Part 6: On consideration, kindness, and thoughtfulness

I

Ìbàjẹ́ iṣu nìbàjẹ́ ọ̀bẹ; ẹni tó ṣe ìbàjẹ́ èèyàn-án ṣe ìbàjẹ́ ara ẹ̀.
The blemish of the yam is the blemish of the knife; whoever besmirches other people's names besmirches his/her own.
(How one treats others reflects more on oneself than on the others.) [5]

Igbá olóore kì í fọ́; àwo olóore kì í fàya; towó tọmọ ní ńya ilé olóore.
The calabash of a kind-heated person never breaks; the china plate of a kind-hearted person never cracks; both riches and children ever converge in the home of a kind-hearted person.
(Good always attends those who are good.)
The following entry is a variant. Compare Ilé olóore. . .

Igbá onípẹ̀lẹ́ kì í fọ́; àwo onípẹ̀lẹ́ kì í fàya.
The calabash belonging to a patient person never breaks; the china plate belonging to a patient person never cracks.
(Patient people never come to grief.)
This is a variant of the preceding entry. Compare Ilé olóore . . .

Ilé olóore kì í wó tán; tìkà kì í wó kù.
The home of a kind-hearted person never collapses completely; the home of a wicked person always collapses, leaving nothing standing.
(Good will attract good, and evil will attract evil.)
Compare Igbá olóore . . . and Igbá onípẹ̀lẹ́ . . .

Ilé ọ̀ṣọnú àyàyó; ta ní jẹ́ yalé ahun-káhun?
To visit the home of a generous person is to be plied with food aplenty; who would think of visiting a miser?
(One's generosity or miserliness makes one friends or loses one friends.)

Inú búburú, oògùn òṣì.
Ill will “is the” medicine that ensures misfortune.
(Misfortune will surely attend a person who harbors ill will towards others.)

Inúure kì í pani, wàhálà ní ńkó báni.
Good will towards others does not kill; it only gets one into trouble.
(One should be wary of kindness to others.)
Compare the previous entry.

“Iyán dára, ọbẹ̀-ẹ́ dùn” ló pa Akíndélé lóko Ìgbájọ; “Òrìṣà, nkò fún ọ ní èdì jẹ” ló pa abọrìṣà Ìkirè.
“The pounded yam is good and the stew is delicious” killed Akíndélé on his farm at Ìgbájọ́ “God, I will not give you some food to eat” is what killed the priest at Ìkiré.
(Closed-fistedness and stinginess brings people nothing but misfortune.) [6]

Ìyàwó jẹ ọkà jẹ igbá.
The wife ate the yam-flour meal and ate the calabash with it.
(One should show consideration, and exercise care, in using others' property.)

5. The idea is that if one peels a yam with a knife and streaks show on the yam, the flaw is the knife's, not the yam's.  [Back to text]

6. Presumably Akíndélé would not share the pounded yam and stew because they were delicious, and the priest kept all the things meant for sacrifice to the god for himself.  [Back to text]