Literal translation
who cannot do better lies with his own wife
Meaning
for lack of better, one sleeps with one's own wife
Explanation
This resigned, popularly toned and slightly cheeky proverb states that, lacking anything better, one makes do with what one has, illustrated here by the husband who, unable to find better, lies with his own wife. The clause qu mies noun pòu èstre (who cannot do better) sets the condition, the absence of a superior alternative, before the second part draws the practical, somewhat jaded conclusion. The proverb reflects a cheerfully cynical popular wisdom about the compromises of marriage and daily life, where one accepts without illusion what circumstances impose, giving up what one would ideally wish for. Its tone, tinged with conjugal self-mockery, belongs to the oral, jesting register of evening-gathering sayings, meant to raise a laugh more than to moralize sternly, and illustrates a common use of the Provençal proverb as a mischievous comment on the small frustrations of married life.