- English translation
Heaven never lets you run short, you poor wretch: the cold leaves and the mosquitoes move in.
- Literal wording
Our Lord does not cut you off, O wretched one; the cold goes, the mosquitoes come.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying mocks the idea of relief for the chronically unlucky. Its opening is sarcastic, not pious: Providence never deprives the person of misery. Bad fortune is pictured as a faithful supplier that never forgets its customer: as soon as the winter chill eases, the summer mosquitoes arrive to take over the job of tormenting.
In broader terms, it describes a person for whom every season, situation, or change of circumstance brings its own particular discomfort. The point is not one misfortune but an unbroken chain, where any apparent ending is only a handover to the next nuisance.
- When it is used
Said with wry sarcasm about someone, often oneself, whose troubles never stop and merely change form, as when one hardship ends and another replaces it. It suits rueful complaint or teasing among familiar people; aimed at someone in real distress, the mocking address can seem unkind.
- Register
- Colloquial; ironic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Heaven never lets you run short, you poor wretch: the cold leaves and the mosquitoes move in.