Hara ga Hette wa Ikusa ga Dekinu (腹が減っては戦ができぬ - An Army Marches on Its Stomach)

Hara ga Hette wa Ikusa ga Dekinu

In my post yesterday, I introduced the phrase 'onaka ga heru' (お腹が減る), which means "being hungry" and is also called 'hara ga heru' (腹が減る).

There is a proverb that uses this word, 'hara ga hette wa ikusa ga dekinu' (腹が減っては戦ができぬ).

Since 'ikusa' means "battle" and 'dekinu' means "cannot," the literal meaning of this proverb is "You cannot do battle when you are hungry."

Here, "battle" implies various jobs and things, and this provern says that you need to sate your hunger first to do anything.

腹が減っては戦ができぬ

昨日は "being hungry" を意味する「お腹が減る」（「腹が減る」とも）という表現を紹介しました。

「腹が減る」を使ったことわざに、「腹が減っては戦ができぬ」があります。

「戦」は "battle"、「できぬ」は "cannnot" を意味するので、このことわざの文字どおりの意味は "" となります。

ここで "battle" は、さまざまな仕事・物事を示唆しており、このことわざは何をするにもまずは腹ごしらえが必要ということを表しています。

• Here, "battle" implies various jobs and things, and this provern says that you need to sate your hunger first to do anything.
• Here, "battle" implies various jobs and acthivitiengs, and this proverbn says that you need to satisfye your hunger first to do anything.