put the cat in charge of the cheese: proverbs

From a book of Arabic proverbs, published in 1891:

• Put the cat in charge of the cheese, and girdle him with the sausage.
• They gave the bear silk to wind into balls. (Said of someone given a task they are unfit to do)
• The cat eats his supper. (Said of someone who's been duped)
• A dog laden with piasters. (A rich miser, or someone wealthy who chooses to live poorly)
• Accustom a dog to your kindness, but don't accustom a man to it. (The dog will be grateful - the man won't.)
• He who needs the dog says to him "Good morning, my lord."
• They said to the wolf: Do not walk behind the sheep, their dust will hurt your eyes.  He replied: Their dust is kuhl (kohl, eyeliner) to my eyes.
• Can you make ducks afraid of drowning?

From Jewett, James Richard, 1862-1943. Arabic Proverbs And Proverbial Phrases. New Haven: American Oriental society, 1891, passim.