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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

On a toujours besoin d’un plus petit que soi

English translation:

A mouse may be of service to a lion

Added to glossary by PFB (X)
Dec 17, 2005 18:23
18 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

On a toujours besoin d’un plus petit que soi

Non-PRO French to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
From a marketing brochure for an international property development company (quotation marks are in the original text):

>, certes mais un petit minutieux, sérieux, soucieux des intérêts de ceux qu’il sert. Ces qualités propres à [company XXX] sont celles que ses clients révèlent à travers les pages de ce livre.

This seems to me a French maxim they are referring to, but does anyone know an English equivalent? Or have any suggestions for a translation (something about needing a little helper)?
Proposed translations (English)
4 A mouse may help / be of service to a lion
3 +6 we all need a little helper
3 We all need a miniature version of ourselves

Proposed translations

24 mins
French term (edited): On a toujours besoin d�un plus petit que soi
Selected

A mouse may help / be of service to a lion

Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Rat", taken up by many authors, among whom Jean de la Fontaine who wrote a fable called "Le lion et le rat", from which your sentence comes.

A detail: the original La Fontaine line says:... souvent besoin...

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Note added at 31 mins (2005-12-17 18:55:10 GMT)
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Found this in my Oxford Dic of Proverbs: ;-)))
1563: The mouse may sometyme help the Lyon in nede. O prynces seke no foe.
1732: A Lyon may come to be beholding to a Mouse
1842: A mouse may help a lion, as the fable says.
1935: I only offer to show my gratitude by doing what I can. A mouse may help a lion.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you Philippe for the reference, and Josephine and Robert for the suggestions. I will see if I can incorporate the fable allusion to make sense for the target audience (as Josephine suggested)."
14 mins
French term (edited): On a toujours besoin d�un plus petit que soi

We all need a miniature version of ourselves

Note: deliberate use of second-person to avoid dilemma of sexist language (him/herself)

"...who will be more detail-oriented, serious, carefully regarding our own interests.

An idea.

Bonne chance.
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+6
47 mins
French term (edited): On a toujours besoin d�un plus petit que soi

we all need a little helper

Philippe's reference to the fable is, of course, spot on, however it may prove difficult to carry through into the rest of the sentence. You really do need a referenc eto size. So I think you could develop your idea of a "little helper" which to me (and so hopefully to other English speakers) evokes "Santa's little helper". Whereas I think the reference to De la Fontaine is not going to be clear to your target audience.
Peer comment(s):
agree PFB (X) : Oh, I see... All right then!
6 mins
Thanks, Philippe.
agree Peter Shortall : I thought of Santa the minute I read this (though not Aesop, philistine that I am!)
1 hr
Well, it's that time of year.....
agree sarahl (X) : I was thinking along the lines of the cat in the hat but this one is even better!
1 hr
Well it was Sylvia's idea, really.
agree poly (X)
4 hrs
Grazie!
agree Kate Hudson (X)
4 hrs
Thank you
agree Michele Fauble : C'est Michèle. :-)
11 hrs
Thanks Michele (by the way is that a male or female given name? As Italian is one of your langauges I wondered.
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