Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.»
Word for word
Raise crows and they will take out your eyes.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Nurture a snake in your bosom and it will bite you.
Warns that helping ungrateful people will backfire, as they may betray or harm you. Used when someone has been betrayed by a person they helped raise or support.
Hear it in a sentence
Le di todo a mi sobrino y ahora me robó; cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.
I gave everything to my nephew and now he robbed me; raise crows and they'll peck out your eyes.
More Spanish sayings
- El que mucho abarca, poco aprieta. — Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
- Hoy por ti, mañana por mí. — Today you, tomorrow me: we help each other.
- Obras son amores y no buenas razones. — Actions speak louder than words.
- Al que al cielo escupe, en la cara le cae. — Don't spit into the wind.
- El que a hierro mata, a hierro muere. — Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your level.