proverb · Legacy record
When the child falls the mother weeps; when the mother falls the child laughs.
When the child falls the mother weeps; when the mother falls the child laughs.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The paired falls contrast a mother’s distress for her child with a child’s pictured laughter at the mother. The saying presents unequal concern between generations.
What the words are saying
The reversal is a generalisation rather than evidence about all families. A critical interpretation can examine asymmetry without asserting that children delight in parental pain or that mothers always respond alike. Falls may function as setback images; no developmental or psychological rule is established.
Everyday example
A reader discusses a specific imbalance in care without treating age or family role as proof of cruelty.
When to use it
Use it critically to examine the unequal-response contrast.
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What it does not mean
No universal parental or child behaviour is established, and family roles do not prove motives.
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 proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 931; PDF page 130
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.