Пословицы на английском языке с переводом и комментарием, посвященные опыту, работе и учебе человека.
Accidents will happen in the best-regulated families.
И на старуху бывает проpyxa.
И плавный рысак ину пору с ноги сбивается.
(Even the most efficient organization is not infallible. It is used as a consolation for the mistakes made.)
Better be the head of а dog than the tail of а lion.
Better be the head of the yeomanry than the tail ofthe gentry.
Лучше быть в деревне первым, чем в городе последним.
(It’s better to hold a high position at a low level than to hold a low position at a high level.)
Between two stools you fall to the ground.
Шить ли, белить ли, а завтра велик день.
(If you cannot make up your mind which of two things to do, you are liable to get yourself into difficulties by doing neither.)
A burnt child dreads the fire.
На ухе ожёгся, так на воду подуешь.
Обожжёшься на молоке, станешь дуть и на воду.
(Any painful experience is not soon forgotten. Once you have burnt yourself you are very careful to see that it does not happen again.)
Don’t have too many irons in the fire.
Скорую работу не хвалят.
Скорый поспех — людям на смех.
(In the days when horses were in great demand blacksmiths were very busy men. The ‘irons in the fire’ were for forging into horseshoes; and if the blacksmith had a number of horses waiting to be shoed, he might try to save time by putting too many irons in his furnace, so that the heat was insufficient to make them all red-hot.)
He who begins many things, finishes but few.
Что скоро, то хворо.
Скоро хорошо не родится.
(It is better to concentrate on one thing and do it properly than to attempt too many things at the same time. If we attempt to do too much at once, we shall not do anything properly.)
Even Homer sometimes nods.
No man is infallible.
To err is human.
И на молодца оплох (расплох) живет.
И на добра коня спотычка живёт.
Огонь без дыму, человек без ошибки не бывает.
Век живучи, спотыкнёшься идучи.
(Even the best of us are liable to make mistakes. We are all liable to make mistakes.)
He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.
Начни с корня, доберёшься и до вершины.
Не вскормивши малого, не видать и старого.
(There are no short cuts in the climbing of a ladder, one can reach the top only by going up rung by rung. In a figurative sense a ladder is a means of attaining one’s object, and here again the ascent is not rapid but in stages.)
The highest branch is not the safest roost.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
С высокого места больно падать.
Подымешься — дух захватит, опустишься — обухом хватят.
Не взлетай высоко — не будешь падать низко.
(This is the penalty of greatness. When a man is at the top, he has farther to fall than those below him, all of whom are equally anxious to get to the highest branch.)
If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Слепого в вожаки не берут.
Слепой слепого водит, оба зги не видят.
Дурак дурака учит, а оба глаза пучат.
(Those without knowledge themselves should not try to teach the ignorant.)
If you run after two hares you will catch neither.
За двумя зайцами погонишься — ни одного не поймаешь.
(Don’t try to do two things at once. Concentrate on one or the other.)
If two men ride a horse, one must ride behind.
Две кошки в мешке дружбы не заведут.
Двум шпагам в одних ножнах не ужиться.
(There cannot be two leaders in any enterprise.)
In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
В слепом царстве кривой — король.
На безрыбье и рак рыба, на безлюдье и сидень человек.
В лесу и медведь архимандрит.
На безлюдье и Фома дворянин.
(If a man shows greater ability than those around him he has a decided advantage, even though his talents are not really outstanding.)
Learn to walk before you run.
Всё в пору да в срок, так и будет толк.
Всё в свой срок: придёт времечко, вырастет из семечка.
(Knowledge cannot be acquired all at once; it must be gained step by step.)
Man proposes, God disposes.
Человек гадает, а бог совершает.
He по нашему хотенью, a по божью изводенью.
(Man expresses his intention of doing a thing, but it is God who decided whether it is to be done.)
Once bitten, twice shy.
Битому псу только плеть покажи.
Пугана ворона и куста боится.
(If we have had an unpleasant experience, we are very anxious to avoid a repetition.)
There is no fool like an old fool.
Старые дураки глупее молодых.
Состарился, а жить не уставился.
(Old fools are bigger fools than young ones. It is used as a comment on the actions of those we think should be sufficiently advanced in years to know better.)
There is no royal road to learning.
Идти в науку — терпеть муку.
Без муки нет и науки.
Кто хочет много знать, тому надо мало спать.
(One cannot attain learning — that is, knowledge got by study — without hard work. A royal road to anything is a way of attaining it without trouble or effort, since a king’s way (the royal road) is always made easy for him.)
When the cat is away the mice will play.
Без кота мышам масленица.
Поп в гости, черти на погосте.
Когда нет кота в дому, то играют мыши по столу.
(When the person in authority is away, those under him will take advantage of his absence.)
Why keep a dog and bark yourself?
He веришь повару, сам ступай по воду.
Не верит барин повару, сам идёт по воду.
(Householders keep dogs to guard their homes. Figuratively, it means to do the work that you pay others to do for you.)
