a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

英语

词源

仿译自拉丁语 plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis (“一鸟在手胜过二鸟在林”)，可能源自古代中东（西元前6世纪）。西元前5世纪，以帝国亚拉姆语写成的《阿希卡爾的故事》中就有“手中一只麻雀胜过千只飞翔的麻雀”的说法。

发音

• 音频 (澳大利亚)：

  (档案)

谚语

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

1. 一鸟在手胜于十鸟在林；确定的事情比单纯获得更多事情的机会更可取 （15世纪）
   • 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 页:

     [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.

     （请为本引文添加中文翻译）

近义词

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

参见

• 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