The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

l82 THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBRiEUS.
addicted to fornication and is not entirely free from
fraud.
DCCXVIII. The woman whose nose-end is sHghtly
large, and who hath large black eyes with a slight
tinge of red in the left one is chaste; she shunneth
marriage with the greatest care, and hideth herself in
corners.
DCCXIX. Thick and bushy eyebrows, small eyes,
thick lips, and a sharp nose are bad signs in a woman.
DCCXX. No woman with a round face, and a small
nose, and a pointed head, and whose eye is darker than
her complexion, and whose hair is crisp, can escape
fornication.
DCCXXI. The man whose eyes project from his head
and who prolongeth his gaze on anything, is one who
boasteth of himself and hath a high spirit, and is
strenuous in worldly matters.
DCCXXII. He whose nose-end is high is one who
hateth occupation.
DCCXXIII. Sharpness of nose, exceeding blackness
of the eye, length of hair, and hasty speech, are signs
of wrath and anger; the inward qualities of the man
who hath them do not testify to his externals, and he
is the offspring of fornication.
DCCXXIV. Furthermore, little compassion, avaricious-
ness, mercilessness, lasciviousness, insolent speech and
weakness in action are the signs of an adulterer and
of one who is the offspring of fornication.
DCCXX V. Aristotle the Great said", ''Since the soul
^ For the original Greek text see Didot's edition of Aristotle,
fol. iv. p. I. The following passage, having reference to the
same subject, I extract from Bar-Hebraeus' great translation of