Si souhaits fussent vrais, pastoureaux rois seraient. If wishes were true, shepherds would be kings. (If wishes would bide, beggars would ride.)
Si tu as la tête de beurre, ne te fais pas boulanger. If your head is made of butter, don’t be a baker.
Si tu ne le peux dire, si le monstre au doigt. If you cannot say it, point to it with your finger.
Si vous lui donnez un pied, il vous en prendra quatre. Give him a foot and he’ll take four.
Six choses au monde n’ont mestier: prestre hardy, coüard chevalier, juge convoiteux, puant barbier, mère piteuse, rogneux boulengier. Six things have no business in the world: a fighting priest, a coward knight, a covetous judge, a stinking barber, a soft-hearted mother, and an itchy baker.
Sois vraiment ce que tu veux qu’on te croie. Be truly what thou wouldst be thought to be.
Soleil qui luisarne au matin, femme qui parle latin, enfant nourri de vin, ne viennent point à bonne fin. A glaring sunny morning, a woman that talks Latin, and a child reared on wine, never come to a good end.
Son cheval a la tête trop grosse, il ne peut sortir de l’écurie. His horse’s head is too big, it cannot get out of the stable.
Songes sont mensonges. Dreams are lies.