a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

英語

詞源

仿譯自拉丁語 plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis (“一鳥在手勝過二鳥在林”)，可能源自古代中東（西元前6世紀）。西元前5世紀，以帝國亞拉姆語寫成的《阿希卡爾的故事》中就有「手中一隻麻雀勝過千隻飛翔的麻雀」的說法。

發音

• 音頻 (澳大利亞)：

  (檔案)

諺語

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

1. 一鳥在手勝於十鳥在林；確定的事情比單純獲得更多事情的機會更可取 （15世紀）
   • 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”, 出自 Roba Di Roma, 第 II 卷，第 8 頁:

     [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.

     （請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

近義詞

• better an egg today than a hen tomorrow、take the cash and let the credit go

參見

• half a loaf is better than none、something is better than nothing、beggars can't be choosers、don't look a gift horse in the mouth
• a contented mind is a perpetual feast
• the grass is always greener on the other side