Calque of Latin plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis (“a bird in the hands is worth more than two in the forest”), possibly deriving from sources as old as the ancient Middle East, with the 6th century BCE Proverbs of Ahiqar including "a sparrow in thy hand is better than a thousand sparrows flying".[1]
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
- A sure thing is preferable to the mere chance at something more. [15th c.]
- 15th c., John Capgrave, Life of St Katherine, Bodleian MS Rawlinson poet. 118, Bk. II:
- It is more sykyr a bryd in youre fyste
Than to have thre in the sky above
And more profitabyl to youre behove.
- 1737, Henry Fielding, Pasquin, Act II, Scene I, p. 27:
- May. No, but the Sides are going to be changed ; and Sir Harry is to be ſome very great Man ; and as ſoon as he is, I am to be made an Embaſſador of.
Mrs. May. Made an Aſs of! Will you never learn of me, that a Bird in the Hand is worth two in the Buſh ?
1864, William W. Story, “The Campagna”, in Roba Di Roma, volume II, page 8:[An] acquaintance ... proposed to pay a ... proportion of the cost of the cellar provided he should have as his own everything of value that might be found [excavating]. A bird in the hand, thought Bardolph, is worth two in the bush, so he ... accepted the proposal.
small but certain advantage is preferable
- Albanian: flaka të djeg, prushi të ngroh
- Arabic: عُصْفُورٌ فِي ٱلْيَدِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ عُصْفُورِينَ عَلَى ٱلشَّجَرَةِ (ʕuṣfūrun fī l-yadi ʔafḍalu min ʕuṣfūrīna ʕalā š-šajarati)
- Armenian: փորձված թանը անփորձ մածունի հետ չեն փոխի (pʻorjvac tʻanə anpʻorj macuni het čʻen pʻoxi)
- Belarusian: лепш верабей у руцэ, чым жораў пад небам (ljepš vjerabjej u ruce, čym žóraŭ pad njebam)
- Bulgarian: по́-добре́ врабче́ в ръка́та, отко́лкото за́ек в гора́та (pó-dobré vrabčé v rǎkáta, otkólkoto záek v goráta, literally “better a sparrow in the hand than a rabbit in the forest”)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 一鳥在手勝於十鳥在林/一鸟在手胜于十鸟在林 (yī niǎo zài shǒu shèngyú shí niǎo zài lín)
- Czech: lepší vrabec v hrsti, nežli holub na střeše (literally “better a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof”)
- Danish: en fugl i hånden er bedre end ti på taget
- Dutch: beter een vogel in de hand dan tien in de lucht
- Esperanto: pli bona ol dek branĉoj sur centono
- Estonian: parem varblane peos kui tuvi katusel (literally “better a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof”)
- Finnish: parempi pyy pivossa kuin kymmenen oksalla (literally “better a hazel grouse in the hand than ten on the branch”)
- French: un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras (fr) (a here-you-go is worth more than two you-can-have-it-laters), moineau à la main vaut mieux que grue qui vole (a sparrow in hand is worth more than a flying crane)
- Friulian: l'è miôr un ûf vuê che une gjaline doman
- Galician: vale máis paxaro na man que cento voando
- Georgian: დღევანდელი კვერცხი ჯობია ხვალინდელ ქათამს (dɣevandeli ḳvercxi ǯobia xvalindel katams, literally “today's egg is better than tomorrow's children”)
- German: Besser ein Spatz in der Hand als eine Taube auf dem Dach (literally “rather a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof”)
- Greek: κάλλιο πέντε και στο χέρι παρά δέκα και καρτέρει (el) (kállio pénte kai sto chéri pará déka kai kartérei) (rather hold five in hand than wait for ten to come)
- Hebrew: טוב ציפור אחת ביד משתיים על העץ (he) (tov tzippór aḥát bayád mishtáim 'al ha'étz)
- Hindi: नौ नक़द न तेरह उधार (nau naqad na terah udhār)
- Hungarian: jobb ma egy veréb, mint holnap egy túzok (hu) (literally “better a sparrow today than a bustard tomorrow”)
- Icelandic: betri er einn fugl í hendi en tveir í skógi
- Irish: is fearr breac sa láimh ná bradán sa linn (literally “a trout in the hands is better than a salmon in the sea”), is fearr áirithe na srathrach ná iasacht na diallaite (literally “the certainty of the straddle is better than the loan of the saddle”)
- Italian: meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani (literally “better an egg today than a hen tomorrow”)
- Japanese: 明日の百より今日の五十 (asu-no hyaku-yori kyō-no gojū) (today's 50 rather than tomorrow's 100)
- Khmer: ចាបមួយនៅដៃប្រសើរក្រៃ ជាងចាបដប់នៅលើឈើ (chaap muəy nɨv day prɑsaə kray, jieng chaap dɑp nɨv ləə cʰəə)
- Korean: 손안에 있는 새가 숲속에 있는 두 마리보다 낫다. (sonane inneun saega supsoge inneun du mariboda natda.)
- Latvian: labāk zīle, kas man ir rokā, nekā mednis, kas vēl sēd kokā, labāk zīle rokā, nekā mednis kokā (rather the titmouse that is in my hand than a wood grouse that is still sitting in the tree/ rather a titmouse in hand than a wood grouse in a tree)
- Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
- Lombard: l'è mej un üsèll in man che cent che vola
- Luxembourgish: Léiwer e Spatz an der Hand wei eng Dauf um Daach (literally “rather a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof”)
- Macedonian: поарно врапче на рака отколку гулаб на гранка (poarno vrapče na raka otkolku gulab na granka), подобро врапче на рака отколку гулаб на гранка (podobro vrapče na raka otkolku gulab na granka)
- Malay:
- Jawi: يڠ کجر تق داڤت, يڠ دکيندوڠ برچيچيرن, هارڤکن ݢوروه د لاڠيت, اءير د تمڤاين دچورهکن
- Rumi: yang kejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran, harapkan guruh di langit, air di tempayan dicurahkan
- Maltese: aħjar għasfur f’idejk minn mija fl-ajru
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: én fugl i hånden er bedre enn ti på taket (no)
- Nynorsk: ein fugl i handa er betre enn ti på taket
- Polish: lepszy wróbel w garści niż gołąb na dachu (pl), lepszy wróbel w ręku niż cietrzew na sęku (pl), lepszy wróbel w ręku niż sokół na sęku (pl)
- Portuguese: mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois voando (pt)
- Romanian: nu da vrabia din mână pe cioara de pe gard (literally “do not exchange the sparrow in the hand with the crow on the fence”)
- Russian: не сули́ журавля́ в не́бе, дай сини́цу в ру́ки (ru) (ne sulí žuravljá v nébe, daj sinícu v rúki) (do not promise a crane in the sky, rather give a titmouse into my hands)
- Scottish Gaelic: 's fhearr eun san làimh na deich air iteig, 's fhearr iasg beag na bhith gun iasg idir
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: боље врабац у руци него голуб на грани (bolje vrabac u ruci nego golub na grani)
- Roman: bolje vrabac u ruci nego golub na grani
- Slovak: lepší vrabec v hrsti ako holub na streche
- Spanish: más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando (a bird in one hand is worth more than a hundred in flight)
- Swedish: bättre en fågel i handen än tio i skogen (sv)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: bir eldeki kuş çalıdakinin iki misli değerdir
- Ukrainian: краще синиця в жмені, ніж журавель в небі (krašče synycja v žmeni, niž žuravelʹ v nebi)
- Vietnamese: một con chim trong tay có giá trị hơn hai con trong bụi cây
- Walloon: våt mî èn oujhea el mwin ki deus sol håye (wa)
- Welsh: gwell bach mewn llaw na mawr gerllaw (cy)
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