- English translation
When the ogress throws a feast, people ask whether there will even be enough for her and her own young.
- Literal wording
A ghoul-woman held a wedding feast; someone said: will it be enough for her, or enough for her children?
- Meaning and lesson
The saying mocks a voracious creature playing generous host. The ghoula is a folklore ogress famed for her monstrous appetite, not a ghost or witch. An unnamed onlooker asks whether her wedding feast will even cover her own hunger and her brood's. If not, inviting others is an empty gesture.
More broadly, it doubts any offer from a person known for greed or heavy needs. Whatever they provide will likely be used up by themselves and their own people, leaving nothing real for invited guests. A variant says 'her army' instead of 'her children', widening the hungry circle without changing the sense.
- When it is used
Use it wryly when a known glutton or grasping person announces a feast, handout, or shared project, to suggest that their own appetite and entourage will absorb everything and invited outsiders should expect little.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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