The Proverbial Tongue: A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush

 A Bird in the Hand is worth Two in the Bush

 

 

The next proverb on the list is:

    3. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

A proverb that advises you to keep what little you have instead of letting it go in search of something more, and possibly more uncertain, for you might end up with nothing.

The book offers equivalents in German, French and Portuguese:

German

-         Ein Sperling in der Hand ist besser als zehn auf dem Dache (a bird in the hand is better than ten in the roof)

French

-          Mieux vaut moineau en cage que poule de léau que nage (better have a sparrow in a cage than a water hen that can swim)

-          Moineau à la main vait mieux que grue qui vole (better have a sparrow in the hand than a flying crane)

-          Un bon aujourd’hui vaux mieux que deux demain (a good today is worth more than two tomorrows)

-          Un oiseau dans la main vait mieux que deux dans la haie (a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the hedge)

-          Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras (One “have” s worth more than two “will haves”)

Portuguese

-          Mais vale um pássaro na mão que dois a voar (better have a bird in the hand than two flying)

-          Mais vale um toma que dois te darei (a “have this” is better than two “I will give you”)

-          Nunca deixes o certo pelo duvidoso (never give up something certain for something doubtful)

 

Other equivalents I found online:

 

Spanish

-          Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando (better to have one bird in the hand than one hundred flying)

 

Finnish

-         Parempi pyy pivossa kuin kymmenen oksalla (better to have a hazel grouse in the hand than ten on the branch)

 

Polish

-          Lepszy wróbel w garści niż gołąb na dachu (better to have a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof)

 

Swedish

-          Bättre en fågel i handen än tio i skogen (better to have a bird in the hand than ten in the forest)

 

Italian

-          Meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani (better to have an egg today than a chicken tomorrow)

 

Bulgarian

-          не оставяй питомното, за да гониш дивото (do not leave the tame to chase the wild)

 

Hungarian

-          Ki sokat markol, keveset fog (he who grabs a lot will grab little)

-          Jobb egy lúdnyak tíz tyúknyaknál (one goose neck is better than ten chicken necks)

 

I find it interesting that so many of these involve birds. I suppose birds have always been a symbol of freedom and wilderness, as well as difficult animals to hold tight in your hands, so perhaps it does make sense that they should come up in so many of these.

I also noticed that, while in English you’d say, “a bird in the hand is worth…”, other languages will put it as “a bird in the hand is worth more than…”, “a bird in the hand is better than…”, or “better to have a bird in the hand than…”. It’s a small difference, I know, but I found it interesting. I wonder if such proverbs should be translated into English as “worth” or “worth more than”/“better than”? I wonder if following the “rules” of English proverbs will make the translation better understood by the target culture or if maintaining the original structure will make it more obvious what is being said by the source culture.

How would you translate these types of proverbs? More closely to the target culture formulae or as similar to the source culture’s expression as possible?

And does your language/culture have an equivalent to this particular proverb?

 

The Proverbial Tongue: A bad workman always finds fault with his tools

 A Bad Workman Always Finds Fault With His Tools

 

Proverbs #1 and 2 are very similar: 

1. A bad workman always finds fault with his tools.

2. A bad workman quarrels with his tools.  

They are about people who don't take responsibility for their own mistakes and instead choose to blame something else. The book only gives equivalents in French and Portuguese:

French: 

- À méchant ouvrier point de bon outil (to a bad worker there's no good tool).

Portuguese: 

- O mau operário queixa-se da ferramenta (a bad worker complains about his tool).

- Quando não se sabe, a ferramenta é má (when you don't know, the tools aren't good).

 

I found a few others online:

Spanish:

- El mal oficial le echa la culpa a la herramiente (the bad worker blames the tool).

- El mal escribano, le echa la culpa a la pluma (a bad clerk blames the feather, aka, the pen).

- Cuando el arriero es malo, le echa la culpa a los burros (A bad wagoner blames the donkeys).

- El mal caminante le echa la culpa al empedrado (a bad walker blames the pavement).

German (although not in the book):

- Wenn der Reiter nichts taugt, hat das Pferd Schuld (If the horseman isn't good, the horse gets blamed for it).

Polish:

- Złej baletnicy przeszkadza rąbek u spódnicy (A bad ballerina gets disturbed by the hem of her skirt).

Palestinian Arabic:

إللي بعرفش يرقص بقول الأرض عوجة (illi bi`rafeš yur'oS bi'uul il'arD `ooja): "He who does not know how to dance says that the floor is crooked."

Turkish:

 - Oynamayan gelin yerim dar dermiş (The bride who can't dance says the space is narrow).

Russian:

- плохому танцоры тапочки мешают /plohomu tantsoru tapochki meshayut/ (a bad dancer is bothered by his slippers). 

 

My favorite so far is the Polish one. Do you know any other sayings about not taking responsibility for one's mistakes? In these or any other languages?

The Proverbial Tongue: a dictionary of proverbs

 The Little Dictionary of Proverbs

As you probably know, proverbs don't exactly translate literally between languages (or, at times, between cultures even if they share the same language!). "It's raining cats and dogs" would sound really weird if translated literally to other languages that don't use that imagery to describe heavy rain. This little dictionary, Pequeno Dicionário de Provérbios (The Little Dictionary of Proverbs), by Helena Silva and José Luís Quintão, published in the early 80's, is written in German, French, English and Portuguese (European), and aims to offer equivalents to proverbs in each one of these languages.

I find it fascinating to learn about the different ways each language/culture sees, interprets the world, and then how they express themselves. I think it would be interesting to explore the different ways the same proverb is said in each of these languages. I would also love to hear from anyone whose language isn't in the book and how they say it! 

So, I figured that I could go down the list of English proverbs and, once a week, post something about the translation of each proverb into these (and hopefully other) languages.