098Japanese proverb ことわざ
海老で鯛を釣る
えびでたいをつるEbi de tai o tsuru
“Catching a sea bream with a shrimp.”
The meaning
A small, well-placed investment can yield much. What matters is not the size of the stake but the rightness of where it is placed.
At the origin
Sea bream (tai) is Japan's festive fish; the shrimp, a modest bait.
The characters
- 海老 ebishrimp
- で dewith
- 鯛
- を
- 釣る
でParticleThe frame of the action: the place where, the means by which.
In practice
Look for the small well-placed gesture rather than the big scattered one.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 229 釣鐘にとまりて眠る胡蝶かな On the great bell, alighted, sleeping, a butterfly.
- 017 井の中の蛙大海を知らず The frog at the bottom of the well knows nothing of the great ocean.
- 078 待てば海路の日和あり Wait, and fair weather will come for the crossing.
- 106 秋の日は釣瓶落とし The autumn sun drops like a well bucket.
- 165 朝顔に釣瓶とられてもらい水 A morning glory has claimed my well bucket — I beg water next door.