in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

English

Alternative forms

• in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
• in the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
• in the city of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
• in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

Etymology

Calque of Latin in regione caecorum rex est luscus, popularized by Desiderius Erasmus’ Adagia (1500). For further origin compare Aramaic בשוק סמייא צווחין לעווירא סגי נהור (literally “in the street of the blind, the one-eyed man is called the guiding light”), found in the Genesis Rabbah (4th or 5th century CE). This may be Erasmus’ direct source, but at least some traditional link between both forms seems likely.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Proverb

in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

1. Even someone with limited abilities or opportunities is dominant over, and considered special by, those who have even fewer abilities and opportunities; the value of any ability depends on its prevalence.
   • 2025, “Rogue”, in Duél, performed by Jinjer:

     Their bread tastes like rock / Joining circles of the dead / As I am drinking all the sewage / Of the damage they call help / In the land of the blind / The one-eyed^[sic] is a king / He plants in their empty pots / Ugly rotten seeds

Translations

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

• Arabic: الأعور في أرض العميان ملك (al-ʔaʕwaru fī ʔarḍi l-ʕumyāni malikun)
• Armenian: կույրերի երկրում միաչքանին արքա է (kuyreri erkrum miačʻkʻanin arkʻa ē)
• Bengali: অন্ধের রাজ্যে কানা লোকই রাজা (ondher rajje kana lōkoi raja)
• Catalan: al pais del cecs, el tort és el rei
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蜀中無大將，廖化作先鋒 / 蜀中无大将，廖化作先锋 (Shǔ zhōng wú dàjiàng, Liào Huà zuò xiānfēng), 山中無老虎，猴子稱大王 / 山中无老虎，猴子称大王

• Czech: mezi slepými je jednooký králem (cs), mezi slepými jednooký králem (cs)
• Danish: i de blindes land er den enøjede mand konge
• Dutch: in het land der blinden is eenoog koning (nl)
• Esperanto: inter blinduloj, reĝas strabuloj
• Finnish: sokeiden maassa yksisilmäinen on kuningas
• French: au royaume des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois (fr)
• German: unter den Blinden ist der Einäugige König (de)
• Greek: στη χώρα των τυφλών, ο μονόφθαλμος είναι βασιλιάς (sti chóra ton tyflón, o monófthalmos eínai vasiliás), στους τυφλούς, βασιλεύει ο μονόφθαλμος (stous tyfloús, vasilévei o monófthalmos)
• Hebrew: בממלכת העיוורים שתום העין הוא מלך
• Hindi: अंधों में काना राजा (andhõ mẽ kānā rājā)
• Hungarian: vakok között félszemű a király
• Indonesian: di negeri orang buta, seorang bermata satu adalah raja, di tanah orang buta, seorang bermata satu adalah raja
• Italian: nella terra dei ciechi beato chi ha un occhio
• Japanese: 鳥無き里の蝙蝠 (ja) (とりなきさとのこうもり, torinaki sato no kōmori, literally “bat of a birdless village”), 鳥なき島の蝙蝠 (とりなきしまのこうもり, torinaki shima no kōmori)
• Korean: 무호동중이작호(無虎洞中狸作虎) (muhodongjung'ijakho), 눈 먼 자들의 나라에서는 애꾸눈이 왕이다. (nun meon jadeurui nara'eseoneun aekkununi wang'ida.)
• Latin: in regione caecorum rex est luscus
• Malayalam: മൂക്കില്ലാ രാജ്യത്ത് മുറിമൂക്കൻ രാജാവ് (mūkkillā rājyattŭ muṟimūkkaṉ rājāvŭ, literally “in the land of the noseless, the broken-nosed man is king”)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: i de blindes land er den énøyde konge

• Persian: در شهرِ کوران، یک‌چشم پادشاست (dar šahr-e kurân, yek-čašm pâdešâst, literally “In the city of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!”), خرس در کوه بوعلی سینا است (xers dar kuh bu'ali sinâ ast, literally “In the mountains, the bear is Avicenna”)
• Polish: w kraju ślepców jednooki jest królem n
• Portuguese: na terra dos cegos quem tem um olho é rei, em terra de cegos quem tem um olho é rei
• Romanian: în țara orbilor și chiorul e împărat
• Russian: в стране слепых одноглазый — коро́ль (v strane slepyx odnoglazyj — korólʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у земљи слепих, ћорави су краљеви

  Latin: u zemlji slepih, ćoravi su kraljevi

• Spanish: en el reino de los ciegos, el tuerto es el rey (es)
• Swedish: i de blindas land är den enögde kung
• Tabasaran: курарин гьюкуматдиъ саб ул айир ву паччагь (kurarin hjukumatdiʾ sab ul ajir vu pač̄ah)
• Tagalog: sa lupa ng mga bulag, ang naghahari ay pisak, sa bayang walang marunong, ang naghahari ay ulol (literally “in the country without the wise, the fool reigns”)
• Tamil: புலி இல்லாத ஊரில் பூனை தான் இராஜா (puli illāta ūril pūṉai tāṉ irājā)
• Telugu: గుడ్డిలో మెల్ల (guḍḍilō mella), గుడ్డి కన్నా మెల్ల మేలు (guḍḍi kannā mella mēlu)
• Thai: ในดินแดนของคนตาบอด คนที่มีตาข้างเดียวคือราชา
• Turkish: körler ülkesinde tek gözü olan kral olur
• Ukrainian: в країні сліпих одноокий — король (v krajini slipyx odnookyj — korolʹ)
• Urdu: اندھوں میں کانا راجا (andhõ mẽ kānā rājā)
• Vietnamese: thằng chột làm vua xứ mù

Further reading

• Desiderius Erasmus on Wikiquote.Wikiquote