- English translation
I sent someone off to fetch the one I was waiting for; he left as well, and he never came back to me either.
- Literal wording
I sent Jani to bring Jani; Jani went, and he did not come to me.
- Meaning and lesson
Someone is waiting for a person who should have returned quickly. To hurry things along, the speaker sends another person to fetch him, but the one sent also goes off and fails to return. Instead of ending the first absence, the speaker has simply added a second one to it.
The saying captures the frustration of an errand that repeats the very problem it was meant to solve. Jani stands for any such awaited person, not a specific real individual. The messenger behaves exactly like the one he was sent to bring back, so the sender is left with nobody at hand.
- When it is used
Suited to moments when a person dispatched to bring back someone overdue also disappears, leaving the waiting party with two absences instead of one. It can voice exasperation at a messenger who proves just as unreliable as the person he was sent after.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: I sent someone off to fetch the one I was waiting for; he left as well, and he never came back to me either.