> >Not just the sexual subtext ("Who would pick cherries must first learn to
> >climb trees") but a medieval resonance.
> >
> is this a real proverb? And is it English: I would love to see the
> connection between Brecht's cherry thief and this "motto".
Erminia:
I googled myself on this:
"He who likes cherries soon learns to climb" -- German [sic!] proverb.
There are five hits, none giving more than that.
Dunno what the original German was (Martin?) or how it got into English. ***
As to sexualised flowers, there's the medieval quatrain (I quote from
memory):
All nicht bi the rose, rose
All nicht bi the rose I lay I lay
Ich dar noght the rose steal,
And yet I bure the flower away.
Robin
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