Meaning & Analysis
When collecting from a debtor who is unlikely or unable to pay their debt in full, it is wise for a creditor to accept any form of partial payment offered, even if it is goods of lesser value like oats, hay, or straw, rather than risk getting nothing at all.
Insights
Pragmatic Compromise
The proverb champions pragmatism over idealism. It advises that in any failing enterprise or broken agreement, it is better to accept a partial or imperfect outcome than to hold out for the ideal resolution and end up with nothing.
Something is Better than Nothing
It illustrates the principle that salvaging some value, no matter how small, is superior to a total loss. This applies to negotiations, projects, or relationships where the original goal is no longer attainable.
Managing Expectations
The act of taking oats instead of money symbolizes the necessary adjustment of expectations when dealing with unreliable people or unfavorable circumstances. It is a strategy for salvaging what one can from a bad situation.
Loss of Leverage
The proverb highlights a shift in power dynamics. The creditor, who should be in a position of strength, is forced into a reactive role, accepting whatever the 'ill debtor' offers. It is a lesson in recognizing when one has lost leverage.
Agrarian Economics
The proverb is rooted in a pre-modern, agrarian economy where payment in kind was a common alternative to scarce currency. Oats, hay, and straw represent low-value, bulk commodities, vividly symbolizing the least a creditor could hope to recover from a cash-poor or untrustworthy debtor.
Psychology of Loss Mitigation
The proverb offers a psychological lesson in overcoming pride and the desire for perfect justice. It advises a creditor to make a rational choice to mitigate a loss rather than letting emotion or stubbornness lead to a total default, a principle relevant in any negotiation.
Fragility of Trust
The annotation suggesting 'oaths' for 'oats' reveals a deeper layer of cynicism. In an era of weak legal enforcement, accepting a mere promise ('oath') from an unreliable person was the ultimate act of desperation, highlighting a complete breakdown of trust and tangible value.
Modern Financial Parallel
This principle is timeless, directly paralleling modern financial practices like accepting debt settlements in bankruptcy cases, where creditors agree to receive a fraction of the owed amount rather than risk getting nothing from a liquidated entity.
Rhetorical Devices
Synecdoche
The proverb uses 'oats, hay, straw' as a synecdoche, where specific, low-value agricultural goods represent the entire category of unsatisfactory or partial payments.
Implied Antithesis
The core meaning is conveyed through the implied contrast between what is rightfully owed (likely money or significant value) and what is actually received (animal fodder), starkly illustrating the creditor's compromised position.
Concrete Symbolism
The use of concrete, rustic imagery grounds the abstract financial principle in a tangible, everyday reality of an agrarian society, making the advice more memorable and evocative.
Transcription
Quotations
If Players get no better Atturnie to pleade their case, I will holde mee contented where the Haruest is harde, too take Otes of yl debters in parte of payment.
Of a bad paymaister better yet take straw then nothing.
Of evel debters men taks oats.
De mauvais payeurs foin, ou paille: Take any thing thats offered you by an euill debtor.
Of an euill Payer Men should take all what they can get of him.
Take either Hay or Straw from an ill Payer.
(men takes eattes).
Of an ill pay-master take any thing.
Good whats musty, from bad pay-masters.
From an ill debtor take hay or straw.
For a desperate debt take any satisfaction.
(take Oaths).
Cross References
Annotations
- That is, swearing to pay you such a Time: And Men must take these Promises when they can get no more.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.