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

E

“I am hungry” is not a message that whistling can convey.

A dog does not eat a bone tied to its neck.

Lying Ìbídùn, who greets a masquerader with, “It's been quite a while!”

The devious will reap shame in the future.

The devious person builds a house and it collapses; the treacherous person builds one and it tumbles in ruins.

Only a devious person knows what he or she is about; each person alone is privy to what he or she has done.

A person who has children must be responsible; one who does not must know how to behave.

You came to buy yam-flour; how did a kid find its way into your calabash?

The guest does not pay homage to the chief, only to the host.

When flies were eating (biting) the Jagùnnà Àró heard nothing of it and the Ọ̀dọ̀fin knew nothing of it; but when the Jagùnnà began to eat flies Àró heard, and the Ọ̀dọ̀fin knew.

Ear, hear the other side before passing judgement.

The same ears that heard about the departure will hear about the return.

The goat says it does not set aside any house as an enemy's; whoever it has offended should ask it why.

12. Ìbídùn is a woman's name, and women are forbidden to confront masqueraders. Moreover, no-one, male or female, is supposed to know the identity of the carrier of the masquerade, except for the initiates of the eégún (egúngún) cult, usually men.  [Back to text]