proverb · Words worth keeping
A gardener’s dog neither eats cabbage, nor lets anybody else.
A gardener’s dog neither eats cabbage, nor lets anybody else.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A gardener’s dog neither using cabbage nor allowing anyone else to use it contrasts possession with obstruction. The saying questions preventing a benefit one does not need.
What the words are saying
The precise traditional context is unverified, and this is not a rule about feeding or handling animals. A useful human application asks whether control is fair and whether others can appropriately access a resource. Legitimate boundaries and actual obligations still matter; unused does not automatically mean free for anyone to take.
Everyday example
A group reviews an unused shared resource and arranges fair access rather than keeping it blocked without a reason.
When to use it
Use it as a qualified obstruction-and-access image.
What it does not mean
No animal guidance or entitlement to take any unused resource is established.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 926; PDF page 81; collection label: Transylvania Province of Romania
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Transylvania Province of Romania