I’m looking for an English equivalent to the Alexandre Dumas proverb “La plus belle fille du monde ne peut donner que ce qu’elle a”. I have found only “No man can give more than he has” or " a man cannot give what he has not got"
Do I take these proverbs literally or is there some other underlying meaning?
I’m not quite sure how to interpret the English proverbs. Can anyone suggest a more useful proverb.
A carpenter is nothing without his tools sounds good to me
What is the underlying meaning, or even the plain meaning, of the French proverb? I put it through a translator and got “The most beautiful girl in the world can only give what she has.” Is there a context to the proverb as Dumas quoted it that enlarges on the meaning?
It seems to be saying that one can’t get more out of a person (or object?) than it has. A beautiful woman may still not be wise or rich or honest or hard-working. Maybe like “you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.”
The proverb is referenced in the Three Musketeers as:
D’Artagnan se voyait déjà, tant les rêves vont vite sur les ailes de l’imagination, accosté par un messager de la jeune femme qui lui remettait quelque billet de rendez-vous, une chaîne d’or ou un diamant. Nous avons dit que les jeunes cavaliers recevaient sans honte de leur roi; ajoutons qu’en ce temps de facile morale, ils n’avaient pas plus de vergogne à l’endroit de leurs maîtresses, et que celles-ci leur laissaient presque toujours de précieux et durables souvenirs, comme si elles eussent essayé de conquérir la fragilité de leurs sentiments par la solidité de leurs dons.
On faisait alors son chemin par les femmes sans en rougir. Celles qui n’étaient que belles donnaient leur beauté, et de là vient sans doute le proverbe, que la plus belle fille du monde ne peut donner que ce qu’elle a. Celles qui étaient riches donnaient en outre une partie de leur argent, et l’on pourrait citer bon nombre de héros de cette galante époque qui n’eussent gagné ni leurs éperons d’abord, ni leurs batailles ensuite, sans la bourse plus ou moins garnie que leur maîtresse attachait à l’arçon de leur selle.
Google Translate renders this as:
D’Artagnan could already see himself, so quickly do dreams fly on the wings of the imagination, accosted by a messenger from the young woman who gave him some appointment ticket, a gold chain or a diamond. We have said that the young horsemen received without shame from their king; let us add that in this time of easy morality, they had no more shame towards their mistresses, and that the latter almost always left them precious and lasting memories, as if they had tried to conquer the fragility of their feelings by the strength of their gifts.
We then made our way through women without blushing. Those who were only beautiful gave their beauty, and this is probably the proverb, that the most beautiful girl in the world can only give what she has. Those who were rich also gave part of their money, and one could cite a good number of heroes of this gallant era who would not have won their spurs first, nor their battles afterwards, without the purse more or less. trimmed that their mistress attached to the tree of their saddle.
The context, as I read it, is about what woman have to offer the “young horsemen” – the point, I think, is that you can only give what you have. If all you have is beauty (even great beauty), that’s all you have to give. The context implies that this is a thing worth receiving, although money to aid you in equipping yourself for battle seems to have more practical value.
I like, “You can’t get blood from a stone” (although turnip would work as well, just not what I would say).
There’s also a bit of “a leopard can’t change its spots” there, n’est-ce pas?
In legalese, there’s the proverb nemo dat quod non habet (nobody gives what he does not have), a more elaborate version of which is nemo magis juris transferre potest quam ipse habet (nobody can transfer more of a right than he himself has). Both variants (in their Latin wording) are occasionally cited in English legal texts. The meaning of it is that if a right is transferred to someone else, the transferee cannot get more than what the transferor had, and in particular that the transferee will take the ceded right with all defects and deficiencies that it had when it was held by the transferor. I’m sure the French proverb, speaking about la plus belle fille du monde, has a more romantic association than this rather mundane legal meaning, but I was still reminded of it.
the original text refers to a practice of the early XVII century, in Paris, France in the three musketers.
Young men, of low nobility, were coming to the Capital, looking for adventure and career. Money, they had not. But handsome they were. And at the time, young women (married or not) were more than ready to have an affair.
the richest of them provided gifts to their “mignon” lover, up to horses, jewelry, clothing, weaponry.
the poorest could only give what they had: their beauty (and remember this is France, so sex is around the corner)
The meaning is that every gift was well received and you can’t expect to have more that is available.
You could do worse than Epictetus: “If you undertake a role which is beyond your powers, you both disgrace yourself in that one, and at the same time neglect the role which you might have filled with success … Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright: if He wishes the play to be short, it is short; if long, it is long; if He wishes you to play the part of a beggar, remember to act even this role adroitly; and so if your role be that of a cripple, an official, or a layman. For this is your business, to play admirably the role assigned you; but the selection of that role is Another’s.”
To add to the notion of accepting what is available and making the best of it, the turnip saying could be extended to “You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip, but you can put it in the stew.”
Thanks Frenchdunandan. That puts a more positive spin on the matter than “you can’t get blood out of a stone”(at least to my ears) I’m curious how the French use Dumas’ proverb. Do they use it (if at all) in the sense you suggest or in a slightly more negative sense?
I’m not an expert on français, but I will ask tomorrow to some colleagues. The proverb is not widely used.
I would agree that “You can’t get blood from a stone” (never heard the turnip version) has a bit more negative connotation than I think is intended here. To me, at least, “blood from a stone” has a sense of parsimony, a sense of someone being unwilling, not just unable, to give something. I think Dumas’s meaning is more neutral.
Some context from the novel might help. I looked at a couple of different editions of the book (working in a library, it’s easy for me to do that 
). The passage appears near the beginning of Chapter 11. D’Artagnan is daydreaming about Mme. Bonacieux, his landlord’s wife, with whom he has fallen madly in love. She is the “young woman” whom d’Artagnan is hoping will send a messenger bearing a gift and an invitation to a secret rendezvous (this is what Google Translate above awkwardly renders as “some appointment ticket”). So he is not thinking of some hypothetical young woman, but of a particular young woman whom he loves. This would suggest that he intends the proverb to apply in a positive way.
D’Artagnan goes on to reflect that while he has nothing, Mme. Bonacieux is rich (or at least, has a rich husband). Nevertheless, he assures himself that this is not the reason that he’s interested in her, that his motives are more pure and noble. Although in my reading, Dumas seems to hint that d’Artagnan would not be averse to any of her money if it happened to come his way.
Still, the overall tone of the passage is one of a man thinking about a woman he loves, and I wouldn’t think that the proverb was meant to be taken negatively in this context.
Amusingly, Dumas adds that during all this fantasizing about Mme. Bonacieux, d’Artagnan gives M. Bonacieux “no thought at all.”
Thanks MrAtoz. Perhaps, equating “La plus belle fille du monde ne peut donner que ce qu’elle a” with ( and adjusting for the context) “No girl can give more than she has” should be interpreted much less cynically. Offering herself to d’Artagnan is a sincere and done in good faith. There is no hint of parsimony or unwillingness to give it her all to get his attention. I’m still trying to find out how the proverb was actually used. It may be dated in modern French usage. Still, it would interest me to know.
God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Balzac writing his editor in 1829:
[My poor and unhappy publisher! The most beautiful girl in the world can only give what she has. I work all day on the Physiology of Marriage, I give only six hours at night (from 9 to 2) to Scenes from Private Life, for which I have only to correct the proofs; my conscience is clear.]
Thank you DPRK. I think you nailed it!
So more like “I/you/they are giving it my/your/their all, and no one may sensibly ask more of anyone than that.”
Love this — thanks. “Bloom where you’re planted.” I needed this advice/reassurance right now.
Well, now I’m glad that I’d responded with mere sincerity instead of a quip about ¡Three Amigos!