Brewer's: Mandrabul

From gold to nothing, like Mandrabul's offering. Mandrabul, having found a gold-mine in Samos, offered to Juno a golden ram for the discovery; next year he gave a silver one, then a brazen one, and in the fourth year nothing. The proverb “to bring a noble to ninepence, and ninepence to nothing,” carries the same meaning.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content