Bête

Morte la bête, mort le venin. Dead men tell no tales; dead dogs donʹt bite. When one is dead his power of mischief is over. Literally, if the beast is dead, its poison is dead also.

Quand Jean-Bête est mort, il à laissé bien des héritiers. Casimir Delavigne says to the same effect, Les sots depuis Adam sont en majorité. Jean-Bête means a fool or dolt.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.