when the cat's away the mice will play

English

Alternative forms

• while the cat’s away the mice will play, when the cat's away

Proverb

when the cat’s away the mice will play

1. In the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances.

Translations

in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 山中无老虎，猴子称大王 (cmn), 山中無老虎，猴子稱大王 (cmn) (shānzhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng) ("When there're no tigers in the hill, the monkeys are emperors.")

• Czech: když není kocour doma, myši mají pré (cs)
• Danish: når katten er ude, spiller musene på bordet (da)
• Dutch: als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel (nl)
• Esperanto: kiam kato promenas, la musoj festenas (eo)
• Estonian: kui kassid läinud, on hiirtel pidu (et)
• Finnish: kun kissa on poissa, hiiret hyppivät pöydällä (fi)
• French: quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent (fr), le chat parti, les souris dansent (fr)
• German: ist die Katze aus dem Haus, tanzen die Mäuse auf dem Tisch (de)
• Greek: όταν λείπει η γάτα χορεύουν τα ποντίκια (el) (ótan leípei i gáta chorévoun ta pontíkia)
• Hungarian: ha nincs otthon a macska, cincognak az egerek (hu)
• Italian: quando il gatto non c'è, i topi ballano (it)
• Japanese: 鬼いぬ間の洗濯 (ja) (おにいぬまのせんたく, oni inu ma-no sentaku)
• Khmer: ឆ្មា​មិន​នៅ កណ្ដុរ​ឡើង​រាជ្យ (km) (cmaa mɨn nɨv kɑndol laəŋ riec)

• Korean: 고양이가 없으면 쥐가 살판이 난다 (ko)
• Latin: audacem reddit felis absentia murem (la)
• Norwegian: når katten er borte, danser musene på bordet (no) (when the cat’s away, the mice are dancing on the table)
• Polish: gdy kota nie ma, myszy harcują (pl)
• Portuguese: quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa (pt)
• Romanian: când pisica nu-i acasă, joacă șoarecii pe masă (ro)
• Russian: без кота мышам раздолье (ru) (bez kotá myšám razdól’je)  (without the cat, it’s freedom to the mice)
• Serbo-Croatian: где мачке у кући нема ту мишеви коло воде (sh), gde mačke u kući nema tu miševi kolo vode (sh)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gaž jo kócor z domu, ga maju myšy swóju wólu

• Spanish: cuando el gato no está, bailan los ratones (es)
• Swedish: när katten är borta, dansar råttorna på bordet (sv)
• Telugu: రౌతు మెత్తనైతే గుర్రం మూడు కాళ్ళ మీద పరిగెత్తుతుంది (te) (rautu mettanaitē gurraṁ mūḍu kāḷḷa mīda parigettutundi)
• Vietnamese: vắng chủ nhà, gà vọc niêu tôm (vi)

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 367.