Meaning & Analysis
One should visit the fish market early in the day and the butchery later, since fish is best when freshest and meat can be kept longer.
Insights
Timing and Opportunity
The proverb advises that success often depends on acting at the right time—some opportunities (like fresh fish) must be seized early, while others (like meat) are less perishable and can wait.
Prudence and Judgment
It counsels discernment: knowing the nature of the things you seek allows you to plan your actions wisely, distinguishing between what is urgent and what can be deferred.
Historical Symbolism
In pre-modern Europe, fish spoiled rapidly and commanded the best prices and quality early in the day, while meat was more resilient. The proverb encodes practical market wisdom, rooted in daily experience of perishable goods.
Broader Application
Though literal in origin, the saying is widely adaptable—urging strategic thinking and timely action in all endeavors, from commerce to social life.
Psychological Dimensions
The proverb speaks to the value of anticipation and planning, but also warns against unnecessary haste—urging people to recognize which matters require prompt attention and which do not.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The opposition between 'early' and 'late,' and 'fish market' and 'butchery,' sharpens the proverb’s practical advice and makes it memorable.
Parallelism
The proverb’s balanced structure reinforces its message and aids recall, using repetition of phrasing to draw out the contrast.
Ellipsis
The omission of explicit reasoning requires the listener to supply the logic, engaging the audience and embedding the wisdom through inference.
Transcription
Quotations
Betyme in the Fishe shambles, and late in the Butcherie.
Betimes in the fish-market, and late in the butchery.
Go betimes to the Fishmarket, and late to the shambles.
Go to the Fish-market in the morning, to the Shambles in the evening.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.