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

A

We lop off the hyena's right fore limb; we lop off the hyena's left hind limb; the question is, who will face it now?

One should not attempt to scare an old “woman” with a huge penis.

One does not fall from a prone position.

One is never so fortunate at daily thievery that it matches owning one's own things.

One never trades with other people's eyes and profit.

One does not easily or casually take the child from the palm-nut.

One does not hear the thud of a falling leaf.

One does not, despite knowing where one is going, suffer a constricted neck from one's heavy load.

One does not say there is a time for the market; if it were so, why would people continuously patronize it?

One does not carry the ọ̀jẹ̀ masquerade and yet affect bashfulness; the mendicant's eyes must always be like flint.

One does not conduct one's feud with an animal in a half-hearted manner; if one finds a snail one hits it with a matchet.

One does not scratch the ground for the chicken to find food.

The more one weeds ẹ̀kukù the more it sprouts leaves; the more one tramples aṣẹro the more it grows; the more one rails against Ògún the more he thrives.

We make circles round the mahogany bean tree, but it is too much to handle; we make circles around the baobab tree, but it is too much to handle; we makes circles around the well, but it is nothing to jump into in anger.

“We know not what God will do” keeps one from committing suicide.

A giant rat is killed on an okra farm and thrown it into a sack containing okra leaves; the giant rat has arrived at its home.

The needle will pass before the way of the thread is blocked.

He who summons others to render him communal help seeks enemies.

Nursing mother, enemy of the barren woman; working person, enemy of the idler.

The pregnant woman delivered; her sides are much eased.

Bat, who slept by the orange tree, found no orange to pick, let alone parrot who said it came over very early at dawn.

Adékànḿbí is not contesting a title; he is merely asking a question.

The aftertaste of the bitterleaf is sweet.

One's delight in a cloth costing a hundred and forty cowries is over; one spreads it out to show to seven people, one finds seven lice, and on the seventh day it is torn.

He-who-eats-corn-meal-with-bean-fritters does not know the virtues of stew.

The wind does not blow against the liquid inside a coconut and cause it to spill.

Glaring wildly does not bespeak manliness.

Blowing from all directions is how one blows at a fire “to kindle it”.

The chameleon is not a thing to eat in one's mouth.

The Catholic missionary is not in the pay of the British administration.

It is an elder who lacks the authority to send a child on an errand who tells the child to go fetch water so they could drink it together.

A foster child does not become one's own child.

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

It is completely that smoke fills the forest.

It is completely that the feet take over a path.

Despite all difficulties, the animal àgbaǹgbá sprouts prominent horns on its head.

It is not the flood that will make away with the river.

It is completely that goitre takes over the neck.

A farmer remains on the farm and sees the moon.

Groaning-internally is how an antelope groans; rumbling-internally is how a leopard rumbles, the grunts of a pig stay inside the pig.

He-who-places-his-hopes-on-inheritance delivers himself to destitution.

Baying-and-surviving is the fate of the deer; whenever a deer bays, on that day its death is averted.

Not standing still is what is described as dancing.

It is not-having-attained-the-age-for-losing-one's-teeth that makes one cover (the mouth) with one's hand.

A domesticated dog does not know how to hunt.

The snare does not snare a cat's paw.

A dog that will chew dried corn must be brave; a cat that will eat a frog will dip its face in water.

It is an agile dog that kills a squirrel.

The dog looks at birds with eyes full of disdain.

Wealth throws a person away like a stone.

Eating without adverse effects is the vulture's way of consuming sacrificial offerings.

You who have fallen into the dungeon, do not be impatient to arrive home; when the toad drops into a pit it cannot be impatient to get out.

The sit-tight person denies the tentative sitter a place.

Familial obligations do not extend to diseases; let each person look well to his or her arms.

He-who-plucks-the-African-locustbean-tree-seeds-to-sell spends death's money.

The arrow for a warthog is a major project; an ordinary poison has no effect on the cat.

Scorpion says that its status transcends what-type-of-insect-is-this?

The scorpion travels accompanied by venom.

For the exceptionally brave person the proper profession is warring; for the gregarious person, trading; the illustrious he-goat, even when it is poor, finds enough to eat.

It is completely that goitre takes over the throat.

The cock crows, and the lazy person hisses.

The chameleon has given birth to its young; inability to dance is the responsibility of the child.

She who borrows a wrapper-skirt to wear is not home free; the owner of the cloth will take it back come tomorrow.

A person with cross-bows in his eyes cannot kill an animal.

The lizard that fell from atop the ìrókò tree without breaking its limbs says if no one admires his feat, he will do the admiring himself.

It is the owner of the body that elevates the body; when a chicken wishes to enter the porch it stoops.

He-who-can-fight-but-cannot-fight-for-long, the equal of a coward.

The lump is only the head's visitor.

One's arms are one's relatives; one's elbows are one's siblings by the same mother.

The potsherd lives on the farm but does not decay.

Killing-without-recourse is Orò's way of killing trees.

It is a bald person that may be disdainful of the razor.

A person who waits patiently for a long time before eating will not eat unwholesome food.

Scooping a spring dry does not stop more water from collecting.

A body cannot be too heavy for the owner to lift.

My body can endure chills, and can endure coldness.

The huge sik-cotton tree belittles the axe.

A subordinate military officer who is audacious is the equal of his superior.

Having an opportunity to act is also having an opportunity to tell stories.

It is only the noise of the whirlwind that reaches heaven.

Àro stayed so long on the farm that he forgot how to beat the drum.

It is the person in a hurry who studies the complexion of the day.

The kite does not snatch chicks in secret, it snatches them openly.

The kite cannot swoop down and carry off a goat.

The kite looks long at the tortoise; the eagle looks long at the tortoise; what can the hawk, father of the kite, do to the tortoise?

The kite looks slyly at the snail, but its shell stops the bird from snatching it.

The kite watches the monkey but has no hands to carry it off.

The secrets of the hyena's being will not be revealed through the actions of the dog.

One's palm does not deceive one.

The space is never so tight that a chicken will not be able to reach its incubating nest.

1. The child in this case is the soft nut in the shell.  [Back to text]

2. It is not in the nature of leaves to crash.  [Back to text]

3. The ọ̀jẹ̀ masquerader engages mainly in begging for gifts.  [Back to text]

4. There is a play on the word apá, which is the name of a tree, Afzelia Africana (Ceasalpinaceae) (See Abraham, 57), and the word for “arm.” The expression, apá ká a, meaning, “the arms can enfold it,” means that one can deal with it. Both apá (the tree) and oṣè are reputed to be inhabited by powerful spirits, and to be favored as venues for witches' covens.  [Back to text]

5. Ọ"wẹ̀ was a traditional means of assuring a large work force for large projects; people pooled their resources to help a colleague in need on his farm. The custom is to provide such help when asked, but that does not obviate secret grumblings.  [Back to text]

6. The proverb is based on a deliberate misinterpretation of the name. It is the contraction of the sentence, Adé kàn mí bí, meaning, “It is my turn to give birth to a person destined to wear a crown.” The proverb takes the name to be a contraction of the sentence, Adé kàn mí bí? in which the word “bí” is taken not to be the verb “to give birth to,” but the interrogatory, “is it that?” In many instances, succession to Yorùbá chieftaincies is contested by many aspirants.  [Back to text]

7. Ewúro, bitterleaf, is one of the most popular stew vegetables. It is very bitter to the taste, and all of its juice must be squeezed out before it is cooked. Although it is bitter at first taste, its aftertaste is quite pleasant.  [Back to text]

8. The proverb plays on the number seven. Ogóje is a contraction of Ogún méje, seven twenties, i. e., a hundred and forty; that many cowries represent an inconsiderable amount in traditional monetary terms.  [Back to text]

9. Dogs' teeth are not made for chewing corn; a dog that will chew corn must, therefore, have fortitude. Likewise, a cat with a taste for frogs must pay the price.  [Back to text]

10. Orò is one of the traditional mysteries of the Yoruba.  [Back to text]

11. Àro is one of the titles of the secret order of Ògbóni; the proverb suggests that the member, from lack of practice, has forgotten the funerary rites of the order.  [Back to text]