#RussianProverb: Do Not Saw Off the Branch You Are Sitting On

On By Sergey ArmeyskovIn Russian language, Russian Mythology, Russian Sayings

Alkonost (lubok), the end of the 18th c - beginning of the 19th c.
Alkonost (lubok), the end of the 18th c – beginning of the 19th c.

Не пили сук, на котором сидишь

(ne pilí suk, na kotórom sidísh).

Viktor Vasnetsov — Sirin & Alkonost — Birds of Joy and Sorrow, 1896.
Viktor Vasnetsov — Sirin & Alkonost — Birds of Joy and Sorrow, 1896.

Literally:

do not saw off the branch you are sitting on.

Ivan Bilibin — Sirin, Bird of Paradise (postcard), 1905.
Ivan Bilibin — Sirin, Bird of Paradise (postcard), 1905.

 English equivalents:

  • don’t bite the hand that feeds you;
  • people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Ivan Bilibin — Alkonost, Bird of Paradise (postcard), 1905.
Ivan Bilibin — Alkonost, Bird of Paradise (postcard), 1905.

One thought on “#RussianProverb: Do Not Saw Off the Branch You Are Sitting On”

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