In English
“the good fowl says it's going to market but never gets there”
Meaning
The fine, plump fowl boasts it is going to market, not knowing it is being carried there to be sold and killed. Someone confidently expects one outcome while a very different fate awaits them — a caution against boasting about plans whose real end you cannot see.
Examples
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Him a brag bout di promotion, but dem plan fi cut him; good fowl seh him a go a market, but him neva reach.
He's bragging about the promotion, but they plan to cut him; you don't always see the fate awaiting you.
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Nuh boast too early — good fowl seh him a go a market, but him neva reach.
Don't boast too early — things may not end the way you expect.
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She sure she winning, but see how it turn; good fowl seh him a go a market, but him neva reach.
She was sure she was winning, but see how it turned out; a confident boast can meet a different end.
Origin
A market image: a well-fed yard fowl is the one chosen to be carried to market and sold — it 'goes to market' in a way it never imagined. A figure for unseen fate behind confident expectation.
How it’s used
Used to warn against boasting about outcomes you cannot foresee.