rikas ellää suureel rahal, a köyhä selkänahal

Ingrian

Etymology

Literally: "A rich man lives with big money, and a poor man with back skin", referring to the lashing of those who couldn't pay bills.

Compare Finnish rikas maksaa rahallaan, köyhä selkänahallaan.

Proverb

rikas ellää suureel rahal, a köyhä selkänahal

1. the rich go unpunished
2. the poor have to work for their money

References

• M. A. Bredis, E. E. Ivanov (2021) “Типология пословиц прибалтийско-финских народов России о богатстве и бедности (на европейском паремиологическом фоне) [Typology of proverbs of the Baltic-Finnish peoples of Russia about wealth and poverty (on the European paremiological material)]”, in Bulletin of Ugric Studies, volume 11, number 4, →DOI, pages 607-615