things, is jocularly enjoined in the familiar adage:--

"As like as an apple is to a lobster,"

And the folly of taking what one knows is paltry or bad has given rise
to an instructive proverb:--

"Better give an apple than eat it."

The folly of expecting good results from the most unreasonable causes is
the subject of the following old adage:--

"Plant the crab where you will, it will never bear pippins."

The crab tree has also been made the subject of several
amusing rhymes, one of which is as follows:--

"The crab of the wood is sauce very good for the crab of the
sea,
But the wood of the crab is sauce for a drab that will not her
husband obey."

The coolness of the cucumber has long ago become proverbial for a person
of a cold collected nature, "As cool as a cucumber," and the man who not
only makes unreasonable requests, but equally expects them to be
gratified, is said to "ask an elm-tree for pears." Then, again, foolish
persons who have no power of observation, are likened to "a blind goose
that knows not a fox from a fern bush."

The willow has long been a proverbial symbol of sadness, and on this