At the third cup, wine drinks the man.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Hokekyō Sho
Literally, "Man drinks wine. Wine drinks wine. Wine drinks man." A Buddhist Sanskrit text, quoted in Kojikotowaza Jiten [Dictionary of Traditions and Proverbs].
See also this Spanish proverb, Fitzgerald, and Piper.
Referenced by Edward Rowland Sill (1841—1887) in "An Adage from the Orient":At the punch-bowl's brink,
Let the thirsty think
What they say in Japan:
'First the man takes a drink,'
Then the drink takes a drink,
Then the drink takes the man!'


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