- English translation
Even at the cost of some food, make sure your homes are lit.
- Literal wording
Sell some of your provisions and light your homes.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying presses people to keep their homes lit, even if doing so requires parting with food set aside for sustenance. It treats illumination of the dwelling as worth an unusually costly effort.
Its pointed rationale is social: a lighted house denies satisfaction to people inclined to rejoice at another household’s misfortune. The emphasis is on thwarting such gloating through the act of lighting the home.
- When it is used
The saying addresses a household under material strain, urging that its lamps be kept burning even at the expense of food. Its point is aimed at onlookers who would welcome the family's misfortune, presenting a lit home as a refusal to grant them that satisfaction.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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