10 One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade CHINA
11 One foot is better than two stilts FRANCE
12 Both legs in the stocks or only one is all the same GERMANY
13 In one stable there may be a steed and an ass BELGIUM
14 A lie stands upon one leg, but truth upon two ENGLAND
15 When one door shuts, another opens SCOTLAND
16 To learn costs you one effort, to unlearn, two BULGARIA
17 One beetle knows another IRELAND
18 If two people tell you you are blind, shut one eye GEORGIA
19 You cannot take one part of a fowl for cooking and leave the other part to lay eggs INDIA
20 One hand can’t tie a bundle LIBERIA
21 Justice becomes injustice when it makes two wounds on a head which only deserves one REPUBLIC OF CONGO
22 Those who have two garments do not wear one only ZANZIBAR
23 Two crocodiles don’t live in one pond GAMBIA
24 You can’t dance at two weddings with one pair of feet USA
25 When you pick up a stick at one end, you also pick up the other end USA
26 Two heads are better than one ENGLAND
27 Better ask twice than go wrong once GERMANY
28 Once bitten, twice shy ENGLAND
29 Measure twice, cut once SLOVAKIA
30 Those who cheat me once, shame fall them; those who cheat me twice, shame fall me SCOTLAND
31 Someone with a watch knows what time it is; someone with two watches is never sure FRANCESee also: 12 TWO – TWICE – BOTH
10 ONE OF SEVERAL
1 Rain does not fall only on one roof CAMEROON
2 Better one living word than a hundred dead ones GERMANY
3 A hat is not made for one shower ENGLAND
4 Before going to war say one prayer; before going to sea, two; before getting married, three POLAND
5 The spider does not weave its web for one fly SLOVENIA
6 The sea is made bigger even by one drop RUSSIA
7 One buffalo brings mud and all the herd are smeared with it MALAYSIA
8 If one finger is gashed, all the fingers are covered with blood REPUBLIC OF CONGO
9 A basket-maker who makes one basket makes a hundred BRAZIL
10 It’s a poor mouse that has but one hole NETHERLANDS
11 An elephant does not die from one broken rib KENYA
12 Don’t tell all of your jokes on one program USA
13 One bird in the dish is better than a hundred in the air GERMANY
14 If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want a hundred years of prosperity, grow people CHINA
15 Life is just one damned thing after another USA
16 One accident is one too many CANADA
17 One loose pebble can start a landslide USA
18 One broken rail will wreck a train USA
19 Don’t keep all your tongs in one fire CANADA
20 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket ENGLAND
21 There are more ways than one to kill a cat ENGLAND
22 A cloth is not woven from a single thread CHINA
23 One servant is a servant; two servants are half a servant; three servants are no servant at all POLAND
24 It takes a whole village to raise one child NIGERIA
25 One actor cannot make a play USA
26 Where water has once flowed it will flow again MONTENEGRO
27 Troubles never come singly ENGLAND
11 ACCOMPANIMENT
1 When you have no companion, consult your walking-stick ALBANIA
2 Misery loves company ENGLAND
3 Two’s company; three’s a crowd ENGLAND
4 When a blind person carries the banner, woe to those who follow FRANCE
5 Where the needle goes the thread must follow POLAND
6 Pull the ear, the head follows BANGLADESH
7 When one sheep is over the dam, the rest will follow NETHERLANDS
8 Every flood will have an ebb SCOTLAND
9 Who has God for his friend has all the saints in his pocket ITALY
10 The reverse side has its reverse side JAPAN
11 Adam must have an Eve, to blame for his own faults GERMANY
12 A misty morning may have a fine day ENGLAND
13 A pessimist is a person who has lived with an optimist USA
14 Follow the river and you will reach the sea FRANCE
15 Beware of a person’s shadow and a bee’s sting MYANMAR
16 Nobody can rest in their own shadow HUNGARY
17 A shadow is a feeble thing but no sun can drive it away SWEDEN
18 A road has no shadow SENEGAL
19 Even a hair has a shadow CZECH REPUBLIC
20 Two things make one either greater or smaller, praise and shadows GERMANY
21 Every Sunday brings a week with it SCOTLAND
22 The one who has taken the bear into the boat must cross over with him SWEDEN
12 TWO – TWICE – BOTH
1 The one who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves CHINA
2 It’s the tortoise that discounts the value of a pair of fast legs JAPAN2 GROUPS OF THREEA long-standing rhetorical tradition – found for example in the language of the Bible – presents warnings in groups of three. Proverbs often display the same rhetoric, beginning with an emphatic ‘Three things / kinds …’. They are not common in native English proverbs, but they are popular in some other parts of Europe, notably Germany.Three kinds of men fail to understand women – young men, old men, and middle-aged men.Three sorts of people are always to be found, soldiers, professors, and women.Occasionally, a fourth factor is introduced:Three glasses of wine drive away the evil spirits, but with the fourth they return.
3 It is hard to swim between two stretches of bad water NETHERLANDS
4 To build, one must have two purses BELGIUM
5 It takes two blows to make a battle ENGLAND
6 Go fishing for three days and dry the nets for two CHINA
7 Every mile is two in winter ENGLAND
8 There’s a puddle at every door, and before some doors there are two SCOTLAND
9 Two happy days are seldom brothers BULGARIA
10 If you try to sit on two chairs, you’ll sit on the floor USA
11 ‘Virtue in the middle,’ said the devil as he sat between two lawyers NORWAY
12 A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ENGLAND
13 One servant is a servant; two servants are half a servant; three servants are no servant at all POLAND
14 Every