This is a photo of Charles Dickens from The Guardian, a British daily newspaper. To me, he looks like a kindly man looking at me, with sincere concern.
I couldn't find an image of him smiling. I looked. Although he was an international literary celebrity, famous for his humor, satire, and cutting observations of people and society, he did live and work during the Victorian Era and smiling for photos was "simply not done."
Those of you who know me, know I am addicted to many things, one of which is Charles Dickens' novels. And as such, I periodically MUST read Dickens. Then about three-quarters of the way through, I swear I will NEVER read Dickens again.
Well, I read Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead (See my review here) and could not resist revisiting Dickens' David Copperfield.
Now I am of a region of the country and of a generation that falls easily and thoughtlessly into "old sayings." I say "thoughtlessly" lightly, but it is absolutely the correct adverb to use.
About a quarter of the way through David Copperfield, I came to a statement by an as yet unimportant character named Malden. He said "I don't want to look a gift-horse in the mouth, which is not a gracious thing to do...."
I do know what that means, or thought I did. Don't question good fortune, like it's bad luck or something. Not being of pre-automobile times, I never thought about what it literally means.
I have known for a very long time that horse traders are infamous for their sharp dealings when selling a horse, especially to an unwary buyer. The buyer should watch the horse move to be assured that it is sound on its legs.
And the buyer should also check the horse's teeth, because you can tell its age and its general history of care from their condition.
So...when someone does you a favor or hands you a gift, of course it would be rude to look for a nefarious motivation or an otherwise flawed gift.
Who knew?!
And now that I look at that Dickens photo, I'm reminded of Fidel Castro. Oh, well.
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