- English translation
They jeered at him, "Your father starved to death!" He answered, "Was there ever food in front of him that he left uneaten?"
- Literal wording
They said: O you whose father died of hunger. He said: Did he see something and not eat?
- Meaning and lesson
The saying records a retort to an insult. When people sneer at a man because his father starved, he answers by asking whether his father ever had food and refused it. Rather than denying the poverty, the question implies that the disgrace lies with those who let him die of want.
More broadly, it captures the move of handing a reproach back to the people who made it. Those who failed to help in someone's misfortune have no standing to ridicule it later, and mocking the victim only adds a second wrong to their original indifference.
- When it is used
Use it when people mock someone for a hardship or loss that they themselves could have relieved but chose to ignore. It suits a sharp, ironic comeback that exposes the critics' own neglect rather than defending the person being shamed. It is not a general remark on poverty.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: They jeered at him, "Your father starved to death!" He answered, "Was there ever food in front of him that he left uneaten?"