Part 4: On perseverance, industry, resilience, self-confidence, self-reliance, resourcefulness, daring, fortitude, and invulnerability

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One may be diminutive, and one may be bald, but without debt one has not earned ridicule; only one's creditor has grounds to make fun of one.
(However much one might be devoid of accomplishments, as long as one stays out of debt one's dignity is intact.)

It is only on the day when the mother's bean fritters do not sell that one knows which child can consume large quantities of corn-meal.
(One knows the good worker not at the time of boasting but when there is work to be done.) [49]

On hearing about pounded yam he girded himself with cooked melon seeds for stew seasoning; on hearing about farm work he threw his cutlass away.
(The lazy person will eagerly heed the summons to eat, but not to work.)

You do not ride a horse by day, you do not ride people by night, and you do not make great exertions to achieve any goal; how could you have a say in saving the world from disaster?
(A person who makes no effort cannot affect human affairs.)

You did not slash the trunk with a cutlass, you did not shoot an arrow at the top of the palm-wine producing palm-tree, you come to the foot of the palm-tree and you raise your open mouth; does it drip all by itself?
(Said of people who expect to reap benefits where they have not made any effort.) [50]

“I was just on the verge of speaking my mind”: it only makes one into a coward.
(One should either engage or refrain from making excuses.)

It goes some way “in assuaging hunger”, saliva swallowing during a fast.
(Every little effort helps.)

You pray to live as long as Olúàṣo, but can you endure the trials of Olúàṣo?
(Whoever wishes for the sort of glory another person enjoys must also be willing to endure whatever tribulations the person has endured.) [51]

He split the kolanut pod open and also removed the bad among the seeds.
(Said of a person who has fulfilled an obligation with utmost completion.)

A woman who would marry a formidable man must have an unwavering mind.
(Once one has made one's decision on an important matter one should remain resolute.)

A slender woman is the joy of her husband on a day of dancing, but a hefty woman is her husband's joy on the day of yams quartered for planting; after she has totted a hundred yam pieces, she walks smartly “towards the farm” ahead of her husband.
(Good looks are not all that make a good wife.)

A person's ugliness is the god's doing; the person's lack of clothing is his/her own fault.
(Certain of one's conditions one must take responsibility for, but others one cannot take the blame for.)

The parrot never dies in the grazing field.
(A prayer that just as the parrot always returns home from grazing, the subject of the prayer will return home safely from a business venture away from home.)

A river does not so swell as to be over the head of the fish.
(A statement that an adversary at his most powerful can never pose a threat to one.)

A river whose source one knows does not carry one away.
(A person whose beginning one knows cannot pose a great threat to one.)

A river that swells in one's presence does not carry one away.
(A danger that one sees in the making should not befall one.)

A magical charm does not work from within its gourdlet.
(One cannot expect any benefit from one's resources without deploying them.)

War does not rage and destroy the home of the Asẹ́yìn.
(Certain personages are beyond the reach of misfortune.) [52]

An army does not see the rear of an(other) army.
(One should face one's adversary squarely.)

In all the twenty years that the cameleon has been in the throes of hunger, its dignified gait has not deserted it.
(The dignified person never allows him/herself to be ruffled by adversity.)

It is a mighty net that can trip the civet-cat.
(It takes extraordinary efforts or capabilities to accomplish extraordinary tasks.)

The chicken had something to eat before there was corn.
(A statement that one does not depend on somebody, since one survived before the arrival of the person.)

What one plants is what one reaps.
(Every action has its proper reward.)

Whatever one sows behind one is what one will return to find.
(One reaps whatever one sows.)

Whatever one hands to a warrior to look after is what he looks after.
(One should concentrate on the duty entrusted to one.)

Whatever sent the brown monkey climbing to the top of the thorny acacia tree: unless it sees something even more terrifying it will not climb down.
(It takes a threatened catastrophe to make one look kindly on minor inconveniences.)

Whatever caused the pawned worker to stay away from the creditor's farm, when the two come face to face he will have some explaining to do.
(Whoever shirks his/her duty will eventually have to explain why.)

The annual egúngún festival is not endless.
(Every condition ends some time.)

The shadow has no fear of the gully.
(A statement that one has no need to fear a harmless adversary.)

The shadow lacks substance but it never crashes.
(There may be more inner strength to someone who appears fragile.)

Were it to rain, what would the leper have planted? A leper's palm cannot scoop ten grains of corn.
(Said of people who blame their deficiencies on flaws in Nature.)

The rain may beat me, and the rain may beat my statue; the rain cannot wash away my good looks.
(Adversity will not get the better of me.)

The rain provides water for the lazy person; but it does not fetch firewood for the lazy person.
(Parasites can have only so much done for them, never everything.)

Rain beats the man carrying pounded yams wrapped in leaves, the pounded yams become water-logged; the wife awaits the pounded yams, the husband sleeps on the farm.
(When one fails to deliver on a promise, one is hardly able to show one's face before those one has betrayed.)

Òjó is victimized without recourse; a bully insults him, he goes to hide in the rafters, and his nemesis follows him there.
(Said of people who are powerless to stop being victimized.)

Rain beats the parrot and the touraco rejoices, thinking that the parrot's tail feather is ruined; the rain only makes the tail feather brighter.
(The occurrence one's adversaries hoped would destroy one only improved one's fortunes.)

A lazy person's illness is not soon over; the lazy person finds no way out and prepares a fire to warm his head.
(A lazy person will use every excuse to avoid any obligation, and when he cannot avoid it, his fulfillment of it is always pitiable.) [53]

The detractor's eyes glow red, but they cannot light a lamp.
(A detractor's slanderous efforts are in vain.)

“The look on my parent-in-law's face is baleful”; the worst he/she can do is take his/her daughter back.
(There sis a limit to which a benefactor's withdrawal of his/her beneficence can hurt one.)

The Akee apple is never so blighted that one does not find a seed in it.
(Whatever befalls one, one will be left with some residual property.)

The Akee apple is never so blighted that it does not eventually split open.
(Whatever misfortune might befall one, one would be able to do those things that are second nature.)

One only tries one's best; heroic deeds do not come easy.
(One's best is enough.)

The crab watches after its head with its eyes.
(One should have one's eyes open to protect one's interests.

Ten eyes are not like one's own.
(Seeing something oneself is far better than hearing a report of it from ten people.)

“We might see each other again” who sells his dog for twenty cowries and spent the money on pounded yams to eat.
(A footloose person will part with his valuables for little or nothing.) [54]

Other people's eyes will not look after matters for one.
(Other people will not take care of one's affairs for one.)

Other people's eyes are nothing like one's owń minders of other people's business are few.
(No one can look after one's affair as one would oneself.)

The eyes go red but do not go blind; the banana goes brilliant yellow but does not rot; a problem rattles one to one's foundations and lets one go; a problem that rattles one will not kill one.
(Every problem soon comes to an end in time.)

The eye looks on a filthy sight and does not go blind: “like” one who sustains a succession of sufferings without wasting away.
(With resilience one will overcome all problems.)

The lump that attacks the head is shamed, the boil is shamed, and the hardened tissue on the buttocks is shames also.
(Assertion of defiance in the face of adversity.)

The suffering that the babaláwo is experiencing is not something that leads to death; the hard times that the babaláwo is going through is one that leads to riches; the vicissitudes that now befall the babaláwo are ones that leave room for taking a bite of kola-nut.
(One's present troubles will lead to even better times.)

The eyes that have seen gbẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ have seen the ultimate in sights.
(Having passed the ultimate test, one will have little difficulty with lesser ones.) [55]

The eyes that have seen the ocean will not tremble at the sight of the lagoon.
(Once one has survived a grave peril, small inconveniences will not unduly impress one.)

Never a day dawns that the hand does not make a trip to the mouth.
(There are certain obligations that are unavoidable.)

The water lettuce always winds up on the surface of the water; the water-lily always wings up on the surface of the stream.
(Just as those plants remain on top of their habitats, so one will remain triumphant over one's adversaries.) [56]

It is from aloft that the bird sounds off.
(It is time for one to rise up.)

One cannot be bedeviled by two hills; if one ascends a hill, one descends a hill.
(Every hill one must climb has a descent on the other side.)

The giant bush rat turns its back at the place where he has a quarrel; after getting to the market it clamps its hands on its head.
(The moment and the place to act are when and where the matter is taking place, not when all is over and everybody has dispersed.) [57]

A dog's howling will not kill the moon.
(The threats of ineffectual enemies amount to nothing.)

Being widely reputed does not kill the moon; being noised about does not kill the vulture; wherever you please, make a noise about me.
(A statement that one is not bothered that people spread stories about one.)

The chicken is good at cultivating only the soil close by the home.
(Said of people who boast in the safety of their rooms but can do nothing once outside.)

Stone, hit a tree, stone retrace your steps and return to whence you came.
(Something of an incantation to send evil wishes back towards those who sent them.)

The corpse does not know the cost of the shroud.
(The person who does not have to pay the bills does not care how expensive the things he wastes are.)

A three-year-old corpse of is no longer a newcomer to the grave.
(In time a sojourner becomes a native.)

A lazy person's corpse does not merit a coffin.
(One does not receive in death a treatment one's life has not earned one; or, One reaps what one sows.)

The owner of the eyes will not neglect them and watch foreign matter lodge in them.
(One does not simply watch as one's interests are jeopardized.)

The rich person will not give his/her money to a poor person to spend.
(Generosity has its limits.)

The rich person is an expert at trading.
(Success comes from expertise.)

The Olúmọ of the Ègbá territory is impossible to carry.
(Some tasks are absolutely impossible.) [58]

A stagnant pool cannot carry off a cow.
(Some adverse situations are annoyances only, and pose no danger.)

It is the water that is spilled; the water gourd is not broken.
(A proverb usually used to console parents who have lost a child; the child is likened to the water, and the mother to the vessel.)

There is water in the long-necked calabash.
(One has resources that others might not know about.)

The water from a new spring will not cover a gourd to the top.
(An upstart cannot defeat a veteran.)

Water drags the sand about, and yet water lacks hands and lacks legs.
(One may not have a great deal, but one can nevertheless perform wonders.)

“It will all end some time today”: a lazy person's motto in a fight.
(The idler or shirker forced to perform some task is always eager for the day's end.)

Today, “I am leaving”; tomorrow, “I am leaving,” prevents the sorjourner from planting awùsá.
(Constant awareness of one's sojourner status prevents one from engaging in long-term projects, or establishing roots in a place.)

Today, a communal project; tomorrow group work on a somebody's farm; other people's work prevents one from doing one's own.
(Too many communal responsibilities take one from one's own affairs.) [59]

Detractors of others have no pestles; their mouths are their pestles.
(Detractors have no weapons other than their mouths.) [60]

It is he who has copper ornaments who must procure oranges; whoever has brass ornaments must procure the herb awẹdẹ.
(Each person must see to procuring whatever he/she needs.) [61]

The habitual debtor is already dead; except that he ha not yet been buried.
(A habitual debtor is no better than a dead person.)

The Ṣàngó worshipper knows not whose ground corn he is spilling.
(One cares not who is affected by one's actions.)

The owner of a habit will not go on a journey and leave his habit at home; when he goes he takes his habit along with him.
(One cannot escape from one's character.)

The person who does the trading is in the sun; the person who spends the money is in the shade.
(A criticism of people who expend no effort but take advantage of other people's exertions.)

The owner of the yams makes yam pottage out of the yams; the person who eats the yam scrapings off the peels is shamed.
(The parasite is shamed when the host finds a way to shut him out.) [62]

The head that wears a cloth cap strives to wear a velvet cap; the one that wears a velvet cap strives to become a king.
(Every one hopes for a better tomorrow.)

It is while at work that a clock dies.
(A vow never to stop working until death.)

A head is never so heavy that the owner cannot carry it.
(One should always be capable of taking care of one's affairs.)

A huge head does not go completely bald.
(The more one has in abundance, the more cushion one has against reverses.)

Other people's heads will not carry one's load for one.
(Each person must bear his own burden.)

There is no god that comes to the aid of shiftless people; only one's arms aid one.
(One's well-being is in the strength of one's arms.)

A crossroads where three roads meet is not afraid of sacrificial offerings.
(One does not fear any eventuality.) [63]

Night time is a farmer's time to stretch the back.
(As long as the day lasts there will be work to do.)

The sun has not risen directly above the head; working hands cannot cease their toil.
(The day is for working.)

The sun does not beat you, the rain does not beat you, and yet you say you are engaged in a gainful pursuit.
(Profitable labor is seldom pleasurable.)

The industrious person is the enemy of the shiftless person.
(People with flaws hate those who might show them up.)

The laborer is in the sun; the person who will reap the fruit is in the shade.
(Quite often those who labor are not the ones who reap the fruits of the labor.)

The farmer's hunger lasts only three months.
(The hardship an industrious person experiences does not last long.) [64]

A machete's trade does not kill the machet; a hoe's trade does not cause problems for the hoe.
(A person's forte does not constitute a problem for him/her.)

Wealth does not know who is the elder; it makes a senior of the younger person.
(Success does not depend on age or maturity.)

Money has no lineage; except for the person who will not work.
(Money does not restrict itself to certain families; only the shiftless are shunned by money.)

The trade that one will pursue and that will make one prosper does not leave scars on one.
(A pursuit that is destined to make one prosperous will not cause one unbearable hardship.)

Merchandise that one buys with money, one earns money for.
(One does not give away merchandise for which one paid money.)

The trade one will pursue is the one one protects; Òjí scratches his body with a razor.
(The gadgets people favor give away the trade they pursue.)

Other people's money is what the masquerader spends.
(The parasitic person always relies on other people's largesse.)

The white man is the past master of trading; money is the guarantee of fashionableness.
(Without money one cannot be fashionable.)

The white man sells merchandise with the name brand still attached; the Ègùn person sells cloth still in its bundle.
(One deals with matters wholesale, as it were, not in retail.)

49. Àkàrà and ẹ̀kọ are meals that most often go together.  [Back to text]

50. Palm-tees are tapped for wine by hacking off some of the leaves to expose the pulp at their base, and then punching a hole in the pulp from which the liquid drips into a container tied to the tree.  [Back to text]

51. Olúàṣo was a king (Aláàfin) of Ọ̀yọ́ reputed to have lived for 320 years and to have sired 1,460 children (Johnson 158).  [Back to text]

52. Asẹ́yìn is the title of the chief of Ìsẹ́yìn, a town north of Ọyọ́  [Back to text]

53. The point of lighting a fire to warm his head is obscure. The other possibility, dáná ori (meaning “offer a feast of corn meal”) would suggest a laughable endeavor, since ori (ẹ̀kọ) is not a particularly popular meal. Another possibility, equally problematic, is dáná òrí (“make fire using shea butter as fuel,” or “make fire for shea butter)”.  [Back to text]

54. “Ojú ò fẹ́rakù” is an expression people use on parting from one another; it means, literally; “Our eyes are not giving up the sight of one another.”  [Back to text]

55. Gbẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ is probably a corruption of Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́, a women's secret cult, since there is no word like gbẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ̀, as far as I know, in current Yoruba.  [Back to text]

56. Ojú oró is Pistia Stratiotes (Arcideae); and Òṣíbàtà is Nymphaea Lotus. (Abraham 463; 491.)  [Back to text]

57. The fight here refers to the circumstances in which the bush rat is captured. After hunters kill a giant bush rat they gut it and affix it to a stake, the stake running the length of its body, through the head, and, finally, through the fore-limbs which are clasped together above the rodent's head. A common gesture people visited by misfortune use is clamping their head in their hands.  [Back to text]

58. Olúmọ is an imposing inselberg in near Abẹ́òkúta.  [Back to text]

59. Ọ̀wẹ̀ and àro are traditional arrangements through which a group of people take turns working together on one another's projects.  [Back to text]

60. Awùsá is a creeper that yields fruits known locally as walnuts.  [Back to text]

61. The proverb refers to the materials needed for cleaning the metals.  [Back to text]

62. The preparation of ẹ̀bẹ (or àṣáró) leaves no yam remnant on the peels for a parasite to take advantage of; roasting and later peeling yams on the other hand, for example, would leave something for such a parasite.)  [Back to text]

63. The favorite spots for leaving sacrifices are crossroads, especially the confluence of three roads.  [Back to text]

64. The period between harvests (of some crop or another) is seldom more than three months.  [Back to text]