proverb · Words worth keeping
When God punishes the cabbages, he also punishes the hares.
When God punishes the cabbages, he also punishes the hares.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
God punishing cabbages and also hares gives a change affecting one thing consequences for another. The saying combines dependence with a religious image.
What the words are saying
The precise traditional context is unverified. A qualified reading can consider connected consequences without claiming divine punishment, ecological facts or guilt shared by everyone affected. A useful application asks who else bears an outcome and avoids blaming those who suffer indirectly.
Everyday example
A group considers how a decision affecting one resource may also affect people relying on it.
When to use it
Use it as a qualified connected-consequences image.
What it does not mean
No divine judgment, ecological finding or guilt from indirect harm 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
Russia
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 874; PDF page 77; collection label: Russia
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Russia