Quelle est l'origine de cette expression ?
Quelle est l’origine de l’expression « How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child » ?
Cette expression vient du Roi Lear de Shakespeare, 1605.
LEAR: It may be so, my lord. Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear! Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend To make this creature fruitful! Into her womb convey sterility! Dry up in her the organs of increase; And from her derogate body never spring A babe to honour her! If she must teem, Create her child of spleen; that it may live, And be a thwart disnatured torment to her! Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth; With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks; Turn all her mother’s pains and benefits To laughter and contempt; that she may feel How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child! Away, away!
[Qu’il en soit ainsi. Écoute, nature ! Rends-la stérile, ou que son enfant soit plein de fiel, un tourment qui la fasse souffrir comme d’une dent de serpent, pour avoir un enfant ingrat !]
Lear maudit ainsi sa fille ingrate, comparant sa douleur à la morsure d’un serpent.