Pieter Bruegel (Proverbs)

 

Pieter Bruegel the elder - Twelve proverbs [1558] -

Antwerp, Museum Mayer van der Berg -

The Dutch inscription reads as follows:

Vat ick vervolghe en geraecke daer niet aen,

ick pisse altyt tegen de maen.

A somewhat more literal translation (contributed by Jan):

Whatever I pursue, I cannot reach it,

I keep pissing against the moon.

It essentially means “to waste one's time on a futile endeavour”