against hope

To make a long story short

To praise to the skies

To smile through tears

To tell tales out of school

To throw straws against the wind

Velvet paws hide sharp claws

Wealth is nothing without health

Well begun is half done

What can’t be cured must be endured

What’s done, cannot be undone

When all comes to all

When the wine is in the wit is out

Where there’s a will there’s a way

While the grass grows the horse starves

Стихотворения

This Is the Key

This is the key of the kingdom:

In that kingdom there is a city.

In that city there is a town.

In that town there is a street.

In that street there is a lane.

In that lane there is a yard.

In that yard there is a house.

In that house there is a room.

In that room there is a bed.

On that bed there is a basket.

In that basket there are some flowers.

Flowers in a basket.

Basket on the bed.

Bed in the room.

Room in the house.

House in the yard.

Yard in the lane.

Lane in the street.

Street in the town.

Town in the city.

City in the kingdom.

Of the kingdom that is the key.

The House That Jack Built.

(Extract)

This is the house that Jack built.

This is the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the dog,

That worried the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn,

That tossed the dog,

That worried the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the maiden all forlorn,

That maiden the cow with the crumpled horn,

That tossed the dog,

That worried the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the man all tattered and torn,

That kissed the maiden all forlorn,

That maiden the cow with the crumpled horn,

That tossed the dog,

That worried the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn,

That maiden the man all tattered and torn,

That kissed the maiden all forlorn,

That maiden the cow with the crumpled horn,

That tossed the dog,

That worried the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn,

That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,

That maiden the man all tattered and torn,

That kissed the maiden all forlorn,

That maiden the cow with the crumpled horn,

That tossed the dog,

That worried the cat,

That killed the rat,

That ate the malt

That lay in house that Jack built.

Father William.

“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,

“And your hair has become very whate;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head –

Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son,

“I feared it might injure my brain;

But, now that I’m perfectly sure I have none,

Why, I do it again and again:”

“You are old, said the youth, as I mentioned before,

And have grown most uncommonly fat;

Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door –

Pray, what is the reason of that?”

In my youth, said the sage, as he shook his grey locks

I kept all my limbs very supple

By the use of this ointment one shilling the box –

Allow me to sell you a couple

“You are old, said the youth”, and your jaws are too weak

For anything tougher than suet;

Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak

Prey, how did you manage to do it?

“In my youth, said his father, I took to the law,

And argued each case with my wife;

And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw

Has lasted the rest of my life.

“You are old,” said the youth, one would hardly suppose

That your eye was as steady as ever;

Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose –

What made you so awfully clever?”

“I have answered 3 questions, and that is enough,”

Said his father. “Don’t give yourself airs.

Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?

Be off or I’ll kick you down stairs.”