proverb · Words worth keeping
To go mulberry-gathering without a crook.
To go mulberry-gathering without a crook.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Beginning a task without an important implement can make the intended result difficult to obtain. The gathering image asks what preparation is needed before setting out.
Example
Volunteers arrive to record an oral-history interview but have not brought a working recorder or checked its power supply.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The crook is the implement named alongside mulberry-gathering in the saying. Its absence supplies the contrast between an intention and the means to carry it out. As an analogy, it can prompt a check of the equipment, information or permission a task requires. It need not mean that every preferred tool is indispensable or that improvisation is impossible. The useful point is to identify what the work actually needs before an avoidable omission becomes the main obstacle.
When to use it
Use it to identify a practical omission in preparing for a task.
Keep in mind
Distinguish essential preparation from a preference for perfect equipment.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown