ProverbPerseveranceDutch origin

Als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put

Meaning: People take precautions only after the disaster.

Literally: When the calf has drowned, they fill in the well

Example: “Pas na het ongeluk kwam er een verkeerslicht. Als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put.” — They only put up a traffic light after the accident: shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 3 more languages

  • English: Advice comes too late when a thing is done.
  • French: À chose faite, conseil pris (literally: When a thing is done, advice is taken)
  • Spanish: A burro muerto, la cebada al rabo (literally: When the donkey is dead, the barley at its tail)
  • Japanese: 後の祭り (Ato no matsuri) (literally: After the festival (too late to be of use))
  • German: Rat nach der Tat kommt zu spät (literally: Advice after the deed comes too late)
  • Italian: Dopo il fatto il consiglio non vale (literally: After the deed, advice is worthless)
  • Portuguese: Casa roubada, trancas à porta (literally: House robbed, then bolts on the door)
  • Russian: После драки кулаками не машут (Posle draki kulakami ne mashut) (literally: You don't swing your fists after the fight)

Origin: Pieter Bruegel painted it in his Netherlandish Proverbs (1559). In the 16th century the version was about a drowned child; the calf came in later.

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