The Proverbs Of John Heywood

by John Heywood

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"Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire"

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. . . if ye took him, what could ye gain?
From suspicion to knowledge of ill, forsooth!
Could make ye do but as the flounder doeth–
Leap out of the frying pan into the fire;
And change from ill pain to worse is worth small hire.

In this passage, the author warns against shifting from a state of suspicion to one of certainty about a painful truth. He suggests that verifying the young woman's suspicions about her husband's behavior might only exacerbate her distress. The proverb "Leap out of the frying pan into the fire" conveys the futility of seeking to resolve one problem only to encounter an even worse predicament. Here, the transition from mere suspicion to confirmed knowledge of betrayal is akin to moving from one discomfort to a more severe one. The metaphor of the flounder captures the folly of exchanging one form of suffering for another, emphasizing that such confirmation would bring no real benefit, only greater anguish. Thus, the advice given is to avoid the pursuit of painful truths that offer no improvement in one's situation.

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