- English translation
Better to take the cow out to pasture than to haul water up with the well pulley.
- Literal wording
The going-out with the cow, and not the hauling with the pulley.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying sets two familiar rural chores side by side: walking a cow out to graze, which is fairly easy, and hauling water from a well by rope and pulley wheel, which is exhausting. Here بكرة means that pulley, not "tomorrow," and ولا means "rather than," declaring the first chore plainly preferable.
More broadly, it expresses a preference for the gentler of two available tasks, not a rejection of work altogether. A speaker uses it to say that, given a choice, one will take the lighter burden over the heavier one, whether to explain a personal decision or to advise someone else against needless hardship.
- When it is used
Use it when someone weighs two duties and picks the less taxing one, or to justify preferring a light assignment over a grueling alternative. It ranks tasks rather than excusing idleness, and suits casual talk about dividing chores or choosing between jobs.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Better to take the cow out to pasture than to haul water up with the well pulley.