翻译: 一鸟在来自手胜过百鸟在林A bird in the hand i360问答s worth two in the bu其云笔茶sh

It's better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one th老延钱技必at may come to nothing.

This 16th century proverb is one of the oldest and best-known in English. It warns aga通烟厚inst taking unnecessary risks - it is better to keep what you have (a bird) than to risk getting more and ending with nothing (two birds out of your reach).

This proverb, like many others, warns against taking risks and suggests that you should keep what you have and not risk losing it by going after mo烧肥市核钟re. The other 消岁坚略reading of the meaning is that it r也千缺及东刑应efers to mediev举全此血任茶战久额育al falconry w宪供菜充斤何在源英该取here a bird in the hand (the falcon) was a valuable asset and certainly worth more than two in the bush (the pr且积显责权从些ey). It ma掉脱时田刚y well be that both of these meanings were intended by the coiners of this p雨密跟手先神双题水roverb, which may go some way to explaining why it has resonated over the centuries 环府视皮and is still in common use.

The first citation of the expression in print in its currently used form is found in John Ra么座y's A Hand-boo胞斗防晶能k of Proverbs, 钱边治双1670, in which he lists it as:

A [also 'one'] bird in the hand is worth two in t批状商若千酒换师气与西he bush

bird in handBy how long the phrase predates Ray's publication isn't clear, as variants of 内脸鲁诗拉it were known for centuries before 现走决转律紧1670. The earliest English version of the proverb is from the Bible and was translated into English in Wycliffe's version in 1382, although Latin texts have it from the 13th century:

Ecclesiastes IX - A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Alternatives that explicitly mention birds in hand come later. The earliest of these is in Hugh Rhodes' The Boke of Nurture or Schoole of Good Maners, circa 1530:

"A byrd in hand - is worth ten flye at large."

John Heywood, the 16th century collector of proverbs, recorded another version in his ambitiously titled A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:

"Better one byrde in hande than ten in the wood."

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Or, as the Czechs have it, 'a sparrow in the fist is better than a pigeon on the roof'.

right quoteThe expression fits well into the catalogue of English proverbs, which are often warnings, especially warnings about hubris or risk-taking. Some of the better known examples that warn against getting carried away by some exciting new prospect are: 'All that glitters is not gold', 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread', 'Look before you leap', 'Marry in haste, repent at leisure', 'The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley'.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bushThe Bird in Hand was adopted as a pub name in England in the Middle Ages and many with this name still survive.

English migrants to America took the expression with them and 'bird in hand' must have been known there by 1734 as this was the year in which a small town in Pennsylvania was founded with that name.

Other languages and cultures have their own version of this proverb, notably the Czech 'Lepsi vrabec v hrsti nez holub na strese' (A sparrow in the fist is better than a pigeon on the roof.).