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

B

The diviner does not ask for yesterday's sacrifice.

The busybody is not there yet; but he is on his way.

When one becomes old, one stops warring.

If we compare notes with others, we wind up eating bile.

If one eats with a youth on the farm he stares at the protrusion of one's nose.

If one prepares pounded yams, the uninvited should depart.

One admits to one's limits; one does not cease speaking to one's relatives-in-law.

One arrives according to one's worth; a horseless person does not arrive with the noise of hoofs and stirrups.

One dies according to one's weight; the robin does not die and make a resounding noise “on hitting the ground.”

If someone wets the bed, each person should know where he or she slept.

If one says that a matter now lies in the hands of the Ifá priest the Ifá priest says it lies in the hands of Ifá; if one says that it lies in the hands of the venerable medicine man the venerable medicine man says it rests in the hands of the god of herbs; if one says it rests in the hands of the formidable moslem priest he says it is in the hands of God the most glorious.

If one has not acquired one garment after another, one does not call one a rag.

If one cannot throw a Nupe man in a wrestling match, he should not throw one.

If one does not go to the farm of lies, lies are not told against one.

If one has not been false, one does not die in disgrace.

If one has not yet sat down, one does not stretch one's legs out.

If one is yet unable to build a house, one makes a tent.

If one lacks the wherewithal to act like a father to a child, one does not summon the seller of bean fritters.

If one lacks the means to reject suffering and attempts to reject it, one's suffering simply multiplies.

The heights one will reach keeps one from evil deeds; the ordained limit to one's greatness keeps one from doing good deeds.

If an elder does not do something fearful, the youth do not flee.

Unless an elephant had swallowed something, it would not turn its bloated stomach to the hunter.

When the dog sees the eyes of the leopard, it keeps very still.

When the wife has got to know the husband, the marriage broker makes way.

If life is being good to one, one is liable to act disgracefully.

If the chief is turning somersaults, the messenger should be found standing erect.

If a person says there is no one like him/her, wise people maintain a contemplative silence.

If a tick fastens on to a dog's mouth, does one ask a jackal to dislodge it?

If a tick clings to a fox's nose, it is not a chicken that will remove it.

If a leopard does not act mighty, one refers to it as a cat.
(A person who acts beneath his station loses some respect.)

If the person offering a sacrifice does not invite one, intruding is not proper for one.

When a courtier seeks disgrace, he asks, “What can the king do?”

If the fire gets at the stew, the stew will burst into speech.

Were it not for the fact that they were brought transported together, what would a goat want in the chicken's stall?

But for a person of filthy habits, who would wake in the morning and not wash his or her face clean?

If I die on account of a farm, I will lay my case before the hut; if I die on account of bananas, I will lay my case before the river; if I die on account of the famous woman with facial scarification, I will lay my case before my head.

If it has been three years since the leopard took ill, is it a monkey that one sends to ask its condition?

It is by its flight that the parrot proves itself a formidable bird.

Whether the corpse is distended or is not, one should ask the heir of the dead.

When the eyes see, the mouth remains quiet.

If the eye does not see, the mouth says nothing.

If the thief feels no shame, members of his household should.

Even though the host's eyes are tiny, and the guest's eyes are huge, it is the host who holds sway over the guest.

If the owner of a yard does not die, his yard is not overgrown with wild grass.

If the owner of the food is reluctant to share, one disgraces him by refusing to eat.

When the year is done, the bọnnọbọ́nnọ́n tree changes its color.

When the market disperses, only the head of the market women remains; only the venerable elders remain; when Ifá has had his say, the genius that consults him arises.

When a goat's day “to die” arrives, it says there is nothing a butcher can do to it.

If a lazy man cannot fight, he should be able to die disgracefully.

If God does not make one a father, one strives to act like an elder.

If a youth attempts to act like an elder, his age will stop him.

If a child ascends the height of maturity, he/she must become wise.

When a child is being a child, an elder must remain an elder.

If a child brags a great deal, but has no father, one acts the part of a father.

Even if the goddess Ọya sings in heaven and the god Ṣango sings on earth, matters cannot be so bad for the father that he will say it is all up to his dead child in heaven.

38. Diviners hold back some of the items they prescribe for sacrifice for their own use.  [Back to text]

39. This is apparently the plaint of a man besotted by his attraction to a woman.  [Back to text]

40. The proverb refers to the Yoruba belief that the dead have the power to protect their living survivors. Normally, though, the living look to the spirits of dead elders for such protection, never to the spirits of their dead children.  [Back to text]