- English translation
I came upon my bad luck limping along the road, and it told me to turn back before it collapsed altogether.
- Literal wording
My luck met me on the road, limping; it said to me: “Go back, you hapless woman, lest I lie down.”
- Meaning and lesson
Fortune appears as a lame companion, already hobbling, that asks the speaker to retreat before it gives out completely. The picture is wryly self-mocking: one’s luck is so feeble that pressing ahead would finish it off and leave matters worse than before.
Applied to conduct, the saying portrays stubborn effort against evidently poor luck as self-defeating: each fresh push seems only to bring another setback. Its tone is rueful and pessimistic, a sardonic comment on misfortune rather than a lesson in what to do. The quoted address is feminine, though the idea may be applied more broadly.
- When it is used
Suitable as a rueful aside, often aimed at oneself, when someone keeps straining against obvious misfortune and the extra effort brings another letdown; it hints that abandoning the attempt would spare further trouble. In the original wording, the person addressed is feminine.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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