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nealkate
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Joined: 26 Dec 2006
Posts: 3
Location: South Carolina
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 Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject: The eye of the master... |
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Can anyone tell me who said, "The eye of the master fattens the calf"? I have also heard it said (and seen it printed) as "The eye of the farmer" or "The eye of the feeder", and sometimes it's the cattle or a horse that's fattened.
Thanks! |
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thenostromo
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Joined: 04 Apr 2002
Posts: 1675
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| Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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It is a proverb that has several variations. It's origins are most likely Italian.
The eye of the master fattens the horse.
- Proverb, (Italian)
The eye of the master fattens the steed.
- Proverb, (French, Spanish)
The eye of the master makes the horse fat, and that of the mistress the chambers neat.
- Proverb, (Dutch)
The eye of the master makes the horse fat.
- Proverb, (Danish)
http://www.giga-usa.com/quotes/topics/proverbs_t304.htm
“The eye of the master fattens the cattle” was printed on the title page of the first edition of Feeds and Feeding by W. A. Henry in 1898.
http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/Publications/feedbunk.pdf
"The presence of the master fattens the horse, fills the granary, enriches the house, and founds the fortune."
| Quote: | With My Proverbial Life, Anthony Benevento has created a compendium of proverbs from the English, Latin, and Italian languages. Inspired by the dual purpose of proverbs—to delight while instructing—Benevento set out to translate some of the most common Italian and Latin and cross-reference them with similar English proverbs. The
result is a dictionary of aphorisms, set up in alphabetical order. As Benevento points out in the introduction, proverbs “have represented a kind of compact encyclopedia of knowledge based mostly upon the experience of those who toiled the soil.” They are “common wisdom,” and their earthy origins are reflected in the proverbs gathered here. Many reveal their peasant sources, “The eye of the master fattens the horse,” for example, or “It’s a sad house where the hen crows louder than the rooster.”
http://www.bookwire.com/PDF/antbenvento.pdf
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nealkate
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Joined: 26 Dec 2006
Posts: 3
Location: South Carolina
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| Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow! Thanks! |
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Phaedrus
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Joined: 03 Apr 2002
Posts: 1486
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| Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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Comtinual vigilance, rigorous method, what we call the 'eye of the master" work wonders~Carlyle, Past and Present, Bk ii, ch 10 (1843)
Cited by Erasmus, Adagia, who calls it "that celebrated ancient agricultural adage," its meaning being that, on a farm especially, the work is better done before the master's face than behind his back.
The master's countenance produces more than the back of his head [rom the Latin]~Pliny, Naturalis Historia, (c. AD 77) |
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nealkate
New member
Joined: 26 Dec 2006
Posts: 3
Location: South Carolina
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| Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks to both of you. Now maybe my 80 year old dad will be able to sleep; he's been driving us all crazy with this. |
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