- English translation
They warned the slave that his master meant to sell him. He said the master could see to his own affairs. They asked whether he planned to run, and he replied that he knew his own way out.
- Literal wording
They said to the slave: your master is going to sell you. He said: he knows his own outcome. They said: will you not run away? He said: I know my own deliverance.
- Meaning and lesson
Warnings and questions are met with one flat, clipped reply after another, each insisting the speaker already understands his own situation. The replies deflect the outsiders' concern rather than engaging it, so the terse tone carries the point. The closing answer should not be read as a confession or a promise of escape.
As a saying, it criticizes unwanted interference, the habit of people pressing their views into matters that do not concern them. It assumes each person knows his own circumstances best, so outside questioning is treated as idle curiosity rather than genuine help.
- When it is used
Use this when someone offers unwanted advice or questions another person's private decisions, and the listener wants to signal that the matter is theirs alone. It fits a reply that politely but firmly closes the topic, implying the other party should stay out of it.
- Register
- colloquial proverbial speech