Great Lord, More Cats!

·         A cat always knows whose meat it eats. (Russian)

It means: It doesn't matter how good your relations with somebody, how many promises he gave to you, how much he owes to you. If he has a benefactor then benefactor's interests, orders, needs are important and your interests aren't important at all.
Ironically there is an opposite proverb; “It doesn't matter how much you feed a wolf. He always looks into a forest”.

Here "looks into” means: - ready to run, depart or escape to. It looks like there are different types of people. Some people are cats, other ones are wolves.

Alternatives:

§  The cat well knows whose beard she licks. - Portuguese

·         A cat contained becomes a lion. (Italian)

Don’t expect a good reaction when you act badly with someone. When you hold a cat in a cage, by default it will be very wild.
Alternatives:

§  Don’t send away your cat for being a thief. – Spanish

·         A cat has nine lives, as the onion seven skins. (German)

Alternatives:

§  You can throw a cat wherever you want; it always falls on its feet. –Yiddish

§  The cat has nine lives: three for playing, three for straying, and three for staying. – English

·         A cat is a lion to mouse. (German)

Alternatives:

§  What is play to the cat is death to the mouse. – Danish

·         A cat likes fish, but hates to wet its paws. (Roman)

Alternatives:

§  All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws. – Chinese

·         A cat that licks the spit is not to be trusted with roast meat. (Italian)

Fear not who argue, but fear who dodge!. You can never trust who tries to select the side of the winner no matter what

·         A cat that mews much catches but few mice. (Dutch)

Well, this one reminds me of the Egyptian phrase that says: “Who speaks never does, who does never speaks”

Alternatives:

§  A silent cat catches mice. – Japanese

§  The quiet cat catches the rat. – Japanese

·         A gloved cat catches no mice. (German)

A person has to work hard in order to succeed. Therefore, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty if you're faced with tough work. Sometimes you cannot get what you want by being careful and polite.

Alternatives:

§  A muffled cat never caught a mouse. – French

§  A puss in boots catches no mice. –French

·         A scalded cat is afraid of cold water. (Mexican)

Well, this means that the cat got injured for touching the hot water gets afraid to come near the cold one.

Alternatives:

§  Who got scalded from the soup blows in the yoghurt – Egyptian

§  Having been bitten by a snake, he's afraid of a rope – Afghan

§  The scalded cat dreads cold water. - Spanish

·         An old cat will not learn how to dance. (Moroccan)

This has the same meaning of the Egyptian phrase “After being old, they put him in school to learn how to read”.  Some things are irrational to do after certain phase

·         Cats and kings always land on their feet. (German)

Some feel secured when they have great authorities

·         Cats hide their claws. (German)

Sometimes what is apparent doesn’t reflect the inner self

·         Even a cat may look at a king. (Yiddish)

You cannot blame someone when his eyes catch something very obvious that tiny creatures notice it

·         Never was a mewing cat a good mouser. (Italian)

Every person only fits in his own place. You can’t be someone else, can’t you?! J

·         Those that dislike cats will be carried to the cemetery in the rain. (Dutch)

      In mythology, the cat was believed to have great influence on the weather. Witches who rode on storms took the form of cats. The dog, an attendant of the storm king Odin, was a symbol of wind. Cats came to symbolize down-pouring rain, and dogs to symbolize strong gusts of wind. This may be where the phrase "it's raining cats and dogs" originated

 This is a folklore or superstitious piece:

     Cats can forecast the weather: they predict the wind by clawing at carpets and curtains. Some people believed that if a cat washes its face and paws in the parlor, company's coming. A black cat seen from behind for tells a bad omen. If a cat sneezes three times, the family will catch a cold. Early Americans believed if a cat washes her face in front of several people, the first person she looks at will be the first to get married. A strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity - Scottish superstition. Sailors believed that if a cat licked its fur against the grain it meant a hailstorm was coming; if it sneezed, rain was on the way; and if it was frisky, the wind would soon blow.

     To kill a cat brings seventeen years of bad luck - Irish superstition. If you kill a cat, you are sacrificing your soul to the Devil. The French believed that if a girl treads on a cat's tail, she would not find a husband before a year is out. 

I’ll be writing about different kind of Folklores and superstitious things later on J

  ·         Wanton kittens make sober cats. (Danish)

Alternatives:

§  No one likes to bell the cat. - German

The drunken man's joy is often the sober man's sorrow

·         What is born of a cat will catch mice. (English)

Cats are born with a natural instinct to hunt mice. This refers that a human who grow up on certain traits, habits and tradition by default part of him will follow same footsteps of his parents in dealing with problems for example. By default, you reflect common costumes of your own environment.

Alternative:  

§  What would a young cat do but kill a mouse? – Irish

§  He who hunts with cats will catch mice. – Danish

§  When cats are mousing, they don’t mew. – Dutch

§  The cat is friendly, but scratches. – Spanish

§  A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat. – Ethiopian

§  The cat does not give leave to the mice. - German

§  Cats don’t catch mice to please God. - Afghani

§  If the cat were a hen, it too would lay eggs. - German

§  Keep no more cats than will catch mice. –Portuguese

·         When the cat is gone, the mice come out to stretch. (Chinese)

Alternatives:

§  When the cat’s away, the mice will play. - English

§  When the cat’s away, the rats dance. –Italian

§  A shy cat makes a proud mouse. - Scottish

·         Who will not feed the cats, must feed the mice and rats. (German)

From my point of view, it means No escape.  You have to do something in your life

Other Furry proverbs:

·         Old cats like young mice. (Mexican)

·         The kind man feeds his cat before sitting down to dinner. (Yiddish)

·         The stroked cat is meek. (Roman)

·         A good cat, a good rat. (French)

·         He has a good pledge of the cat who has her skin. (French)

·         He who puts by for the night, puts by for the cat. (Danish)

·         In a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats. (English)

·         It is better to feed one cat than many mice. (Norwegian)

·         It is for her own good that the cat purrs. (Irish)

·         It takes a good many mice to kill a cat. (Danish)