To continue with the topic of Spanish proverbs, today we focus on those that talk about or are related to water. Water is a fluid element that is essential to life, and as such can take on many different symbolic meanings. Add that to the natural creativity of a language and you will have a myriad of examples of popular wisdom.

Para seguir con el tema de los refranes en español, hoy nos centramos en aquellos que hablan de o se relacionan con el agua. El agua es un elemento fluido, imprescindible para la vida, y por ello adopta muchos significados simbólicos diferentes. Si añadimos la creatividad natural de cualquier idioma tendremos millones de ejemplos de sabiduría popular.

Video by seveinzepol

Water and the weather

Relámpagos al Oriente, agua para el día siguiente: Lightning to the East, water the next day.

Abril, aguas mil. / Abril, abril, tu agua para otro, tu sol para mí: April, a thousand waters (it rhymes in Spanish) / April, April, your water for another, your sun for me. Apparently, the English equivalent is April weather, rain and sunshine, both together.

Agua al mediodía, agua para todo el día: Water at noon, water all day long.

Cielo a corderos, agua a calderos: Sky of lambs, caldrons of water.

Si las orejas sacude la burra, aguas seguras: If the donkey shakes her ears, water for sure.

Norte claro, sur oscuro, aguacero seguro: Clear North, dark South, downpour for sure.

Agua y sol, tiempo de requesón; sol y agua, tiempo de cuajada: Rains and sun, time of cottage cheese; sun and rains, time of clurd.

Water and advice

Agua, barro y basura, crían buena verdura: Water, mud and waste, grow good vegetables.

Del agua mansa, líbranos Dios, que de la removida me libro yo: God, save us from still waters; from rough water I save myself. More idiomatically in English: God defends me from still water, and I’ll keep myself from the rough.

No bebas agua que no veas, ni firmes escrito que no leas: Don’t drink water you can’t see, don’t sign a text you haven’t read.

El que con agua se desayuna, es que con vino cenó: Whoever has a breakfast of water, must have had wine for dinner.

Agua que no has de beber, déjala correr: Those waters you will not drink, you shall let run. In English, there used to exist the following saying:  Scald not your lips in another man’s pottage.