English translation: You may enjoy yourself, but there is always a price attached
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:
After dinner comes the reckoning
English translation:
You may enjoy yourself, but there is always a price attached
there seem to be many Russian websites discussing this phrase, and at least one of them refers to it as a line from Gone With the Wind. Is your question related to that discussion?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 hrs (2010-07-25 09:32:22 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
These are from the link above. They all seem to be another way of saying the same thing as the phrase you ask about:
"One cannot have pleasure either without working hard for it or without paying a lot after-wards.
If you dance you must pay the fiddler.
He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens.
He that would eat (or have) the fruit, must climb the tree.
No pains, no gains. [sic]
Love me, love my dog.
After dinner comes the reckoning.
You called the tune, now you must pay the piper.
You've made your bed and now you must lie on it.
He who likes skiing downhill must enjoy climbing uphill."
Suzan Hamer Netherlands Local time: 03:11 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
Reference information: "I went to another room to pay the reckoning, liberated King John from his second confinment, shook hands with my guests- and returned to my lodgings by no means out of humour or out of heart with the day's entertainment." The Gentleman's Magazine vol. 130 http://books.google.es/books?id=I_4RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA52&lpg=PA5... "To reckon" is an old verb for "summing up". Depending upon the situation, the "reckoning" can be another sort of settling accounts. More context is needed to know if it is being used in a straightforward or satiric manner.
Jenni Lukac Spain Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thank you, Jenni.
No context in this case. The saying stands on its own. Thank you.
The translation workplace 
