- English translation
An enemy's day of true goodwill never comes; if it seems to arrive, it disappears.
- Literal wording
The day the enemy turns clear, it vanishes.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying claims that an enemy never becomes truly sincere. It exaggerates the point by imagining a day when the foe's heart turns clear, meaning pure and reconciled rather than anything about weather, and then declaring that such a day simply vanishes. Real goodwill from an adversary is treated as something that cannot exist.
Some speakers turn the line into a curse instead of an observation, wishing the day of the enemy's apparent friendliness to disappear and never return. The wording alone does not always show which reading a speaker means. Either way, the speaker wants nothing from that person, not even a show of goodwill.
- When it is used
Say it when someone warns against trusting a sudden show of friendliness from an established opponent. It can also serve as a sharp dismissal, rejecting any reconciliation with that person. It is dismissive, so it suits talk among allies rather than remarks made to the adversary.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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