"The Pot Calls The Kettle Black"
Context: Don Quixote is criticizing his fat squire as an "eternal proverbvoiding swagbelly." Sancho Panza, typical of the proverb-quoting Spanish peasant, bursts forth in a whole page of them. After all, he has many from which to select, for the Spanish language probably heads all in aphorisms. In 1930 Rodríguez Marín published a collection of 12,600 of those not included in either his own previous volume of 21,000 or in the standard 40,000 compilation by Gonzalo Correas. Says Sancho in conclusion:
. . . he that sees a mote in another man's eye, should do well to take the beam out of his own; that people mayn't say, the pot calls the kettle blackarse; and the dead woman's afraid of her that is flea'd. Besides, your worship knows, that a fool knows more in his own house, than a wise man in another man's.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.