VIETNAMESE PROVERBS (TỤC NGỮ VIỆT NAM) Collected and explained by Pham Van Binh (3) 1 post by 1 author

Pham Van Binh (Binh Tam)

28 Sep

- B -

Ba bà, bốn chuyện

(There are three ladies but four tales)

Woman is talkative and gossipy

Cp: Two is company but three is none 

Ba bà, chín chuyện

(There are three ladies but nine tales)

As:  Ba bà, bốn chuyện

Ba mươi được ăn, mồng một tìm đến 

(He who has got  something to eat on the thirtieth of this month will come back to beg on the first of the next month)

As: ăn mày quen ngõ

Ba ông thợ da bằng Gia Cát Lượng 

(Three shoe-makers are equal to Zhù Gé Liàng *

A collective wit can beget good ideas 

Cp: Two heads are better than one

Ba tháng trông cây không bằng một ngày trông quả

(Three months’ longing for the tree’s growth is not worth one day’s waiting for its fruit born)

Everyone longs for the result of what he’s doing 

Ba tháng trông cây, một ngày trông quả 

(It takes three months to long for the tree’s growth but takes only one day to long for its fruit born) 

As: Ba tháng trông cây không bằng một ngày trông quả 

Ba thưng cũng vào một đấu

(Three gallons are also put into one bushel) 

In one group of people living together, everything contributed by each member will be in common use 

Ba vợ bảy nàng hầu, đêm nằm chuồng trâu, gối đầu bằng chổi

(He who has three wives and seven concubines sleeps in the buffalo shed with a broom as the pillow at night )

Following too many will get none

Cp: Dogs that put up many hares kill none

Ba vuông sánh với bảy tròn

(Three squares is compared with seven circles) 

Both sides are equal

Bà chúa đứt tay bằng ăn mày xổ ruột 

(A small cut of the queen’s finger is as bad as an open wound of the beggar’s belly)

The rich usually make noises about their small pains  

Bà chúa phải gai bằng thuyền chài xổ ruột 

(A thorn’s hitting of the queen is as bad as an open wound 

of the fisherman)

As: Bà chúa đứt tay bằng ăn mày xổ ruột 

Bà con vì tổ vì tiên, không phải vì tiền vì gạo

(Admitting of relatives is for the clan, not for money or rice)

People of a clan should think of one another for sentiment, not for benefit   

Bà cốt ngửi mùi tàn hương

(A sorceress smells incense)

One can easily be excited by what in his liking

Bà tiền, bà thóc, bà cóc gì ai 

(You are the lady of nobody but rice and money) 

Many people of high class are respected not for their talent or virtue but wealth

Bà vãi chẳng khỏi lần lên chùa

(A Buddhist nun can’t help returning to the pagoda)

Habits are difficult to alter

Cp: Habit is the second nature

Bá nhân, bá khẩu 

(One hundred people have one hundred mouths) 

Different people have different ideas  

Bạc ba quan tha hồ mở bát

(He who has got three quans* can open the gambling bowl at any time)

The rich can do what they want

Bạc chửa thâu canh đã chạy làng 

(He has stopped playing when the game doesn’t come to the end yet)

One may give up his work half way

Bạc thì dân, bất nhân thì  lính 

 (Common people are disloyal and troops are brutal)

In the thought of the authority, common people and troops are not believable

Bách nhân bách khẩu 

(As:  Bá nhân bá khẩu)

Bạch ốc xuất công khanh 

(Little huts beget high-ranking mandarins)

Talented people may come from poor families

Bạch vân thương cẩu  

(A white cloud changes into a dog’s figure)

In our life, things change continuously  

Bàn tay ai cũng có ngón dài ngón ngắn

(Nobody has all fingers of the same length) 

•  Every family may have a bad child

•  The members of a group may not have the same ability

Cp: Every family has a black sheep

Bàn tay không che nổi mặt trời 

(A hand can’t cover the sun) 

Nobody can conceal the truth 

Bán anh em xa, mua láng giềng gần 

(He who sells his distant brothers buys his near neighbours)

One should make good relations with his neighbours 

Bán chịu, mất mối hàng  

(He who sells on credit losses his customers)

So kind a method of business may be made used of and bring losses 

Bán gia tài , mua danh phận  

(He who sells his properties buys his fame) 

One may lose everything for his vain glory

Bán hàng nói thách, làm khách trả rẻ  

(Sellers often overstate the price of their goods and buyers often lower it down)

Everyone wants a good bargain in business 

Bán rẻ còn hơn đẻ lãi  

(Selling on the cheap is better than paying increasing benefits)

One should circulate his capital in business quickly by any means   

Bánh đúc bẻ ba, mắm tôm quệt ngược cả nhà tan hoang  

(Her liking of rice cakes broken into three and dipped in shrimpsauce makes her house empty)

Gluttonous women never think of their families’ prosperity   

Bánh sáp đi, bánh chì lại  

(Wax cakes forth, lead cakes back) 

    The talking back may be worse than the blame

Bao dung hạt cải, rộng rãi trôn kim  

(His generosity is as small as a mustard seed or a needle eye)

A close-fisted man or a small-minded man may speak about generosity 

Báo chết để da, người ta chết để tiếng  

(A dead leopard leaves its hide, a dead man leaves his fame)

A man’s fame, though good or bad, is still alive even when he’s no longer living   

Bát đĩa còn có khi xô 

(Bowls and plates sometimes hit)

In their family life, married couples may have quarrels together 

Bát đũa còn có khi xô  

(Bowls and chopsticks sometimes hit) 

As: Bát đĩa còn có khi xô

Bát nước đổ đi rồi không hót đầy lại được  

(Nobody can get back a bowlful of the spilt water) 

Broken relations are difficult to be healed

Cp: A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound  

Bảy mươi chưa què chớ khoe rằng tốt  

(Don’t say you’re out of danger even though your legs haven’t been broken at the age of seventy) 

Nobody can foresee and confirm his future 

Cp: In the evening, one may praise the day 

Bảy mươi còn học bảy mươi mốt  

( A man of seventy can still learn something from a man of 

seventy-one )

   One must learn all his life

   One still learns something from a man of a bit greater talent

Cp: It is never too late to learn 

Bắc cầu mà noi, không ai bắc cầu mà lội  

(Nobody builds a bridge to go under it ) 

Everyone hopes to receive good results from his work 

Bắn bụi tre, dè bụi hóp  

(Beware of the reeds when you’re moving away the bamboos)

  When working on something, one should take care of others around it

 When fighting against a rival, one should watchful of his clique  

Bắn sẻ chưa thuận giương ná *  

(It’s not time to draw the bow to shoot a sparrow) 

A humble man is not worth a noble man’s punishment  

Bắn súng không nên, phải đền đạn  

(He who hasn’t hit the target has to pay the lost bullets)

One has to compensate for what he has damaged or lost in his work

Bắt chẳng được, tha làm phúc  

(He who can’t catch, says forgiving)

One often pretends to be kind-hearted when he’s not able to do harm

Cp: 'The grapes are sour', as the fox said when he could not reach them  

Bắt cọp khó, thả cọp dễ  

(It is easy to free a tiger but difficult to trap him) 

A dangerous prisoner should carefully be kept  

Bần nhân, trí/chí đoản  

(Short in size, short in mind/ will) 

A narrow-minded man has no great ideas/ will

Cp: A little pot is soon hot  

Bất độc, bất anh hùng  

(No cruelty, no heroes) 

To reach his aim, one may be savage and cruel to others 

Cp: All is fair in love and war   

Bất học diện tường 

(He who is unlearned seems to stand before a wall) 

Those who have no knowledge can’t understand anything   

Bất học, vô thuật  

(He who is unlearned has no art) 

Unlearned people don’t know how to behave themselves  

Bầu già thì mướp cũng xơ  

(When the gourd is old, the loofah gets fibres, too) 

As:  Ba vuông sánh với bảy tròn

Bầu leo thì bí cũng leo 

(When the gourd climbs, the pumpkin climbs, too)

People often imitate one another 

Bè ai, nấy chống 

(Each man poles his own raft)

Everyone often thinks of his own work only 

Bè lim, sào sậy  

(The raft is made of ironwood and the pole is made of reed)

The work is heavy but the ability of the worker is too small   

Bé con ông bác, lớn xác con ông chú 

(He is young but of the major branch, she is old but of the minor one)

In a clan, the members of the major branch are above the members of the minor one

Bé đi câu, lớn đi hầu 

(A fisher in childhood, a servant in manhood) 

Those who are vagabonds in their childhood will live in misery 

Cp: Live and learn 

Bé không vin, cả gẫy ngành  

(The tree that is not bent when young will break in its later bending) 

A child who is not well educated will be depraved when grown up 

Cp: Train up a child in the way he should go  

Bé người, to con mắt  

(His body is small but his eyes are big) 

Men of no ( great ) talent are usually thirsty for a high 

position  

Bé thì con mẹ con cha, lớn thì con vua con chúa  

(When a child he was his parents’ son, when a youth he is his King’s)

Everyone must be in service of his country

Bẻ đũa chẳng bẻ được cả nắm  

(He who wants to break the chopsticks can’t break them in a bundle)

Nobody can win those who are united together

Cp: Union is strength 

Bênh con, lon xon mắng người / láng giềng 

(She who takes the side of her child, scolds others / her neighbours aggressively)

One may offend others for petting his children too much

Bệnh nào, thuốc ấy 

(Such disease, such medicine)

Everything must be used according to its uses.

Bệnh quỉ, thuốc tiên 

(A devil’s disease needs fairies’ herbs)

  Desperate diseases need special treatments

   Puzzling problems need artful settlements

Cp: Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies

Bĩ cực, thái lai  

(Prosperity  will come  when  misfortune  has  reached  its 

limit) 

Nobody is in poverty all his life 

Cp: After rain, comes fair weather

Biết đâu là tổ con chuồn chuồn 

 (Who knows where the dragon-fly’s home is) 

Nobody knows others’ scandals    

Biết đâu mà há miệng chờ ho  

(Who knows when the cough comes out to open his mouth)

Nobody knows when an event takes place to wait for it

Biết mùi, chùi chẳng sạch 

(He who has known the flavour can’t erase it away) 

One can’t erase the trace of his wrongdoing  

Biết sự trời, mười đời chẳng khó  

(He who knows the secret of Heaven gets enough wealth for his ten generations) 

Everything is made by Heaven 

Biết thời thế mới là tuấn kiệt  

(A hero must accept his case) 

One’s behaviour should depend on the outside situation 

Cp: Wait for the cat to jump 

Biết thời thưa thốt, không biết thời dựa cột mà nghe 

(Speak when you know, lean against the column and listen when you don’t ) 

One should speak only when he knows thoroughly the things he’ll speak about 

Bìm bịp bắt gà con  

(A boucal catches chicks)

The strong often bully the weak  

Bìm bịp lại muốn leo nhà gạch 

(He who is a boucal wants to climb into a brick house)

One is blamable to try to get noticed as a famous person when he is a humble man  

Bò ăn mạ thì dạ bò hay  

(The cow that grazes the rice plants, herself  knows it) 

Nobody but an evil-doer knows best about his evil-doing 

Bò chết chẳng khỏi ăn rơm  

(No dead cows avoid being burnt with straw)

Nobody can live independently from his sponsor

Bò đàn, rơm mục 

(Many cows have to chew rotten straw) 

Food will not be enough for too many people 

Bó đũa, chọn cột cờ 

(Choose a flag pole among the chopsticks)

Among the ordinary things (people), a little good thing (talented man) can be the best

Cp: Among the blind, the one-eyed man is king 

Bó mo thì thiếu, bó chiếu thì thừa  

(To wrarp it, an areca-palm sheath is too small but a mat is too large)

It’s not easy to meet with the demand 

Bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội  

(Abandonment causes pity but  love makes trouble heavy)

Nobody can drop what or who he still loves easily

Bọ nẹt, có giẻ cùi 

(When there is a caterpillar, there is a blue magpie) 

Nobody and nothing are invincible  

Cp: Diamond cut diamond 

Bóc bánh, chẳng được dính tay 

(He who’s peeled the cake but his fingers are still clean)

One may get nothing after a hard job   

Bóc ngắn, cắn dài 

(Short in peeling, long in biting) 

One may spend more than his earning  

Bói ra ma, quét nhà ra rác  

(The more he tells fortunes the more ghosts appear; and the more he sweeps, the more rubbish comes out)  

Fortune-telling breeds just anxiety and is not worth believing.

Bói rẻ còn hơn ngồi không 

(Better tell fortune for someone at a low price  than sit idle)

Better get a small benefit than get nothing

Cp: Better a mouse in the pot than no flesh at all.

Bòn nơi khố bện, đãi nơi quần hồng  

(He squeezes  the people of  loincloth to treat the people of red clothing)

It is blamable for those who exploit the poor to serve the rich

Bồ còn, thóc hết  

(The silo still exists whereas the rice doesn’t)

The form exists but the substance doesn’t

Bồ dục chấm nước mắm cáy  

(The kidney is eaten with spider-crab sauce) 

     It’s a pity that a good thing should go in pair with a bad one

Cp: Extremes meet.

Bồ dục đâu đến bàn thứ năm  

(The kidney is never brought to the fifth table)

Men of lower ranks never get good shares

Cp: The race is to the swift

Bồ nông dài mỏ khó kiếm ăn 

(The pelican is difficult to catch fish for its long beak)

Men of high positions shouldn’t be wrong-doers

Bố đĩ giàu bố đĩ tiên, ông tổng không tiền ông tổng tểnh  

(When a common folk is rich, he is a god and when a canton chief is poor, he is a beggar)

Money makes a man important and noble

Bồi ở, lở đi  

(The riverside that banks up will remain and the  riverside that caves in will disappear) 

Money can change one’s relation ties

Bống có gan bống, bớp có gan bớp  

(If the gudgeon has its liver, the goby has its liver, too)

Everyone has his own courage

Bơ bải chẳng bằng phải thì  

(Better in time than haste)

Everything should be done in its proper time

Bới bèo ra bọ 

(The marsh lentil becomes worms after being stirred up)

One looks with the eyes in his heart, not with the eyes in his head 

Cp: Faults are thick where love is thin

Bợm già mắc bẫy cò ke  

(An old crook fell into a trap) 

Nobody is the cleverest man.

Bỡn quá hóa thật  

(Too much jest turns into reality)

Overcoming its limit, a joke of something may bring it into reality

Bớt bát, mát mặt  

(Less the bowls, cooler the face)

The less eaters in a poor family the happier the others

Bụng đói, cật rét  

(The empty belly makes the back frozen)

Hunger makes a man colder

Cp: There is no ill in life that is no worse without bread

Bụng đói, củ chuối cũng ngon

(He who is hungry has a good appetite with the banana bult)

A hungry man denies nothing

Cp: Hunger is the best sauce

Bụng đói, đầu gối phải bò

(He who is hungry crawls on his knees)

A hungry man has to do even a humble job

Cp: Hunger breaks stone walls

Bụng đói, tai điếc  

(He who is hungry is deaf )

When in poverty, one may not care about laws and reasons

Cp: A hungry belly has no ears

Bụng làm, dạ chịu 

(His  stomach  endures  the  result  of  what  his  belly  has 

done) 

Nobody but the doer takes the consequence of his work 

Cp:  Nobody’s  enemy but his own.

Bụng trâu làm sao, bụng bò làm vậy  

(The buffalo and cow’s bellies are alike) 

People often think the same 

Buôn có bạn, bán có phường 

(Buying needs companions, selling needs corporation) 

One should have partners and companions in his business  

Buôn tầu bán bè chẳng bằng ăn dè hà tiện 

(Even trading by ship is not so good as thrift)

Thrift is the best way to run a steady life 

Cp: A penny saved is a penny gained 

Buôn thủy buôn vã chẳng đã hà tiện 

(Even trading by sea and by land is not so good as thrift) 

As:  Buôn tàu bán bè chẳng bằng ăn dè hà tiện 

Buồn ngủ lại gặp chiếu manh  

(A sleepy man comes across a mat) 

One may luckily get what he is longing for 

Buồn thì đi ngủ, chớ có bầu chủ mà chết 

(When you are sad you should go to bed, not to come to the Death by guaranteeing a lender)

Guaranty of a debtor is an unwise deed  

Bút sa, gà chết 

(Writes down the pen, gets killed a hen) 

Nothing can be changed after a written agreement has been made 

Cp: Never write what you dare not sign   

Bụt chê oản chiêm 

(Buddha refuses the sacrificial truncated-cone shaped cookies made of summer rice)

Even a poor man sometimes refuses a poor thing 

Bụt chùa nhà không thiêng

(The Buddha in the villagers’ own pagoda is not sacred to them) 

Familiarity may lessen respect

Cp: No man is a hero to his valet 

Bụt không thèm ăn mày ma 

(Buddha never begs anything from the ghost) 

An honourable man never begs a favour from a cad

Cp: A gentleman keeps his integrity even in poverty

Bụt Nam Sang lại từ oản chiêm 

(The Buddha of the Nam Sang area refuses the sacrificial truncated-cone shaped cookies made of summer rice)    

As:  Bụt chê oản chiêm

Bụt nhiều, oản tí 

(Many Buddhas but few truncated- cone shaped cookies) 

The greedy are always more than gains    

Bụt trên tòa, gà nào mổ mắt ?

(Which cock dares to peck Buddha’s eyes  when  he  is  on 

the throne ?) 

The inferiors dare disobey their superior for he doesn’t conduct himself well

Cp: He is not fit to command others that cannot command himself     

Bước chân đi cấm kì trở lại 

(Remember not to return here when you’ve left) 

One never wants to link again the relation with those who’ve left him

Bương già, nhà vững 

(The older the bamboo is, the stronger the house will be)

Seniority makes good quality