Are there translations of these western proverbs?

[Pengyou]

I want to ask my primary school students to memorize these as part of their final exam but I know they will ask me what they mean. Are there lists of translated proverbs out there? It does not have to be these. If I can find a list of western proverbs or sayings that has already been translated I can very likely change my list. I choose these because they are short and seem to fit Asian life and values.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

A stitch in time saves nine.

A food and his money are soon parted.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A trouble shared is a trouble halved.

As you sow, so shall you reap.

Beauty is only skin deep.

Beggars can’t be choosy.

Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

[skylee]

Consider -

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - 千里之行始於足下

As you sow, so shall you reap - 一分耕耘一分收穫

Every cloud has a silver lining - 塞翁失馬焉知非福

[liuzhou]

A penny saved is a penny earned - 省一文等于挣一文. / 节约等于收创. / 积少成多,集腋成裘.

A stitch in time saves nine. - 一针及时省九针. / 趁旱缝一针,省得来日补十针. / 及时行动,莫等何题成堆. / 针不补,十针难缝. / 小洞不补,大洞吃苦.

A fool and his money are soon parted. 蠢人不聚财. / 傻瓜花钱快

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. 千里之行,始于足下. / 万丈高楼始于垒土

As you sow, so shall you reap. 种什么, 收什么. / 种瓜得瓜,种豆得豆.

Beauty is only skin deep. 美貌只是一层皮. / 美貌是外表, 素质更重要. / 不可以貌取人.

Beggars can’t be choosy. 乞丐哪能挑肥拣瘦. / 讨饭难拣嘴. / 身不由己, 只好迁就.

Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. 蛋未孵出, 莫数鸡雏. / 不要过旱乐观. / 不要指望得过旱.

Every cloud has a silver lining. 朵朵乌云衬白底, 黑暗尽处现光明. / 祸中有福. / 塞翁失马, 焉知非福. / 天无绝人之路.

Translations from here

[WestTexas]

How about "You can't polish a turd"?

[skylee]

consider 於事無補. or, if used on people, consider 爛泥糊不上牆 / 爛泥扶不上牆 / 爛泥扶不上壁.

PS - I think 集腋 alone is not correct. It should be 集腋成裘.

Also, am I right to think that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" is itself the translation?

[liuzhou]

PS - I think 集腋 alone is not correct. It should be 集腋成裘.

Indeed. A typo. Now corrected.

[Pengyou]

Thanks!

[Lu]

Note that these are not 'western' proverbs but English ones. There are a lot of different western languages and they tend to have some proverbs in common, but there are also a lot of language-specific ones (which you will find out, for example, when you talk to a Dutchman who thinks he knows better English than he does and translates Dutch proverbs word by word). Also, the 'journey of a thousand miles' one is from the Daodejing.

[陳德偉]

Skylee is right, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" is already itself a translation of the Chinese 千里之行，始於足下. It's taken from the ancient book 道德經.