- English translation
A bite from my neighbor's table never satisfies me, yet the disgrace of taking it trails after me.
- Literal wording
My neighbor's morsel does not fill me, and its shame keeps following me.
- Meaning and lesson
Taking food or support from others, even a mere mouthful, brings little real benefit, yet the humiliation of having accepted it clings to the person long afterward. The gain is slight and brief; the damage to one's dignity endures.
The two halves close on rhyming verb forms, tshabba'ni and mittabba'ni, setting meager fullness against shame that keeps trailing behind. The saying values self-reliance, preferring one's own modest means to a neighbor's charity.
- When it is used
Fits moments when someone turns down food, favors or handouts from neighbors, or when advising a person to stop depending on others' generosity, because the help offered is small while the embarrassment of accepting it lasts.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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