Part 2: On perspicaciousness (good judgment, perceptiveness), reasonableness, sagacity, savoir-faire, wisdom, and worldly wisdom

E

I am hungry and the soap seller hawks her wares; when I have not washed my inside, how can I wash my outside?

The Ijeṣa person is not hungry and he rejects corn-loaf prepared by an Ọ̀yọ́ person; when hunger gripped the son of Obokun (an apellation for Ijeṣa people) he ate ori(the Ọ̀yọ́ name for corn-loaf.)

The muslim is not hungry and he vows he will not eat a red Colobus monkey; hunger gripped Suleiman and he ate a monkey.

The Ẹ̀gbá masquerader must needs speak Ẹ̀gbá. [55]

It is the masquerader that succors one that one makes shrouds for; it is the god that succors one that one worships; if a tree succors me, I will take kolanuts and worship the tree.

The masquerader that will perform like Lébé must become like Lébé; the one that will sumersault like Olúfolé (meaning “Great-One-Jumps-A-House”) must perform his feat in the open spaces.

A snake sees a tight hole and crawls into it; has its mother hands to pull it out?

The seller of steamed ground beans does not hawk her wares on a farm.

How much does a hen cost that one would contract to raise chicks for the owner?

I-will-court-no-woman-being-courted-by-another-man will court no woman at all.

I-will-not-defecate-on-existing-excrement will walk a good distance into the bush.

Curses are the antidote for curses.

It is palm oil that goes best with yams; it is a ladder that is best for climbing granaries; a woman is more pleasant to make love to than a man. [58]

Palm-oil is the countenance of stew.

All one does with ayò seeds is play.

A wayfarer does not know the location of the rest stop and yet have his neck crushed from the weight of a heavy load.

Intention is the eldest, contemplation is the next, and plan of action is the third.

Order is the first law in heaven.

A goat is not a wise choice as the guard over yams.

(To) what turned out favorably for those going ahead, you coming behind, pay close attention.

55. This is another designation for the people of Abẹ́òkúta and their language.  [Back to text]

56. An alárìnjó (itinerant dancer) type.  [Back to text]

57. People sometimes would agree to raise domestic animals for other people in the hope of sharing in their litter.  [Back to text]

58. The proverb obviously speaks from a man's point of view.  [Back to text]

59. The Yoruba believe that the more palm-oil goes into a stew the better the stew.  [Back to text]