In the last room Frans Hals Museum, located in Haarlem, a surprise awaited me: “My Precious,” a painting that I had been dreaming of seeing for more than 5 years. And in some provincial museum the dream came true. And I, having forgotten everything in the world, plunged into divine world Pieter Bruegel
1. “She would tie the devil to the pillow” - she is not afraid of either God or the devil: this vixen is capable of curbing the most obstinate young man; stubborn as hell.
2. “Gnawing a pillar” - a hypocrite, a pillar of the church, a hypocrite, a saint.
3. “She carries water in one hand and fire in the other” - she is an insincere woman, you should not trust her. The expression has also been used to describe contradictory behavior (serves both ours and yours).
4. “Frying herring to eat caviar” is an expression often used to mean “wasting money.” Another one applies to the same fragment. Dutch proverb: “The herring is not fried there,” i.e. his attempts fail, he does not get what he hopes for.
5. “Sitting in the ashes between two chairs” - showing indecisiveness in some matter, being in a difficult situation, for example, due to a missed moment to make the right decision.
6. “Let the dog into the house, he will climb into the potty or cupboard” - literally: enter the house and find that the dog has emptied the potty or cupboard; hence the figurative expression: come too late, miss your chance, be left with nothing.
7. “The pig is pulling the plug out of the barrel” - the owner does not take care of his goods. Another meaning: his end is near.
8. “Banging his head against the wall” - he wanted to do the impossible, the business was obviously doomed to failure, he received a painful refusal.
9. “One shears a sheep, the other a pig” - one uses the situation to the best of his ability, the other seeks to benefit at any cost; one is in contentment, the other falls into poverty.
10. “Hang a bell around the cat’s neck” - be the first to raise the alarm, start a scandal; take the first step in a delicate matter. Brant also says in Ship of Fools: “He who ties a bell to a cat lets the rats run where they please.”
11. “Be armed to the teeth” - to be well equipped for any task.
12. “This house has a scissors sign” - in a rich house there is something to profit from. Scissors usually served as a sign for tailors, who tended to profit from their clients.
13. “Gnawing on bones” - being extremely busy, taking something to heart, thinking about it, chewing on it, solving a difficult problem.
14. “Feel the chicken” - this expression has different meanings: a homebody who does only housework and cooking; a man who resembles a woman.
15. “He speaks with two mouths” - the character is deceitful, hypocritical, two-faced, and cannot be trusted.
16. “Carrying light with baskets” - wasting time; do unnecessary things.
17. “Light candles before the devil” - flatter a bad ruler or unjust power for the sake of obtaining benefits or support.
18. “Go to confession to the devil” - trust your secrets to an enemy or adversary. Also used to mean “to seek protection from someone who is not inclined to give it.”
19. “Whisper something in someone’s ear” - say nasty things, secretly incite someone, open someone’s eyes to what was hidden from him, induce distrust or jealousy.
20. “Spinning yarn from someone else’s spindle” - finishing the work started by others.
21. “She puts a blue cloak on her husband” - she deceives her husband, cuckolds him. In the treatise of the 14th-15th centuries “On Women and Love” we read: “I respect a woman who knows how to confuse her husband to the point that he will be a complete fool; and although she puts a blue cloak on him, he imagines that she idolizes him.”
22. “When the calf drowned, they decided to fill up the hole” - it’s too late to correct the mistake or provide help (like a poultice for a dead person).
23. “You have to bend to achieve something in this world” - those who want to get what they want must behave helpfully.
24. “Throwing daisies to pigs” - offering someone something that he is not able to appreciate (throwing pearls in front of pigs).
25. “He rips open the belly of a pig” - the matter is settled in advance; pre-prepared combination.
26. “Two dogs are biting over a bone” - they are arguing about what to do; opponents can rarely agree; they are both bitter about the same thing. This is what it says about someone who sows discord.
27. “The Fox and the Crane” - they will beat the deceiver; pay with the same coin; two of a Kind.
28. “It’s good to urinate on fire” - no satisfactory explanation has been found for this expression; it is possible that this is a hint of superstitious actions.
29. “He makes the world revolve around him.” thumb"- vanity and false claims; This is a powerful man, he gets what he wants.
30. “Putting a spoke in the wheels” - interfere with the implementation of any business.
31. “He who knocks over his porridge cannot always collect it all” - he who has made a mistake must also bear the consequences; the consequences of his stupidity can never be completely corrected.
32. “He is looking for a hatchet” - he is looking for a loophole, an excuse.
33. “He cannot reach either one or the other bread” - he is unlikely to connect one end to the other; barely make ends meet.
34. “They reach out to grab the longest (piece)” - everyone is looking for their own benefit.
35. “Yawn into the oven” - overestimate your strength, make wasted efforts.
36. “Tie a false beard to the Lord God” - try to act deceptively, behave hypocritically.
37. “Don’t look for someone else in the stove if you have been there yourself” - anyone who is ready to suspect their neighbor of something bad probably has sins themselves.
38. “She takes egg and leaves the goose lying” - she hides evidence; greed deceives wisdom. Another interpretation: making the wrong choice.
39. “Fall through the basket” - not being able to confirm what was said; the need to recognize what was previously presented completely differently.
40. “Sitting on burning coals” - to be in terrible impatience; anxiously await something.
41. “The World Inside Out” is the complete opposite of what it should have been.
42. “To relieve himself in front of the whole world” - he spits on everyone; he despises everyone.
43. “Fools get it best cards» - fortune favors fools; ignoramuses row by the handful. A similar motive sounds in Godthals: “Fools, as a rule, draw the right card. Better happiness than the mind."
44. “They lead each other by the nose” - they deceive each other, leave each other high and dry.
45. “Pull through the rings of scissors” - act dishonestly within the framework of one’s craft or profession.
46. “Leave the egg in the nest” - do not spend it all at once, save it in case of need.
47. “Look through your fingers” - turning a blind eye is not an inaccuracy or mistake, since the benefit will be gained one way or another.
48. “Getting married under a broom” - living together without a church blessing.
49. “There’s a broom stuck there” - they’re feasting there.
50. “The roofs there are covered with sweet pies” - there you can see a rooster in the dough; illusory abundance, milk rivers and jelly banks.
51. “Pissing on the moon” means that things will end badly for him. In the painting “Twelve Proverbs” the legend says: “I never manage to achieve what I need, I always pee on the moon.”
52. “Two fools under one cap” - stupidity loves company; two of a Kind.
53. “Shave a fool without soap” - mock someone; laugh, make fun of someone.
54. “Fishing with a net” - arriving too late, missing an opportunity, allowing someone else to run away with the catch.
55. “Itch your butt against the door” - sneeze, spit on everyone; don't pay attention to anything. There is also an opposite interpretation: “Everyone carries his own bundle” - his conscience is unclean; everyone has their own concerns. This fragment can have both interpretations - the joke is quite in the spirit of Bruegel.
56. “Kiss the door lock” - a lover who has been dismissed, or “kiss the lock” - not finding the girl at home. A noteworthy passage is found in the book “The Voyage and Voyage of Panurge”: “After their (young goats) ears are cut off, they become female and are called combed goats. Several times they are so in love that the ground disappears from under their feet, as happens with lovers who often kiss the latch of the door of the one they consider their beloved.”
57. “To fall (jump) from a bull onto a donkey” - in the 16th century the expression had two meanings: to do bad deeds; to be fickle, capricious.
59. “Release arrow after arrow” - find a new means, play a trump card. In sources contemporary with Bruegel, one can also find the following expression: “We shoot only irrevocable arrows.”
60. “Where the gates are open, the pigs run to the crops” - when the house is unattended by the owners, the servants do what they want; The cat is sleeping - the mice are dancing.
61. “Runs around like a scalded person” - to be in great trouble.
62. “Hanging your cloak in the wind” - changing your beliefs depending on the circumstances; sail where the wind blows.
63. “She is looking after the stork” - she is lazy, she is wasting her time, the raven thinks.
64. “Scatter feathers or grain in the wind” - act thoughtlessly, randomly; work without a clearly defined goal.
65. “Big fish devour small ones” - the powerful oppress the weak; eat yourself or be eaten.
66. “Catching cod with smelt” - sacrificing something of little value in order to get a more expensive one; giving an egg in the hope of getting a cow; deftly fish out someone's secret.
67. “Can’t stand the shine of the sun on the water” - envy the wealth or honors that another has earned.
68. “Swim against the tide” - to be of the opposite opinion; act contrary to society; strive for your goal despite obstacles.
69. “Pulling an eel by the tail” is a task that will most likely end in failure; dealing with a slippery person.
70. “It’s easy to cut good belts from someone else’s skin” - be generous at someone else’s expense; take advantage of the property of another.
71. “The jug walks on water until it breaks” - expose yourself to danger; end badly.
72. “Hang your jacket over the fence” - renounce clergy; quit your previous profession.
73. “Throw money into the river” - throw money away; It is unreasonable to waste your goods, to be wasteful.
74. “Relieving need in one hole” - inseparable friends, connected by common interests.
76. “It doesn’t matter to him that someone’s house is on fire, since he can warm himself up” - a complete egoist, he doesn’t care about the troubles of his neighbor; he warms himself by someone else's fire.
77. “Carrying a deck around” - getting involved with an intractable person; do unnecessary work.
78. “Horse apples are not figs at all” - don’t delude yourself, be realistic, don’t mistake lanterns for stars.
80. “Whatever the reason, but geese walk barefoot” - if things are going as they are, then there is a reason for it; or: don't ask questions that don't have answers.
81. “Keep your sail in your eye” - be on your guard; do not miss anything; keep your nose to the wind.
82. “Relieve yourself at the gallows” - to be a naughty person, not to be afraid of anything and not to care about anything.
83. “Necessity makes even old nags gallop” - to force someone to act, no the best remedy than to instill fear in him.
84. “When a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit” - when ignorance leads another ignorance, things will turn out badly.
85. “No one manages to cheat indefinitely (without the sun discovering it)” - everything secret sooner or later becomes clear.
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Dutch idioms depicted in the painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder " Flemish proverbs»
"Flemish Proverbs" or "The World Upside Down" is a 1559 painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder that depicts the literal meanings of Dutch proverbs.
Painting exhibited at the Berlin art gallery, is filled with symbols related to Dutch proverbs and sayings, however, not all of them have been deciphered by modern researchers, since some expressions have been forgotten over time. Almost simultaneously with Bruegel, he described the country of proverbs in his novel Pantagruel. French writer Francois Rabelais. With great artistic power, Bruegel presents a picture of the absurdity, weakness, and stupidity of man. His son Pieter Bruegel the Younger made about 20 copies of his father’s work, and not all copies exactly reproduce the original, differing from it in a number of details. A total of 112 idioms were found and deciphered in the painting: some of them are still used today, for example, “swim against the tide”, “big fish eat little fish”, “bang your head against the wall” and “arm yourself to the teeth”. Other proverbs point to human stupidity. Some symbols seem to convey the meaning of more than one figure of speech, for example, the man shearing sheep to the left of center at the bottom of the picture sits next to a man slaughtering a pig, and this scene symbolizes the expression "Someone is shearing sheep, and someone else is - pigs,” which means that one person has an advantage over others. The scene can also mean “Cut, but don’t skin,” that is, it warns not to go too far when using your abilities.
Below is a list of idioms and their meanings that we were able to discern on the canvases:
1. The roof is covered with pirogues - live in luxury; jelly rivers, milk banks
2. Get married under a broom - live together without a church blessing
3. Hang up the broom - the cat is out of the house, the mice are dancing; have fun in the absence of the owner
4. Turn a blind eye - indulge or ignore something
5. Hanging out the knife - challenging
6. Stand like wooden shoes? – wait in vain
7. Lead each other by the nose - deceive each other
8. The dice are thrown - the choice is made
9. A fool has the best cards - luck is better than intelligence
10. How the cards will fall - rely on chance
11. Shit on the world - despise everyone and everything
12. The world is upside down - everything is upside down
13. And the wall has an eye - and the walls have ears
14. Leaving at least one egg in the nest means leaving something in reserve.
15. Have a toothache behind the ears? – pretend
16. Peeing on the moon - wasting time on useless aspirations
17. He has a hole in the roof - he’s a simpleton
18. A dilapidated roof requires a lot of patches - old things require repairs
19. The roof has rafters - you can be eavesdropped
20. There is a pot hanging here - everything is the other way around
21. Shaving a fool without soap is deceiving
22. It's growing out of the window - it can't be hidden
23. Two fools under one roof? – stupidity loves company; a fool sees a fool from afar
24. Shooting a second arrow to find the first - repeating the stupid action
25. Will she tie the devil to the pillow? – she can cope with any circumstances
26. Biting a pole means being a religious hypocrite
27. To carry fire in one hand and water in the other is to be a hypocrite, to serve both ours and yours.
28. Put a lid on your head? – abdicate responsibility, pretend to be a teapot
28.1. Frying herring to eat caviar? – being wasteful, wasting money
29. Is a herring hung by its gills? – you must take responsibility for your affairs
30. Sitting in the ashes between two chairs? – being indecisive
31. More than a gutted herring - there is something in this, the content lies behind the appearance
32. What will smoke do to the gland? – there is no chance to change the unchangeable
33. Finding a dog in a potty – Arriving too late to prevent trouble
34. Does the pig pull out the plug? – neglect will lead to trouble
35. Banging your head against a brick wall? – trying to achieve the impossible
36. One foot is shod, the other is bare? – the most important thing is compromise, balance
37. Tying a bell to a cat is unwise to reveal secret plans
38. Iron biter – braggart, immodest person
39. Arm yourself to the teeth - be well prepared for the task
40. Feeling chickens - counting unhatched chicks
41. Always chew on the same bone - talk about the same thing
42. There are scissors hanging here - you will be deceived in this house
43. Whoever is looking for someone else in the oven has been there himself - the one who suspects is probably not without sin himself
44. One shears a sheep, the other a pig? – only one has all the advantages
45. Make sure that the black dog doesn’t interfere? – when there are two women nearby and barking dog no need to add problems
46. Cut, but don’t skin – don’t take advantage of yourself too much
47. Be meek like a lamb? – be very meek
48. One winds, the other spins? – create and spread rumors
49. Carrying daylight with baskets is a waste of time
50. Hold a candle to the devil? – flatter, make dubious friends
51. Confess to the devil - reveal secrets to the enemy
52. Blowing in the ear - spreading gossip
53. Treat each other like a fox and a crane - each of the two deceivers is on his own mind
54. What good is a beautiful dish if it is empty? - you can’t put beauty in your mouth
56. Write it down - be sure to remember
57. Fill up a well after a calf has drowned in it? – take action when trouble has already happened
58. The world revolves around his thumb - lucky, knows how to take advantage of any circumstance
59. Insert spokes into a wheel - interfere, create obstacles
60. To succeed, you have to bend? – you have to please for the sake of success
61. Tying a flaxen beard to Christ is covering up deception with ostentatious piety
62. Throwing roses in front of pigs? – wasting time and effort on the unworthy
63. Throwing a blue cloak over your husband? – cuckolding your husband, deceiving your husband
64. A pig’s belly was ripped open - what’s done can’t be undone
65. Two dogs cannot live in peace over the same bone - it is difficult to come to an agreement when the interests of everyone are affected, the opponents will not agree
66. Sitting on hot coals - being impatient
67. Herring is not fried here - things did not go according to plan
68. Can meat on a spit go to waste? – some things require constant attention
69. Fishing without a net - benefiting from someone else’s work
70. Fall through the basket? – fail
71. Suspended between heaven and earth? – located in predicament
72. Taking a chicken egg and leaving a goose egg means making the wrong decision 
73. Yawning at the stove means overestimating your capabilities
74. Live from loaf to loaf - have financial problems
75. Looking for a hatchet - looking for a loophole, an excuse
75.1. Here he is with his flashlight - finally there is an opportunity to show his abilities, talent
76. A hatchet with an ax handle - all together, one whole
77. A hoe without a handle is a useless thing
78. You can’t pick up all the spilled porridge? – you can’t completely correct the consequences of stupidity
79. Reaching out to grab a longer piece - trying to take advantage of opportunity, luck, circumstance
80. Love is where the money bag hangs - love can be bought
81. Standing under your lantern is proud of yourself
82. Play on pillory?– draw attention to shameful actions
83. Falling from an ox onto a donkey - going through difficult times
84. Carrying a load on your shoulders all the time? – imagining the situation worse than it really is
85. Everyone sees through an oak board, if there is a hole in it, there is no need to state the obvious
86. Scratching your butt against the door - not caring about anyone, accepting everything without any fuss
87. Kiss the door ring? – not to be found at home, to be a hypocrite, a pretender
88. Fishing behind the net? – missing opportunities
89. Does a big fish swallow a small one? – the strong oppress the weak
90. Not seeing the sun’s reflections on the water means not noticing other people’s success, being envious.
91. Throwing money into water means wasting money
92. Relieve yourself in one hole? – be in agreement
93. Hanging like a toilet over a canal? – this is obvious, the meaning is clear
94. Kill two flies with one blow? – lucky, be clever, lucky, a swindler; kill two birds with one stone
“Like your head against a wall,” “swim against the tide,” “lead each other by the nose” - we all know these proverbs, and, interestingly, they can be found almost unchanged in other languages. Moreover, they have existed for several centuries: back in the 16th century (1559) Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel painted the painting “Flemish Proverbs,” in which he encrypted more than 100 proverbs of his time.
1. Banging your head against the wall
2. One foot is shod, the other is bare
3. Arm yourself to the teeth
4. Shear (sheep), but do not remove the skins
5. How the card will fall
Painting " Flemish proverbs"(Dutch. Nederlandse Spreekwoorden) also has a second title: “The world is upside down” and depicts the literal meanings of Dutch proverbs. Itself Pieter Bruegel(Pieter Bruegel) did not leave a transcript of all his ideas, so we can only rely on later transcripts of what is depicted. Yes, on this moment art connoisseurs have found about a hundred proverbs encrypted in the painting, but most likely there are even more, some of the proverbs are simply outdated and have lost their meaning.
6. The world has turned upside down
7. Lead each other by the nose
8. The die is cast
9. Look past your fingers
10. Run like your butt is on fire.
Almost simultaneously with Bruegel, the French writer Francois Rabelais described the diverse world of proverbs in his novel Pantagruel. This work helped to decipher some proverbs that have been completely forgotten today. Almost every detail in the picture corresponds to one proverb or another, and some characters even depict several at once. For example, a man in armor tying a bell on a cat has three meanings at once: 1. “Hanging a bell on a cat” (commit a dangerous and unreasonable act); 2. Arm yourself to the teeth (be well prepared); 3. Biting iron (lying, not being modest).
Today the painting "Flemish Proverbs" is exhibited at the Berlin Art Gallery.
11. Two people go to the same toilet
12. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit
Collecting proverbs is one of the many expressions of the encyclopedic spirit of the 16th century. This hobby was started in 1500 by the great humanist of the era Northern Renaissance Erasmus of Rotterdam. In 1559, something like the Village of Proverbs was created by the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Bruegel Muzhitsky. This painting is called “ Dutch proverbs" The canvas itself is small, 117 by 164 cm. And in such a small space the artist managed to place more than a hundred miniature scenes!
The deciphering of the plots in this picture is still not completed!
At the top left - you see, there are round cakes on the tiles: the roof is covered with pies - “a fool’s paradise”! Further down the slope, the archer “shoots a second arrow to find the first” (meaningless persistence). Part of the roof is devoid of tiles - “the roof has sheathing” (“the walls have ears”).
Below on the left is a man in a blue shirt - a “column biter” (a religious hypocrite). Nearby, a lady is dealing with a horned, slender gentleman: “she can even tie the devil to a pillow” (meaning, a stubborn woman will defeat the devil himself)
Above this scene is a woman carrying a bucket in one hand and a smoking brand in the other: “she has fire in one hand, water in the other” (which means she is two-faced and deceitful).
Below on the right - a man is trying to use a spoon to collect something pouring out of the cauldron: “the one who spilled the porridge will not collect it all back” (remember from our everyday life - “what is the use of crying over runaway milk”, a mistake cannot be corrected).
In the center of the composition is a confessor in the canopy: “he is confessing to the devil” (which means - he is revealing secrets to the enemy). In the same confessional, a man in a red cap “holds a candle for the devil” (makes friends indiscriminately, flatters everyone).
Also in the center, even closer to the viewer – a woman in a red dress throws a blue cloak over a man’s shoulders – “she is deceiving him” (equivalent to: “cuckolding her husband”). To the left of this bright pair are two spinners: “one spins yarn, the other twists” (that is, they spread unkind gossip).
A man in a white shirt wields a shovel (also in the center, almost at the bottom edge of the canvas): “he buries the well after the calf has already drowned” (he takes action after the misfortune has happened). To the right of this miniature is a man surrounded by pigs. He is doing such a usual thing - he violates the Gospel warning “do not throw pearls before swine” (fruitless efforts).
Above, on the tower, a man “throws feathers to the wind” (aimless work). His friend immediately “holds his cloak to the wind” (changes his views in accordance with the circumstances). There is a woman in the tower window - she is “gazing at the stork” (wasting time).
The boat in the upper right corner is to remind you of the proverb “it’s easy to sail with the wind” (it’s easy to succeed when good conditions). And the boat with the oarsman is slightly lower - reminds of the proverb “it’s hard to swim against the current” (does this require explanation about how difficult it is for someone who does not want to put up with the generally accepted!).
The characters in the miniatures that make up the painting hang between heaven and earth; throwing money into the water (in Russian - litter with money); banging their head against the wall; bite the iron (babblers!); block their own light; sit between two chairs or on hot coals; leading each other by the nose...
A dandy in a pink cloak (in the foreground) rotates the globe on his finger - “the world rotates on his thumb” (everyone dances to his tune)! And at his feet - a ragged man on all fours is trying to fit into a similar ball - “you have to bow down to succeed” (if you want to achieve a lot, you have to be unscrupulous in your means).
Please note that at the left edge of the picture we again see this same ball, only upside down: “the world is upside down” (everything is topsy-turvy). And above this symbol globe the ass of the character in the red shirt hangs over: “he relieves himself on the world” (he despises everyone)...
This is how, by the way, the composition of the whole picture is built: individual miniatures are not connected purely mechanically, but one plot turns out to be meaningfully continued and developed by another. Looking at the characters and solving the code, you suddenly understand the meaning of this complex picture.
It turns out that Bruegel in “Dutch Proverbs” is not at all a banal collector of proverbs. And his work is not entertainment for a bored slacker. And edification. It is easy to notice that most proverbs are tendentious; they condemn stupid, immoral behavior.
This is where the meaning of pairing in the picture of the globe – in normal and inverted form – becomes clear. The world of the picture is an inverted world, in which a terrible reality has become something that should not be a reality. It’s so everyday, so everyday, not only stupidity is happening in it, it’s happening next hand Evil goes hand in hand with stupidity. Changeling. An overturned world. Destroyed.
Dutch proverbs
1. “She would tie the devil to the pillow” - she is not afraid of either God or the devil: this vixen is capable of curbing the most obstinate young man; stubborn as hell.
2. “Gnawing a pillar” - a hypocrite, a pillar of the church, a hypocrite, a saint.
3. “She carries water in one hand and fire in the other” - she is an insincere woman, you should not trust her. The expression has also been used to describe contradictory behavior (serves both ours and yours).
4. “Frying herring to eat caviar” is an expression often used to mean “wasting money.” Another Dutch proverb applies to the same fragment: “The herring is not fried there,” i.e. his attempts fail, he does not get what he hopes for.
5. “Sitting in the ashes between two chairs” - showing indecisiveness in some matter, being in a difficult situation, for example, due to a missed moment to make the right decision.
6. “Let the dog into the house, he will climb into the potty or cupboard” - literally: enter the house and find that the dog has emptied the potty or cupboard; hence the figurative expression: come too late, miss your chance, be left with nothing.
7. “The pig is pulling the plug out of the barrel” - the owner does not take care of his goods. Another meaning: his end is near.
8. “Banging his head against the wall” - he wanted to do the impossible, the business was obviously doomed to failure, he received a painful refusal.
9. “One shears a sheep, the other a pig” - one uses the situation to the best of his ability, the other seeks to benefit at any cost; one is in contentment, the other falls into poverty.
10. “Hang a bell around the cat’s neck” - be the first to raise the alarm, start a scandal; take the first step in a delicate matter. Brant also says in “Ship of Fools”: “He who ties a bell to a cat lets the rats run where they please.”
11. “Be armed to the teeth” - to be well equipped for any task.
12. “This house has a scissors sign” - in a rich house there is something to profit from. Scissors usually served as a sign for tailors, who tended to profit from their clients.
13. “Gnawing on bones” - being extremely busy, taking something to heart, thinking about it, chewing on it, solving a difficult problem.
14. “Feel the chicken” - this expression has different meanings: a homebody who only deals with housework and the kitchen; a man who resembles a woman.
15. “He speaks with two mouths” - the character is deceitful, hypocritical, two-faced, and cannot be trusted.
16. “Carrying light with baskets” is a waste of time; do unnecessary things.
17. “Lighting candles before the devil” - flattering a bad ruler or unjust power in order to gain benefit or support.
18. “Go to confession to the devil” - trust your secrets to an enemy or adversary. Also used to mean “to seek protection from someone who is not inclined to give it.”
19. “Whisper something in someone’s ear” - say nasty things, secretly incite someone, open someone’s eyes to what was hidden from him, incite distrust or jealousy.
20. “Spinning yarn from someone else’s spindle” - finishing the work started by others.
21. “She puts a blue cloak on her husband” - she deceives her husband, cuckolds him. In the treatise of the 14th-15th centuries “On Women and Love” we read: “I respect a woman who knows how to confuse her husband to the point that he will be a complete fool; and although she puts a blue cloak on him, he imagines that she idolizes him.”
22. “When the calf drowned, they decided to fill up the hole” - it’s too late to correct the mistake or provide help (like a poultice for a dead person).
23. “You have to bend over backwards to achieve something in this world” - those who want to get what they want must behave helpfully.
24. “Throwing daisies to pigs” - offering someone something that he is not able to appreciate (throwing pearls in front of pigs).
25. “He rips open the belly of a pig” - the matter is settled in advance; pre-prepared combination.
26. “Two dogs are biting over a bone” - they are arguing about what to do; opponents can rarely agree; they are both bitter about the same thing. This is what it says about someone who sows discord.
27. “The Fox and the Crane” - they will beat the deceiver; pay with the same coin; two of a Kind.
28. “Pissing on fire is good” - no satisfactory explanation has been found for this expression; it is possible that this is a hint of superstitious actions.
29. “He makes the world revolve around his thumb” – vanity and false pretensions; This is a powerful man, he gets what he wants.
30. “Putting a spoke in the wheels” - interfere with the implementation of any business.
31. “He who knocks over his porridge cannot always collect it all” - he who has made a mistake must also bear the consequences; the consequences of his stupidity can never be completely corrected.
32. “He is looking for a hatchet” - he is looking for a loophole, an excuse.
33. “He cannot reach either one or the other bread” - he is unlikely to connect one end to the other; barely make ends meet.
34. “They reach out to grab the longest (piece)” - everyone is looking for their own benefit.
35. “Yawn into the oven” - overestimate your strength, make wasted efforts.
36. “Tie a false beard to the Lord God” - try to act deceptively, behave hypocritically.
37. “Don’t look for someone else in the stove if you were there yourself” - anyone who is ready to suspect their neighbor of something bad probably has sins themselves.
38. “She takes the chicken egg and leaves the goose egg lying” - she hides evidence; greed deceives wisdom. Another interpretation: making the wrong choice.
39. “Fall through the basket” - not being able to confirm what was said; the need to recognize what was previously presented completely differently.
40. “Sitting on burning coals” - to be in terrible impatience; anxiously await something.
41. “The World Inside Out” is the exact opposite of what it should have been.
42. “To relieve himself in front of the whole world” - he spits on everyone; he despises everyone.
43. “Fools get the best cards” - fortune favors fools; ignoramuses row by the handful. A similar motive sounds in Godthals: “Fools, as a rule, draw the right card. Better happiness than intelligence."
44. “They lead each other by the nose” - they deceive each other, leave each other high and dry.
45. “Pull through the rings of scissors” - act dishonestly within the framework of one’s craft or profession.
46. “Leave the egg in the nest” - do not spend it all at once, save it in case of need.
47. “Look through your fingers” - turning a blind eye is not an inaccuracy or a mistake, since the benefit will be gained one way or another.
48. “Getting married under a broom” - living together without a church blessing.
49. “There’s a broom stuck there” - they’re feasting there.
50. “The roofs there are covered with sweet pies” - there you can see a rooster in the dough; illusory abundance, milk rivers and jelly banks.
51. “Pissing on the moon” means that things will end badly for him. In the painting “Twelve Proverbs” the legend says: “I never manage to achieve what I need, I always pee on the moon.”
52. “Two fools under one cap” - stupidity loves company; two of a Kind.
53. “Shave a fool without soap” - mock someone; laugh, make fun of someone.
54. “Fishing with a net” - arriving too late, missing an opportunity, allowing someone else to run away with the catch.
55. “Itch your butt against the door” - sneeze, spit on everyone; don't pay attention to anything. There is also an opposite interpretation: “Everyone carries his own bundle” - his conscience is unclean; everyone has their own concerns. This fragment can have both interpretations - the joke is quite in the spirit of Bruegel.
56. “Kiss the door lock” - a lover who has been dismissed, or “kiss the lock” - not finding the girl at home. A noteworthy passage is found in the book “The Voyage and Voyage of Panurge”: “After their (young goats) ears are cut off, they become female and are called combed goats. Several times they are so in love that the ground disappears from under their feet, as happens with lovers who often kiss the latch of the door of the one they consider their beloved.”
57. “To fall (jump) from a bull onto a donkey” - in the 16th century the expression had two meanings: to do bad deeds; to be fickle, capricious.
59. “Release arrow after arrow” - find a new means, play a trump card. In sources contemporary with Bruegel, one can also find the following expression: “We shoot only irrevocable arrows.”
60. “Where the gates are open, the pigs run to the crops” - when the house is unattended by the owners, the servants do what they want; The cat is sleeping - the mice are dancing.
61. “Runs around like a scalded person” - to be in great trouble.
62. “Hanging your cloak in the wind” - changing your beliefs depending on the circumstances; sail where the wind blows.
63. “She is looking after the stork” - she is lazy, she is wasting her time, the raven thinks.
64. “Scatter feathers or grain in the wind” - act thoughtlessly, randomly; work without a clearly defined goal.
65. “Big fish devour small ones” – the powerful oppress the weak; eat yourself or be eaten.
66. “Catching cod with smelt” - sacrificing something of little value in order to get a more expensive one; giving an egg in the hope of getting a cow; deftly fish out someone's secret.
67. “Can’t stand the shine of the sun on the water” - envy the wealth or honors that another has earned.
68. “Swim against the tide” – to be of the opposite opinion; act contrary to society; strive for your goal despite obstacles.
69. “Pulling an eel by the tail” is a task that will most likely end in failure; dealing with a slippery person.
70. “It’s easy to cut good belts from someone else’s skin” - be generous at someone else’s expense; take advantage of the property of another.
71. “The jug walks on water until it breaks” - expose yourself to danger; end badly.
72. “Hang your jacket over the fence” - renounce clergy; quit your previous profession.
73. “Throw money into the river” - throw money away; It is unreasonable to waste your goods, to be wasteful.
74. “Relieve themselves in the same hole” – inseparable friends connected by common interests.
76. “It doesn’t matter to him that someone’s house is on fire, as long as he can warm himself up” - a complete egoist, he doesn’t care about the troubles of his neighbor; he warms himself by someone else's fire.
77. “Carrying a deck with you” - getting involved with an intractable person; do unnecessary work.
78. “Horse apples are not figs at all” - don’t delude yourself, be realistic, don’t mistake lanterns for stars.
80. “Whatever the reason, but geese walk barefoot” - if things are going as they are, then there is a reason for it; or: don't ask questions that don't have answers.
81. “Keep your sail in sight” - be on your guard; do not miss anything; keep your nose to the wind. 82. “Relieve yourself at the gallows” - to be a naughty person, not to be afraid of anything and not to care about anything.
83. “Necessity makes even old nags gallop” - to force someone to act, there is no better way than to instill fear in him.
84. “When a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit” – when ignorance leads another ignorance, things will turn out badly.
85. “No one manages to cheat indefinitely (without the sun discovering it)” - everything secret sooner or later becomes clear.
Collecting proverbs is one of the many expressions of the encyclopedic spirit of the 16th century. This hobby was started in 1500 by the great humanist of the Northern Renaissance, Erasmus of Rotterdam. In 1559, something like the Village of Proverbs was created by the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Bruegel Muzhitsky. This picture is called “Dutch Proverbs”. The canvas itself is small, 117 by 164 cm. And in such a small space the artist managed to place more than a hundred miniature scenes!
The deciphering of the plots in this picture is still not completed!
At the top left - you see, there are round cakes on the tiles: the roof is covered with pies - “a fool’s paradise”! Further down the slope, the archer “shoots a second arrow to find the first” (meaningless persistence). Part of the roof is devoid of tiles - “the roof has sheathing” (“the walls have ears”).
Below on the left is a man in a blue shirt - a “column biter” (a religious hypocrite). Nearby, a lady is dealing with a horned, slender gentleman: “she can even tie the devil to a pillow” (meaning, a stubborn woman will defeat the devil himself)
Above this scene is a woman carrying a bucket in one hand and a smoking brand in the other: “she has fire in one hand, water in the other” (which means she is two-faced and deceitful).
Below on the right - a man is trying to use a spoon to collect something pouring out of the cauldron: “the one who spilled the porridge will not collect it all back” (remember from our everyday life - “what is the use of crying over runaway milk”, a mistake cannot be corrected).
In the center of the composition is a confessor in the canopy: “he is confessing to the devil” (which means - he is revealing secrets to the enemy). In the same confessional, a man in a red cap “holds a candle for the devil” (makes friends indiscriminately, flatters everyone).
Also in the center, even closer to the viewer - a woman in a red dress throws a blue cloak over a man’s shoulders - “she is deceiving him” (equivalent to: “cuckolding her husband”). To the left of this bright pair are two spinners: “one spins yarn, the other twists” (that is, they spread unkind gossip).
A man in a white shirt wields a shovel (also in the center, almost at the bottom edge of the canvas): “he buries the well after the calf has already drowned” (he takes action after the misfortune has happened). To the right of this miniature is a man surrounded by pigs. He is doing such a usual thing - he violates the Gospel warning “do not throw pearls before swine” (fruitless efforts).
Above, on the tower, a man “throws feathers to the wind” (aimless work). His friend immediately “holds his cloak to the wind” (changes his views in accordance with the circumstances). There is a woman in the tower window - she is “gazing at the stork” (wasting time).
The boat in the upper right corner is to remind you of the proverb “it’s easy to sail with the wind” (it’s easy to succeed under good conditions). And the boat with the oarsman is somewhat lower - reminds of the proverb “it’s hard to swim against the current” (does this require explanation about how difficult it is for someone who does not want to put up with the generally accepted!).
The characters in the miniatures that make up the painting hang between heaven and earth; throwing money into the water (in Russian - litter with money); banging their head against the wall; bite the iron (babblers!); block their own light; sit between two chairs or on hot coals; leading each other by the nose...
A dandy in a pink cloak (in the foreground) rotates the globe on his finger - “the world rotates on his thumb” (everyone dances to his tune)! And at his feet - a ragged man on all fours is trying to fit into a similar ball - “you have to bow down in order to succeed” (if you want to achieve a lot, you have to be unscrupulous in your means).
Please note - at the left edge of the picture we again see this same ball, only upside down: “the world is upside down” (everything is topsy-turvy). And over this symbol of the globe hangs the ass of a character in a red shirt: “he relieves himself on the world” (he despises everyone) ...
This is how, by the way, the composition of the whole picture is built: individual miniatures are not connected purely mechanically, but one plot turns out to be meaningfully continued and developed by another. Looking at the characters, solving the code, you suddenly understand the meaning of this complex picture.
It turns out that Bruegel in “Dutch Proverbs” is not at all a banal collector of proverbs. And his work is not entertainment for a bored slacker. And edification. It is easy to notice that most proverbs are tendentious; they condemn stupid, immoral behavior.
This is where the meaning of pairing in the picture of the globe - in normal and inverted form - becomes clear. The world of the picture is an inverted world in which a terrible reality has become something that should not be a reality. In it, so everyday, so ordinary, not only stupidity is happening - the following evil is happening hand in hand with stupidity. Changeling. An overturned world. Destroyed.
Dutch proverbs
1. “She would tie the devil to the pillow” - she is not afraid of either God or the devil: this vixen is capable of curbing the most obstinate young man; stubborn as hell.
2. “Gnawing a pillar” - a hypocrite, a pillar of the church, a hypocrite, a saint.
3. “She carries water in one hand and fire in the other” - she is an insincere woman, you should not trust her. The expression has also been used to describe contradictory behavior (serves both ours and yours).
4. “Frying herring to eat caviar” is an expression often used to mean “wasting money.” Another Dutch proverb is applicable to the same fragment: “The herring is not fried there,” i.e. his attempts fail, he does not get what he hopes for.
5. “Sitting in the ashes between two chairs” - showing indecisiveness in some matter, being in a difficult situation, for example, due to a missed moment to make the right decision.
6. “Let the dog into the house, he will climb into the potty or cupboard” - literally: enter the house and find that the dog has emptied the potty or cupboard; hence the figurative expression: come too late, miss your chance, be left with nothing.
7. “The pig is pulling the plug out of the barrel” - the owner does not take care of his goods. Another meaning: his end is near.
8. “Banging his head against the wall” - he wanted to do the impossible, the business was obviously doomed to failure, he received a painful refusal.
9. “One shears a sheep, the other a pig” - one uses the situation to the best of his ability, the other seeks to benefit at any cost; one is in contentment, the other falls into poverty.
10. “Hang a bell around the cat’s neck” - be the first to raise the alarm, start a scandal; take the first step in a delicate matter. Brant also says in “Ship of Fools”: “He who ties a bell to a cat lets the rats run where they please.”
11. “Be armed to the teeth” - to be well equipped for any task.
12. “This house has a scissors sign” - in a rich house there is something to profit from. Scissors usually served as a sign for tailors, who tended to profit from their clients.
13. “Gnawing on bones” - being extremely busy, taking something to heart, thinking about it, chewing on it, solving a difficult problem.
14. “Feel the chicken” - this expression has different meanings: a homebody who only deals with housework and kitchen; a man who resembles a woman.
15. “He speaks with two mouths” - the character is deceitful, hypocritical, two-faced, and cannot be trusted.
16. “Carrying light with baskets” - wasting time; do unnecessary things.
17. “Light candles before the devil” - flatter a bad ruler or unjust power for the sake of obtaining benefits or support.
18. “Go to confession to the devil” - trust your secrets to an enemy or adversary. Also used to mean “to seek protection from someone who is not inclined to give it.”
19. “Whisper something in someone’s ear” - say nasty things, secretly incite someone, open someone’s eyes to what was hidden from him, induce distrust or jealousy.
20. “Spinning yarn from someone else’s spindle” - finishing the work started by others.
21. “She puts a blue cloak on her husband” - she deceives her husband, cuckolds him. In the treatise of the 14th-15th centuries “On Women and Love” we read: “I respect a woman who knows how to confuse her husband to the point that he will be a complete fool; and although she puts a blue cloak on him, he imagines that she idolizes him.”
22. “When the calf drowned, they decided to fill up the hole” - it’s too late to correct the mistake or provide help (like a poultice for a dead person).
23. “You have to bend to achieve something in this world” - those who want to get what they want must behave helpfully.
24. “Throwing daisies to pigs” - offering someone something that he is not able to appreciate (throwing pearls in front of pigs).
25. “He rips open the belly of a pig” - the matter is settled in advance; pre-prepared combination.
26. “Two dogs are biting over a bone” - they are arguing about what to do; opponents can rarely agree; they are both bitter about the same thing. This is what it says about someone who sows discord.
27. “The Fox and the Crane” - they will beat the deceiver; pay with the same coin; two of a Kind.
28. “It’s good to urinate on fire” - no satisfactory explanation has been found for this expression; it is possible that this is a hint of superstitious actions.
29. “He makes the world revolve around his thumb” - vanity and false claims; This is a powerful man, he gets what he wants.
30. “Putting a spoke in the wheels” - interfere with the implementation of any business.
31. “He who knocks over his porridge cannot always collect it all” - he who has made a mistake must also bear the consequences; the consequences of his stupidity can never be completely corrected.
32. “He is looking for a hatchet” - he is looking for a loophole, an excuse.
33. “He cannot reach either one or the other bread” - he is unlikely to connect one end to the other; barely make ends meet.
34. “They reach out to grab the longest (piece)” - everyone is looking for their own benefit.
35. “Yawn into the oven” - overestimate your strength, make wasted efforts.
36. “Tie a false beard to the Lord God” - try to act deceptively, behave hypocritically.
37. “Don’t look for someone else in the stove if you have been there yourself” - anyone who is ready to suspect their neighbor of something bad probably has sins themselves.
38. “She takes the chicken egg and leaves the goose egg lying” - she hides evidence; greed deceives wisdom. Another interpretation: making the wrong choice.
39. “Fall through the basket” - not being able to confirm what was said; the need to recognize what was previously presented completely differently.
40. “Sitting on burning coals” - to be in terrible impatience; anxiously await something.
41. “The World Inside Out” is the complete opposite of what it should have been.
42. “To relieve himself in front of the whole world” - he spits on everyone; he despises everyone.
43. “Fools get the best cards” - fortune favors fools; ignoramuses row by the handful. A similar motive sounds in Godthals: “Fools, as a rule, draw the right card. Better happiness than intelligence."
44. “They lead each other by the nose” - they deceive each other, leave each other high and dry.
45. “Pull through the rings of scissors” - act dishonestly within the framework of one’s craft or profession.
46. “Leave the egg in the nest” - do not spend it all at once, save it in case of need.
47. “Look through your fingers” - turning a blind eye is not an inaccuracy or mistake, since the benefit will be gained one way or another.
48. “Getting married under a broom” - living together without a church blessing.
49. “There’s a broom stuck there” - they’re feasting there.
50. “The roofs there are covered with sweet pies” - there you can see a rooster in the dough; illusory abundance, milk rivers and jelly banks.
51. “Pissing on the moon” means that things will end badly for him. In the painting “Twelve Proverbs” the legend says: “I never manage to achieve what I need, I always pee on the moon.”
52. “Two fools under one cap” - stupidity loves company; two of a Kind.
53. “Shave a fool without soap” - mock someone; laugh, make fun of someone.
54. “Fishing with a net” - arriving too late, missing an opportunity, allowing someone else to run away with the catch.
55. “Itch your butt against the door” - sneeze, spit on everyone; don't pay attention to anything. There is also an opposite interpretation: “Everyone carries his own bundle” - his conscience is unclean; everyone has their own concerns. This fragment can have both interpretations - the joke is quite in the spirit of Bruegel.
56. “Kiss the door lock” - a lover who has been dismissed, or “kiss the lock” - not finding the girl at home. A noteworthy passage is found in the book “The Voyage and Voyage of Panurge”: “After their (young goats) ears are cut off, they become female and are called combed goats. Several times they are so in love that the ground disappears from under their feet, as happens with lovers who often kiss the latch of the door of the one they consider their beloved.”
57. “To fall (jump) from a bull onto a donkey” - in the 16th century the expression had two meanings: to do bad deeds; to be fickle, capricious.
59. “Release arrow after arrow” - find a new means, play a trump card. In sources contemporary with Bruegel, one can also find the following expression: “We shoot only irrevocable arrows.”
60. “Where the gates are open, the pigs run to the crops” - when the house is unattended by the owners, the servants do what they want; The cat is sleeping - the mice are dancing.
61. “Runs around like a scalded person” - to be in great trouble.
62. “Hanging your cloak in the wind” - changing your beliefs depending on the circumstances; sail where the wind blows.
63. “She is looking after the stork” - she is lazy, she is wasting her time, the raven thinks.
64. “Scatter feathers or grain in the wind” - act thoughtlessly, randomly; work without a clearly defined goal.
65. “Big fish devour small ones” - the powerful oppress the weak; eat yourself or be eaten.
66. “Catching cod with smelt” - sacrificing something of little value in order to get a more expensive one; giving an egg in the hope of getting a cow; deftly fish out someone's secret.
67. “Can’t stand the shine of the sun on the water” - envy the wealth or honors that another has earned.
68. “Swim against the tide” - to be of the opposite opinion; act contrary to society; strive for your goal despite obstacles.
69. “Pulling an eel by the tail” is a task that will most likely end in failure; dealing with a slippery person.
70. “It’s easy to cut good belts from someone else’s skin” - be generous at someone else’s expense; take advantage of the property of another.
71. “The jug walks on water until it breaks” - expose yourself to danger; end badly.
72. “Hang your jacket over the fence” - renounce clergy; quit your previous profession.
73. “Throw money into the river” - throw money away; It is unreasonable to waste your goods, to be wasteful.
74. “Relieving need in one hole” - inseparable friends, connected by common interests.
76. “It doesn’t matter to him that someone’s house is on fire, since he can warm himself up” - a complete egoist, he doesn’t care about the troubles of his neighbor; he warms himself by someone else's fire.
77. “Carrying a deck around” - getting involved with an intractable person; do unnecessary work.
78. “Horse apples are not figs at all” - don’t delude yourself, be realistic, don’t mistake lanterns for stars.
80. “Whatever the reason, but geese walk barefoot” - if things are going as they are, then there is a reason for it; or: don't ask questions that don't have answers.
81. “Keep your sail in your eye” - be on your guard; do not miss anything; keep your nose to the wind. 82. “Relieve yourself at the gallows” - to be a naughty person, not to be afraid of anything and not to care about anything.
83. “Necessity makes even old nags gallop” - to force someone to act, there is no better way than to instill fear in him.
84. “When a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit” - when ignorance leads another ignorance, things will turn out badly.
85. “No one manages to cheat indefinitely (without the sun discovering it)” - everything secret sooner or later becomes clear.
