- English translation
When transport providers compete, passengers get a better deal.
- Literal wording
If the donkey-rental providers quarrel, it benefits the riders.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb says that when people who provide the same service quarrel or compete to lower their charges, those using the service benefit. Here the image concerns people who hire out donkeys, not the animals themselves.
More broadly, it points out that a dispute need not harm everyone equally. Rivalry among providers can give customers an advantage, especially when each side tries to offer better terms than the other.
- When it is used
Use it wryly when customers, clients, or other users gain because competing providers are undercutting one another. It highlights the otherwise overlooked beneficiary of a quarrel between those offering the same service.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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