The cat, when it cannot reach the lard, says it smells bad — the classic Sicilian version of sour grapes. When someone cannot obtain what they desire, they pretend they never wanted it and criticise it to hide their failure or envy.
This proverb has the vivid directness of a folk observation made in a kitchen or a farmyard — and that is exactly where it was born. Sicilian peasant life revolved around the rhythms of animals and food, and the cat stealing from the larder was a universal domestic scene. The image is perfect: the cat stretches, cannot reach, slinks away, and then sits with dignity pretending the lard was beneath it all along. Human beings do exactly the same with jobs they did not get, lovers who rejected them, social circles that excluded them. The Sicilian version is particularly sharp because it includes the detail of the smell — not just 'I did not want it' but 'it was bad.' The pretence is complete, the pride preserved, but the observer sees through it instantly. It is used affectionately and with mild mockery, never cruelly.
Sicilian dialect version of the universal 'sour grapes' concept (from Aesop's fable). 'Lardu' = lardo (lard/fat), 'feti' = puzza (stinks). Recorded in Pitrè's folklore collections.
After a man claims he did not really want a promotion he was denied
— Comunque quel lavoro non mi interessava davvero. — Certo. Lu gattu, quannu nun arriva a lu lardu, dici ca feti.
— Anyway I was not really interested in that job. — Of course. The cat, when it cannot reach the lard, says it smells bad.
A woman who was not invited to a party and now claims it was boring
Non mi hanno invitato e ora dice che era una festa orribile. Lu gattu, quannu nun arriva a lu lardu, dici ca feti.
They did not invite her and now she says it was a horrible party. The cat, when it cannot reach the lard, says it smells bad.
A student who failed to get into a university and now dismisses it
— Quella università è sopravvalutata comunque. — Lu gattu, quannu nun arriva a lu lardu, dici ca feti. Hai pianto per mesi quando non sei entrato.
— That university is overrated anyway. — The cat, when it cannot reach the lard, says it smells bad. You cried for months when you did not get in.
Gently teasing a friend who dismissed a girl who rejected him
— Non era poi così bella. — Lu gattu, quannu nun arriva a lu lardu, dici ca feti. Ieri la guardavi come se fosse la Madonna.
— She was not that beautiful anyway. — The cat, when it cannot reach the lard, says it smells bad. Yesterday you looked at her as if she were the Madonna.