"a cat may look at a king"

Question

What about this one: "a cat may look at a king" = meaning "An inferior isn't completely restricted in what they may do in the presence of a superior. "

Any idea as to how to translate this saying into Spanish?

Thanks,

Carole

Answer 1

Hm,

Thanks for all your answers. I guess this proverb has no exact equivalent in English. “Cuando el juego acaba, el rey y el peón vuelven a la misma caja". This one is somewhat similar, that's true.

Answer 2

I think you could say it literally this way:

Un gato parezca como rey.

The machine translators don't show the "maybe" part of that, but it's there.

Of course you could say, "Es posible que un gato parezca como rey" but I think that's more than you wanted to say.

And, too, your sentence may have a Spanish equivalent. So I hope you get more answers than mine.

hola novio, pues no, en español eso no tiene sentido - 00494d19, Nov 12, 2010

Besides, it's "look at" not "look like" (very different in English). - samdie, Nov 12, 2010

Oh! I completely misunderstood the English! jaja. I thought she said, "look like". So... knowing that, how did I do? - Goyo, Nov 12, 2010

Answer 3

refranes

It doesn't have English translations though.

Answer 4

conveying a similar idea I like this proverb:

“Cuando el juego acaba, el rey y el peón vuelven a la misma caja".

another, old saying: Debajo de mi manto, al rey mato. (Don Quixote) Meaning we are all free to think whatever we want but not always free to express it.