ere we become rakes." So
Spenser, in his "Fairy Queen" (bk. ii. can. 11):

"His body leane and meagre as a rake."

This proverb is found in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" (i. 289):

"Al so lene was his hors as is a rake."

"As thin as a whipping-post" is another proverb of the same kind.

"As mad as a March hare" ("The Two Noble Kinsmen," iii. 5). We may
compare the expression "hare-brained:" "1 Henry IV." (v. 2).

"As sound as a bell." So in "Much Ado about Nothing" (iii. 2), Don Pedro
says of Benedick: "He hath a heart as sound as a bell."

"As the bell clinketh, so the fool thinketh." This proverb is indirectly
alluded to in "Much Ado About Nothing" (iii. 2), in the previous
passage, where Don Pedro says of Benedick that "He hath a heart as sound
as a bell, and his tongue is the clapper; for what his heart thinks, his
tongue speaks."

Another form of the same proverb is: "As the fool thinks, the bell
tinks."[863]

[863] See Kelly's "Proverbs of All Nations," p. 91.

"As true as steel." This popular adage is quoted in "Troilus and
Cressida" (iii. 2):

"As true as steel, as plantage to the moon."

We may also compare the proverb: "As true as the dial to the sun."

"At hand, quoth pick-purse" ("1 Henry IV.," ii. 1). This proverbial
saying arose, says Malone, from the pickpurse always seizing the prey
nearest him.

"Ay, tell me that and unyoke" ("Hamlet," v. 1). This was a common adage
for giving over or ceasing to do a thing; a metaphor derived from the
unyoking of oxen at the end of their labor.

"Baccare, quoth Mortimer to his sow." With this Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps
compares Gremio's words in the "Taming of the Shrew" (ii. 1):

"Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray,
Let us, that are poor petitioners, speak too:
Baccare! you are marvellous forward."

Mr. Dyce ("Glossary," p. 23) says the word signifies "go back," and
cites one of John Heywood's epigrams upon it:

"Backare, quoth Mortimer to his sow;
Went that sowe backe at that bidding, trow you."

"Barnes are blessings" ("All's Well that Ends Well," i. 3).

"Base is the slave that pays" ("Henry V.," ii. 1).[864]

[864] Halliwell-Phillipps's "Handbook Index to Shakespeare," p. 391.

"Bastards are born lucky." This proverb is alluded to in "King John" (i.
1), by the Bastard, who says:

"Brother, adieu; good fortune come to thee!
For thou wast got i' the way of honesty."

Philip wishes his broth