Ing. He is as poor as a church mouseEsp. No le alcanza la sal al aguaHe has not a penny left to buy an halter. He has no property, «ne in pelle quidem», not even in his skin. «Ne obolus quidem relictus est», he has totally dissipated and wasted his property, not a morsel, or the smallest particle of it remains. He is as poor as a church mouse. «Beg», Gratiano says to Shylock, «that thou mayest have leave to hang thyself»; «And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord; Therefore thou must be hanged at the state's charge». No le alcaça la sal al agua, «he is so poor», the Spaniards say, «that he hath not salt enough to season his water». Xenophon, in his dialogues, makes one of the interlocutors say, «he had not so much land as would furnish dust for the body of a wrestler».
