- English translation
If misfortune strikes only the poultry, count it as a gift.
- Literal wording
Whatever comes upon the feathers is a gift.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying treats a loss among one's possessions as something to accept with thanks, because the misfortune spared the people themselves. What matters most is that those concerned are safe, and that safety outweighs whatever property was damaged or lost.
The feathers stand for chickens and other fowl, modest and replaceable household assets. Calling their loss a gift reverses ordinary reckoning: the damage becomes an occasion for gratitude to God, as though the lesser possession absorbed a blow that might have fallen on oneself. It ranks expendable things below what truly counts.
- When it is used
Suitable for consoling someone, or oneself, after a mishap has cost belongings but harmed no one. It encourages thankfulness for personal safety and helps put a material setback in proportion, without pretending that nothing was lost.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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