lose the sheep for a halfpennyworth of tar

См. также в других словарях:

• do not spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar — Ship is a dialectal pronunciation of sheep, and the original literal sense of the proverb was ‘do not allow sheep to die for the lack of a trifling amount of tar’, tar being used to protect sores and wounds on sheep from flies. Hog (quots. 1623… …   Proverbs new dictionary