Part 5: On consistency; honesty, openness, plain speaking, reliability

I

Even if it is flimsy, the thread of truth never snaps; even though a lie might the girth of an ìrókò tree, it inevitably crashes.

What one should ask is where the prince was attacked and flogged; one does not ask where the prince got the welts on his side.

It is in the same forest that a hunter hunts (or all hunters hunt).

The oil pot is ever found in a sitting position.

The pot is no shelter for the snail; all it does is trap the snail.

The tortoise's house is not large enough for it; the tortoise's porch is not large enough to receive visitors; the tortoise built its house and adds a porch at the rear.

The citizenry one goes abroad with is the one in whose ranks one remains.

The muslim fasts and swears he did not swallow his saliva; who is to corroborate his story?

The muslim says something and thunder rumbles; he says the Almighty is corroborating his statement.

Those who enter into a covenant must not betray one another; one person's counsel is not enough by itself.

Seven thrifling bottles; fewer than seven and one cannot endure the thought.

Whichever ìrókò tree becomes involved in treachery gets felled.

“Breathe not a word of it to anyone” denotes a lie; “Ask anyone you please” indicates the truth.

19. Ahun is the tortoise, and the designation is also applied to miserly people. The porch is the overhang of the shell above the tortoise's tail.  [Back to text]