- English translation
Enjoy what your own field gives you, and let go of what you missed.
- Literal wording
Eat from your cucumber patch and leave behind what has passed you by.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying urges a person to make the most of what is actually in hand, pictured as the produce of one's own plot of cucumbers, gourds, or similar crops, rather than dwelling on gains or chances that have already slipped away.
The proverb directs attention to what can still be done rather than what can no longer be recovered. The produce of one's own plot supplies the image of a present resource; lost chances belong to the past. Its consolation comes from urging practical engagement with the present, not denial of what has been lost.
- When it is used
Fits moments when someone keeps lamenting a missed chance, a past loss, or an earlier mistake. A speaker can offer it as gentle advice to stop looking back and make good use of whatever is now within reach.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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