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

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Save face with members of your household and save face with complete strangers, such a person loses face with himself/herself.

A cow may not boast in the presence of a horse.

Lightning is no good for roasting yams.

“Were I at Ọ̀yọ́ I would own a horse by now”: he should have numerous sheep to his name in this town.

How large a community is Ejigbo that one of its settlements is named Ayegbogbo “The whole world”?

I have become old and wise, but childish play has not ceased to appeal to me.

Having grown old I miss youthfulness.

“I am beautiful, I am beautiful!” has ugliness as its conclusion.

“I am all-wise, I am all-knowing” kept the wasp from having as much venom as the bee.

“I am an expert horseman” is usually the one thrown by a horse.

“I know how to pound and I know how to marsh” is what causes pounded yam made with wateryam to be lumpy.

“I know it all” is the reason for Orò's carrying a man away.

“I am versed in Ọ"bàrà and versed in Ọ̀fún,” the boast that discourages àwòko from teaching ọ̀pẹ́ẹ̀rẹ́ Ifá verses.

“I am jealous of my dignity” does not hurl insults at others.

“I am full” means “I am full”; “I decline” means “I decline”; eating with abandon, that is the father of all greediness.

68. The idea is that the bee listened attentively to instructions on how to pack venom in its sting, but the wasp thought it knew it all.  [Back to text]

69. Orò is a secret divinity connected with the secret supreme political and juridical council known as Ògbóni or Òṣùgbo. His public outings are announced by the bull-roarer, at the sound of which women must go into hiding. A man who is not a member of the cult also runs the risk of being killed if he intrudes into its rites even accidentally.  [Back to text]