- English translation
Spotting her little one on the wall, the mother beetle cried, "Look, a pearl on a string!"
- Literal wording
A beetle saw her daughter on the wall and said: "That one is a pearl strung on a thread."
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb gently mocks how parents see their own young. Even a lowly beetle gazes at her daughter and beholds a strung pearl; the humor rests on that contrast between beetle and precious pearl. Affection reshapes what the eye perceives, so a parent praises charms that strangers cannot find.
In a wider sense, it cautions that attachment makes our verdicts on what is ours unreliable. Onlookers hearing such praise tend to smile, seeing fond partiality where the speaker believes they are offering a fair appraisal.
- When it is used
Said, often teasingly, when a parent praises a child for merits others cannot see, or when someone idealizes anything of their own. It suits relaxed, informal talk, but aimed at a real child it can seem to insult both child and parent.
- Region
- Egypt
- Register
- Colloquial Egyptian Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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