h Night," ii. 3).

"Dogs must eat." This, with several other proverbs, is quoted by Agrippa
in "Coriolanus" (i. 1).

"Dun's the mouse" ("Romeo and Juliet," i. 4). This was a proverbial
saying, of which no satisfactory explanation has yet been given. Nares
thinks it was "frequently employed with no other intent than that of
quibbling on the word _done_." Ray has, "as dun as a mouse." Mercutio
says: "Tut, dun's the mouse, the constable's own word."

"Empty vessels give the greatest sound." Quoted in "Henry V." (iv. 4).

"Every dog hath his day, and every man his hour." This old adage seems
alluded to by Hamlet (v. 1):[868]

"The cat will mew, and dog will have his day."

[868] Bohn's "Handbook of Proverbs," p. 86.

"Every man at forty is either a fool or a physician."[869] This popular
proverb is probably referred to in "Merry Wives of Windsor" (iii. 4), by
Mistress Quickly, who tells Fenton how she had recommended him as a
suitor for Mr. Page's daughter instead of Doctor Caius: "This is my
doing, now: 'Nay,' said I, 'will you cast away your child on a fool, and
a physician? look on Master Fenton:'--this is my doing."

[869] Ray gives another form: "Every man is either a fool or a
physician after thirty years of age;" see Bohn's "Handbook of
Proverbs," 1857, p. 27.

"Familiarity breeds contempt." So, in the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (i.
1), Slender says: "I hope, upon familiarity will grow more contempt."

"Fast bind, fast find." In "Merchant of Venice" (ii. 5), Shylock says:

"Well, Jessica, go in:
Perhaps I will return immediately:
Do as I bid you; shut doors after you;
Fast bind, fast find;
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind."

"Finis coronat opus." A translation of this Latin proverb is given by
Helena in "All's Well that Ends Well" (iv. 4):

"Still the fine's the crown."

In "2 Henry VI." (v. 2), also, Clifford's expiring words are: "La fin
couronne les oeuvres." We still have the expression _to crown_, in the
sense of _to finish_ or _make perfect_. Mr. Douce[870] remarks that
"_coronidem imponere_ is a metaphor well known to the ancients, and
supposed to have originated from the practice of finishing buildings by
placing a crown at the top as an ornament; and for this reason the words
_crown_, _top_, and _head_ are become synonymous in most languages.
There is reason for believing that the ancients placed a crescent at the
beginning, and a c