Ngày dưng thì chẳng chắp gai, đến khi có cá mượn chài ai cho
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
When you're in need, nobody helps, but when you're successful, everyone asks for favors
Khi cần giúp đỡ, không ai giúp, nhưng khi thành công, mọi người đều xin giúp
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Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-07; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Ngày dưng thì chẳng chắp gai, đến khi có cá mượn chài ai cho” mean?
When you're in need, nobody helps, but when you're successful, everyone asks for favors Literally: When the day is calm, no one gathers shrimp, but when there's fish, everyone borrows a net
Is “Ngày dưng thì chẳng chắp gai, đến khi có cá mượn chài ai cho” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.