Translation: “The donkey works twice”

Information Info

Age: 19

Date_of_performance: 02/16/2025

Informant Name:  YP

Language: English 

Nationality: Mexican

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: Spanish

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Text:

“The phrase I grew up hearing from all my relatives, but particularly my mom was: “el burro trabaja doble.” 

It’s a funny, straightforward saying and it essentially means to do things all the way right the first time, and don’t take shortcuts or else you’ll have to redo it. It’s basically telling you “don’t be lazy, you’ll regret it when you’re doing the same thing again, fixing your silly mistakes.” Whether I accidentally made my clothes pink cause I accidentally threw red shirt in with my white clothes or I failed an exam because i didnt go back and check my work, my family repeated this phrase to me over and over. At this point, it’s an engrained part of my life. Everything I do, I try to put in my best effort and make sure to take my time with things that I care about so I don’t have to worry about them again later. It’s simple, but it’s made me a pretty methodical person and I credit that to my mom and that saying. And every time I don’t go about my tasks thoroughly, it echoes back in my head that “el burro trabaja doble”

Analysis:
I never heard this proverb before, so I enjoyed hearing her talk about it and the history it has in her family. She mentioned to me before i started recording was that the translation comes off a bit funny ““The donkey works twice” and i would assume she is the donkey in this situation. It is a proverb that gets you thinking about not completely tasks just so it can be done with, but putting your best foot forward and completely it to the fullest extent and correctly. I feel like from the moment people enter high school there is so much pressure put on us that we need to rush to plan our future out in a second and we carry that rush into everything we do because it is ingrained in us that is is better to get things done in a fast way than in the correct way. This proverb could be a wake up call for people, to realize that it is better to take a step back and do things slowly and properly to avoid making mistakes we may regret. I’ll always take this proverb with me as I go through life and hold myself accountable for any mistakes I make because I was doing things quickly and without focus.