- English translation
Off you ran, Dandun, to get the better of the men; they grabbed your cap, Dandun, and home you came bareheaded.
- Literal wording
You went out running, O Dandun, to outwit the men; they snatched your cap, O Dandun, and your head came back bare.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying ridicules a person who launches some venture meant to raise them above others, only to return defeated. Instead of gaining anything, they lose what little they had, pictured as a modest cloth cap snatched away and a head left bare, a humiliation more than a material loss.
Its sting lies in the gap between ambition and outcome. Dandun, the named figure addressed, runs off eager to outscheme the men, not to fight them, yet comes home humiliated, so the line warns against overconfident rivalry and jibes at those whose attempts at superiority backfire.
- When it is used
Said mockingly of someone who set out to outmaneuver or outwit others and came back worse off, stripped of even what they had. Suits teasing or rebuking a person whose scheme for superiority ended in an embarrassing defeat.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Off you ran, Dandun, to get the better of the men; they grabbed your cap, Dandun, and home you came bareheaded.