Part 1: On humility, self-control, self-knowledge, self-respect, and self-restraint

A

We prepare the saddle, and the goat presents itself; is it a burden for the lineage of goats?

You have been crowned a king, and yet you make good-luck charms; would you be crowned God?

By dancing we take possession of Awà; through fighting we take possession of Awà; if we neither dance nor fight, but take possession of Awà anyway, is the result not the same?

We lift a saddle and the goat (kin) scowls; it is no burden for a sheep.

One does not share a farm boundary with a king without getting one's feet gashed by the king's hoe.

One does not get angry with the rubbish dump and discard one's rubbish into the bush.

One does not get angry with one's head and therefore use one's cap to cover one's buttocks.

One does not so fear death and disease that one asks that one's child die before one.

One does not sacrifice to a god in the presence of a house rat; otherwise, when night falls it invades the rafter shelves.

One does not become an adult and yet lack courage; one lives life as it finds one.

One does not lay one's hands on a load one cannot lift.

One does not set the day for an orò rite and then ignore it.

One does not keep quiet and yet misspeak; one does not silently contemplate the world and yet get into trouble.

One does not arrive at Màrọ́kọ́ ahead of the litigant.

One does not carry debt around one's neck and live like a dandy.

One does not use one's finger to clean one's ear passages, use it to pick one's nose, and then use it to pick one's teeth.

One does not liken one's fortune to Mokúṣiré's; if Mokú dies in the morning. he resurrects at night.

One does not come by yam-flour because of one's importance; only people who have yams can make yam flour.

One cannot be given the title “eagle” and yet be incapable of snatching chickens.

One does not carry alms beyond the mosque.

One never hears “Beat him/her up” in the mouth of an elder.

One cannot be wiser than the person for whom one will consult the Ifá oracle.

One cannot be as wise as “I-am-the-owner.”

One is never as wise as the person deceiving one.

One cannot be as wise as “Thus-will-I-do-my-thing.”

One does not so luxuriate in one's majesty that one shits on oneself.

One does not bear the title of gatekeeper even until night time.

One does not live fashionably on borrowed money.

One does not so hate the bush rat that one sets one's farm hut alight.

One does not teach an elder that what has been crushed should remain crushed.

One does not divorce a horse rider and go marry a pedestrian.

One does not shoosh the mouse in one's house and break one's hand.

One does not treat one's own sore and yet cry from the pain.

One does not presume to know Òjó's mother better than Òjó himself does.

One does not presume to know the way to or around a garden better than the owner of the garden; one always follows the person who brought one.

One never knows how to present it like the owner of the case.

One does not farm a plot by the road and neglect its care; every dog and goat would ridicule one.

One does not offer to second a combatant in spite of one's negligible strength.

One does not know that one has covetousness; it is one's kin who so inform one.

One does not summon the wife and so involve the go-between.

One does not enjoy the designation “He Goat” and yet sport a smooth (horn-less) head.

One does not join a monkey in roaming the bush.

One does not conclude for the person who says “Ẹ̀ẹ́dẹ́ . . .”

One does not get out of the way for “I used to ride a horse!”

One does not get out of the way for a person who rode a horse yesterday.

We group yams in lots and the fruit of the sausage tree drops among them; does it count as complement to a lot, or as gratuity?

One helps to catch a chicken and scrapes one's knees; having laid one's hands on the chick will one not hand it over to the owner?

One shows deference to the dog's owner, and the dog thinks the deference is to it. [4]

His hand is being severed, yet he is slipping on a ring.

One seeks a person with a prominent back as suitor for one's daughter, and the humpback presents himself; who spoke of protruding back?

People say that Tanlúkú is a poor dancer, and Tanlùkù comes to his aid.

His loincloth is being stripped from behind, yet he is stripping those of the people ahead of him.

We speak of stealing and a pregnant woman intervenes; she herself is concealing a whole person.

We lament Awúgbó's plight; Awúgbó does not lament his own plight.

We seek a person to give a child to (in marriage) and a worthless person presents himself.

People are scheming to shake an imbecile from their company, and he asks that they wait for him on reaching the bank of the river.

Without having a wife a person spares oóyọ́ [7] to grow; if it flourishes it is destined to be food for goats.

One does not know what the seller of gbégbé leaves was selling before she started complaining about the slow market.

One does not know what Dárò owned before he claimed to have been robbed.

You are described as the child of the elephant that swallows coconuts, and you rejoice; are you the one who swallows coconuts?

“Its likes have been seen before,” is what the host says; “No one has ever seen its likes before,” is what the guest says; if the host says that we should empty the plate, the guest should argue for leaving a little.

We saw other trees in the bush before we settled on ọ̀mọ̀ [9] for making drums.

The funeral is over, but the calabash beater does not take his leave; does he want to inherit a wife?

The termite is only striving; it can never eat a rock.

A guest does not warm himself by the fire; a priest or priestess does not sleep in the cold; a delicate egg does not live in a crowd; the same house was built for all three.

He-who-eats-with-one-without-self-restraint; he breaks off morsels like his mother's senior.

He who asks the way does not lose his way.

A-child-that-was-never-taught-how-to-behave; a-child-that-was-taught-but-that-refused-to-heed-instruction; it is from outside the home that he will learn wisdom.

A volatile-tempered person secures food for a mild-tempered person.

A pregnant woman does not dance to bẹ̀m̀bẹ́ music; pendulous-stomached woman.

Half a snake does not live in a burrow.

The arrogant person is not arrogant for nothing; if his mother is not wealthy, his father must be rich.

Mouse-that-does-not-know-its-place; it says that since the day the cat delivered (a baby) it has not gone to offer congratulations.

The younger person does not give the older person history lectures.

Your junior brother (or sister) buys clothing for you, and you say you will not wear anything with bean-grits patterns; who has the right to opt for clothing with a bean-fritter patterns?

Start-something-it-cannot-finish dove that makes bombastic noises.

The white chicken does not recognize itself as an elder.

A chicken does not give birth to a multitude of chicks and die of the exertion.

The chicken that shits and does not piss retains the rest in its body.

The red-flanked duiker, desperate to claim relationship, says that its mother was born of a crested duiker.

Death-feigning-beetle flirts with death.

The leper says he may not be able to squeeze out milk, but he can spill it.

The leper sees a mad person and dashes into the bush.

The leper said two things, one of them being a lie; he said after he had struck his child with his palm, he also pinched him severely with his nails.

The deaf does not hear,“Make way!”

Resisting-while-being-pulled is the proper behavior for a bride; if she is pulled and she does not resist, something is the matter with her.

The only thing a slave cannot eat is something not available in the market.

Fashionable woman of Ààre, she cocks her oil jar with a rag, and she expects good people to buy oil from her.
(Never compromise on cleanliness and good character.)

It is a finicky person that eats iwọ; [18] it is a sagacious person that eats kolanut; it is someone not squeamish about what he eats that eats awùsá. [19]

Unusual-fashionable-person, the preener anoints herself with camwood without taking a bath.

The fashionable person enters the market and walks in a leisurely manner; the filthy person enters the market and walks in a sluggish manner; it is the filthy person that will carry the fashionable person's load to the house for him or her.

The moth (that) tries to put out the barbecue fire: the meat becomes more plentiful.

The moth that attempts to kill (put out) the oil lamp will kill itself.

The blind person who shuts his eyes and says he is asleep, when he was not asleep whom did he see?

It is a person who is both incapable of thought and shameless that dances to bàtá music while in poverty.

The nimble, sprightly rat fell victim to the trap, how much more the sluggish, sickly mouse.

It is the person taller than another who shows no respect for the other.

A grown dog does not deface its skin.

A muslim elder does not throw a sheet over his shoulder for clothing.

An elderly person tried it “something” in the river Ògùn; the river goddess carried him away.

A grown person does not scratch his buttocks in the early morning without showing some whiteness.

An elderly person does not engage in the type of play that provokes the comment, “What brought all this about?” [22]

An elderly person does not perform rituals like a youth.

An elder is not present at a market and permit a child's head to rest askew.

It is an empty barrel that is noisy; a sack full of money makes no sound.

An elder that has no substance should have cunning.

It is an elder who does not know his limitations that is washed away by a river.

An elder without self-respect might as well have only one eye, that one eye being in the center of his forehead.

An elder courting disgrace, after his head has been shaved he says, “Now, how about shaving the beard (as a gratuity)?”

An elder who insults a youth makes a present of his own insult.

It is an elder who delivers himself unto youths that the youth will insult.

An elder who is wary of disgrace will not play at stealing.

The elder who escapes into his inner chamber because of forty cowries: two hundred cowries are not enough for casual spending.

Borrowed trousers: if they are not too tight around the legs, they will be too loose; one's own things fit one exactly.

The elders of the town will not assemble and eat the intestines of a bush-rat, only stale pounded yams.

Worthless elderly person who is eating corn gruel worth one tenth of a penny, he says he only wants the hot water on top of it.

The elderly crab that enters into a bucket; it is thoroughly disgraced.

An elder should not behave in an unbecoming manner.

An elder does not wash his hand and then decide to eat more.

An elder does not rejoice in a manner that would provoke, “What brought all this about?”

An elder who does not greet the Ààrẹ tries a “hanging” rope for size.

An elder who climbs palm-trees: if he crashes from the tree he will find himself in heaven.

An elder who wears the garment of immoderation will find disgrace because of it.

The rain flood ruins the path believing that it is repairing it.

What strength does the calabash have at its disposal that makes it attempt to scoop up all the water in the ocean?

It is an overreaching kite that proposes to eat snails.

The cockroach overreaches itself when it says it will dance in the company of chickens.

The bird only attempts the impossible; it cannot drink the milk in a coconut.

The overreaching mud idol that asked to be put in the rain; as the arms fell off, so did the thighs; the rounded head could not support itself.

The tongue is the border of the mouth.

Lack of regard for a person during the day makes one kick the person during the night as one tosses restlessly in sleep.

Not-assuming-the-position-of-ruler-at-all is far better than, “My word is not heeded by the people.”

It is a deficiency of biceps that blunts the machete; if one has strong biceps one can cut trees with a cudgel.

It is inability to fight that prompts one to say, “My father's front yard does not extend this far.”

It is severe ignorance that prompts a mouse to challenge a cat to a fight.

It is the absence of people on the farm that brings one to conversing with a dog.

The leopard being away from home, the dog barks.

The cat being away from home, the house becomes a domain for mice.

The failure of the àbà tree to fruit brought the bird to eating garden egg; ordinarily birds would not eat bitter tomato.

A dog does not bark in the leopard's lair.

A dog does not go into the wild to hunt a leopard.

A dog is never so fierce that it can guard two doorways.

A dog knows excrement; a pig knows a mud pit; a turkey knows to whom to direct its fart.

A dog dares not go to a wolf's mosque to make ablutions.

The dog sees palm-oil but does not lick it; did its mother excrete palm-nut pericarp?

A dog that chases a leopard is seeking trouble.

The dog returns to its vomit.

The uncharacteristically spruced up partridge swells its chest.

The elephant does not break and run at the sight of dogs; a person with two hundred dogs dares not stalk an elephant.

Tortoise says there is nothing quite like expertise in one's calling; it says if it puts a palm-fruit into its mouth, it spits out a palm-nut.

Tortoise argues that it that might have farted is sound asleep, and, surely, those that sleep do not fart!

Tortoise set out on a journey and it was asked when it would return; it replied that it would be after it had earned disgrace.

It is a loosely hung net that teaches the fruit pigeon a lesson.

Feeding-without-leaving kills the Tullberg's rat; feeding-without-departing kills the spotted grass mouse; feeding-without-departing kills the máláàjú rat.

Eating-until-vomiting is the trait of the bat.

Eating-absolutely-everything, eating-with-abandon, eating with all ten fingers is unworthy of human beings.

Sitting-without-getting-up, speaking-without-waiting-for-responses, walking people on their way and not turning back, unpleasantness is what they breed.

The hedgehog does not live in the grassland, only in the forest.

The bow cannot fight, but who dares confront it with a stick?

Refusal-to-acknowledge-salutations enhances the god's dignity.

The rag knows its place; it remains quietly on the rafters.

Woodpeckers in the forest say they can carve mortars, frogs in the stream say they can string beads, and awúrebe say they can weave cloth.

An overly squeamish person owns nothing; raffia cloth is no good for trousers.

Dead, I will not eat its broth; alive, I will not send it on an errand.

The rooster shows its maturity by its early rising; it shows its lack of maturity by defecating on the floor.

It is the owner of the machete who exercises authority over mutual laborers.

A shameless person goes to die in his relative-in-laws' house.

A wearer of a battle-helmet does not flee from war.

A lizard does not boast that it will kill a snake.

The cricket arises in the morning and vows to perform wonders.

It is an overreaching dog that chases leopards.

The immoderate person, greatest of cowards.

It is an immoderate person who carries his offering past Èṣù's shrine; one-who-carries-his-alms-past-the-mosque.

The immoderate person easily finds disgrace; immoderation is the father of disgrace.

Overzealous wife that calls her husband “father.”

A person dressed in white does not sit at the stall of a palm-oil seller.

A person who has only one set of clothing does not bargain until he is wet.

A person who has only one set of clothing does not play in the rain.

The person who must settle his/her affair knows best how he/she plans to go about doing so.

The visitor does not take his/her leave and take the host along.

The visitor does not recount the history of the town for the host.

To be pursued does not become an elder; an elder does not cause himself to be pursued.

The dùndún player does not lead a song.

The àmọ̀tẹ́kùn looks like a leopard, but it cannot do what a leopard can do.

The lizard is not good-looking to start with, and it slips into indigo dye.

Yesterday the antelope was caught in a pit-trap; today the antelope is caught in a pit-trap; is there no other animal in the forest besides the antelope?

The mouse cannot get a grip on the awùsá nut; all it can do is roll it around.

Excessive ribbing unfailingly leads to a fight.

The fire is being most overbearing; there is nothing fire can do to water.

The termite is being most overbearing; a termite cannot eat a rock.

Calling a person “Mother of the Compound” is only a mark of respect; there is no mother in the compound who does not have a name.

Calling a person a foreman is only a mark of respect; nobody can be four men.

The bush dweller says he heard a rumour; who told him, if it was not a town dweller?

Restlessness, father of all diseases.

Something-seen-but-unmentionable, the man of the house shits in the sauce-pan.

Something-seen-but-unmentionable, the man of the house walks around with mucus dripping from his nose.

Fear of losing face within one's home dissuades one from eating day-old chicks.

The bead maker cannot fashion a shoe; the mortar carver cannot manufacture a shinbone.

When a kite hovers, a chicken does not hang on to an insect.

He-who-lives-in-style-but-pays-no-attention-to-his-armpits, both armpits are taken over with foamy filth.

Lack of moderation is the father of disgrace; disgrace comes of immoderation; a grown person who clothes himself in immoderation will find disgrace.

Denying-until-death is the way a venerable person denies a matter.

The newly emerged palm frond says it will touch the sky; did those that came before it do so?

Only an imbecile says there is no one else like himself; the likes of him are many more than several thousands.

Clothes washed clean make identifying the rich person impossible.

Whatever clothing one is left with is one's best.

A person who is mindful of his/her image is not easily disgraced.

Spreading-the-mat-without-rolling-it-back-up is the mark of the wealthy; sandals are the mark of the illustrious; if one sings one's praise too loudly one is liable to be made a king.

Borrowing-money-to-spend does not speak well of one; borrowed trousers do not become a person; if it is not tight around the legs it is difficult to remove; it is one's thing that fits one.

A priest one does not hit does not hit one.

One-who-enters-a-town-and-maintains-his/her-reputation does because he/she knows his/her place.

Àwúrebe says it can make a path; who would wish to follow a path it makes?

The Colobus monkey ate its fill one day, and asked that his front teeth be knocked out.

Cockroach and ant make ready for war and say they are off to capture chicken; we see their departure, but not their return.

The cockroach would ride a horse; it is the chicken that does not allow.

The cockroach would dance; it is the chicken that does not allow.

A cockroach does not trip an elephant; a human being does not trip a chimpanzee.

It is excessive rejoicing that breaks the frog's thigh.

Dancing to bàtá music and exposing one's teeth is excessive happiness.

1. Màrọ́kọ́ is a place name and the site of a court.  [Back to text]

2. The name Mokúṣiré means “I play at dying.”  [Back to text]

3. In Yorùbá numeration “ẹ̀ẹ́dẹ́ . . .” indicates a certain amount (or figure) “less than ...”; “ẹ̀ẹ́dógún,” for instance, is fifteen (five less than twenty), while “ẹ̀ẹ́dẹ́gbẹ̀rin” is seven hundred (one hundred less than eight hundred.).  [Back to text]

4. In Yoruba usage one would not use personal pronouns to refer to animals, even though Yoruba pronouns are not differentiated by gender.  [Back to text]

5. As the names suggest, the one is a virtual clone of the other; the aid the one offers will not make the other any better as a dancer.  [Back to text]

6. The proverb recalls the oríkì of Ògèdèm̀gbé, the 19th century Ìjèṣà warrior, which says, À ńlé e bọ̀ lẹ́hìn, ó ńlé ará iwájú lọ (He is being pursued from behind, and yet he is in pursuit of people in front.)  [Back to text]

7. Corcchorus Olitorius (Jew's Mallow) (Tiliaceae). See Abraham, 533.  [Back to text]

8. Gbégbé leaves are used for making charms that enable the user to transport himself instantly over long distances.  [Back to text]

9. Cordia Millenii (Boraginaceae), used for making bẹ̀m̀bẹ́ drums.  [Back to text]

10. Other trees may feel superior to ọ̀mọ̀ in other regards, but they cannot beat it as drum material.  [Back to text]

11. The calabash beater is someone employed to clear evil spirits ahead of the funeral procession by means of the charm-laden calabash.)  [Back to text]

12. All three propositions are similar; they indicate conditions that are inappropriate: that a visitor take over the seat by the fireplace, that the priest or priestess be without shelter, or that delicate eggs be crushed together.  [Back to text]

13. Bẹ̀m̀bẹ́ is a type of music named after the bass drum that it employs. The dancing to this type of music is close to stomping.  [Back to text]

14. Presumably ékuru is less desirable a meal than àkàrà; but the beggar cannot (or should not) presume to exercise a choice.  [Back to text]

15. White hair is associated with age, and the chicken's white feathers compare with white hair. The chicken, of course, is unaware of the implications of age among humans.  [Back to text]

16. The proverb was obviously suggested by the usual description of chickens as ọlọ́mọ-yọyọ, mother of a flock of chicks.  [Back to text]

17. The beetle in question plays dead whenever it is touched.  [Back to text]

18. Some substance from the brimstone tree, òrúwọ, whose sap is used in weaning children from breast-feeding, because of its bitterness. (See Abraham, p. 489.)  [Back to text]

19. The fruit of the vine, Tetracarpidium Conophorum. The English name by which people refer to it is walnut.  [Back to text]

20. The type of music is reserved for affluent people.  [Back to text]

21. The dry skin will be chaffed.  [Back to text]

22. This is identical in intent with, Àgbàlagbà kì í yọ ayọ̀-ọ kílóbáyìíwa?  [Back to text]

23. Babies are carried on their mothers' backs. When they fall asleep their heads may loll crookedly. Since the mothers cannot see behind them, responsible people are required to call their attention to the babies' crooked postures.  [Back to text]

24. The phrase, ní ẹsẹ̀ nílẹ̀, literally “to have feet on the ground,” means to have substance or influence.  [Back to text]

25. The prescription of stale pounded yams is a humorous twist, since even that is not the type of food that self-respecting people would choose to eat, although it is certainly better than rat intestines.  [Back to text]

26. Traditionally the Yoruba eat with their fingers, and washing one's hand after eating is a sign that one is done.  [Back to text]

27. This is identical in intent with, Àgbà kì í ṣeré-e kílóbáyìíwa?  [Back to text]

28. The kite is notorious for swooping down to grab chicks with its talons. The snail's hard shell makes it invulnerable to the bird.  [Back to text]

29. It is sometimes necessary for a person to share a sleeping mat with a superior. If one was in awe of the superior one would not forget oneself even in sleep.  [Back to text]

30. The proverb has added force because dogs are considered unclean by muslims, and they are not allowed near mosques. See, Ta ní ńjájá ní mọ́ṣáláṣí?  [Back to text]

31. For some reason the Yoruba consider the partridge an unfortunate and lowly bird.  [Back to text]

32. The woodpecker's habit has some slight resemblance to the carving of mortars, the eggs of frogs have some slight resemblance to strung beads, and the action of awúrebe resembles weaving, but in each case the product is not quite what humans have in mind.  [Back to text]

33. The owner of the machete in this case is the person on whose farm the mutual-help workers are engaged on this occasion. In the traditional mutual-help arrangement, the owner of the farm being worked on is the person in authority.  [Back to text]

34. Dùndún is a minor drum in the traditional “talking drum” ensemble.  [Back to text]

35. Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn is a type of leopard that the Yoruba consider inferior to the real leopard.  [Back to text]

37. The reference is apparently to an insect that makes paths in the sand.  [Back to text]