proverb · Legacy record
The eye of the leopard is on the goat, and the eye of the goat is on the leaf.
The eye of the leopard is on the goat, and the eye of the goat is on the leaf.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A leopard attending to a goat while the goat attends to a leaf gives different participants different objects of attention. The saying pictures an overlooked concern beyond an immediate attraction.
What the words are saying
The scene is a metaphor, not a verified account of animal awareness. A useful interpretation can ask what a narrow focus leaves out without blaming someone for another’s harmful conduct. The image does not establish that every attractive prospect conceals danger or provide an encounter procedure.
Everyday example
Someone considers a choice’s surrounding conditions rather than looking only at its immediate benefit.
When to use it
Use it to examine attention and context without blaming a threatened person.
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What it does not mean
No animal-behaviour rule or inevitable hidden danger 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 554; PDF page 52; collection label: Assyria/Ethiopia
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Assyria/Ethiopia