PROVERBS WITH LITERARY MEANINGS IN ENGLISH -- 801-1000
 

801.  When a goat has two owners one does not know when it is lost.

802.  A snake is not a child in the teeth.  [All snakebites are dangerous, even those from young snakes.]

803.  Danda says that the reason he does not go hunting is that when an animal is killed it is not shared.  [Just an excuse not to go.]

804.  One who buries his mother senses the hot snuff.  [Tends to overdo use of snuff or tobacco because of the sadness of the situation.]

805.  The crab walks to the side that he sees.  [Explanation of the crab's sideways gait.]

806.  A person does not spill hot ashes on a good person.  [There must be a reason.]

807.  If you strike your hand on his chest, you know where a person's life is.

808.  The fly said that it was at the time when it knew nothing that a person with venereal disease walked across his father's compound; if it were now it would  start to fly into his nose.

809.  "What are we going to do with beauty?" is said to allow [or encourage] the ugly ones [speaking of young women] to come out.

810.  Tortoise said, "I have been carrying bags for dead people for a long time--if someone dies now, let him carry his own."

811.  If one goes by the length of the snake in positioning the fire, it [the fire] burns all the way to the wilderness. [Snake is killed by surrounding it with fire.  If one is intimidated by the length of the snake, he places the fire too far away from it and it burns out of control.]

812.  If I had not seen the tortoise climb the kola tree unaided [by climbing tools], I would have said that it was a human being who put him up there.

813.  The thief does not steal in an unfamiliar place.

814.  No matter what you do to please a child, when he wakes up from sleep, he joins his mother.

815.  [The person who says] "Let me eat because I have not eaten" is the one who is given things.  [The starving person is favored.]

816.  The running of the deer is on the hill.  [Deer run among the hills.]

817.  Bones will stick in the throat of one who eats fresh fish.

818.  When a snake confronts a woman inside the house, she speaks the name of her husband.

819.  Slowly and carefully a newly maturing young woman eats up a bowl of food.

820.  When a stubborn person cuts out a head of palm nuts, it falls down into the cocoyams.

821.  One does not use a basket to collect water.

822.  If a thief in the night tramples on the firewood and breaks it, his companions will know it.

823.  When the adult draws in his mouth [makes a stern face], the children start to cry.

824.  A word is sufficient to the wise.

825.  Everyone keeps on preparing stew--who then is going to eat it up?

826.  The thing whose time has arrived is not something magical.

827.  The mouth can speak greetings but the mind knows who is its enemy.

828.  What a child has heard in his mother's house he takes out with him to the village square.

829.  If one starts to praise a wife, she starts to behave badly.

830.  Discussion that is responded to gives satisfaction.

831.  I wish I were a bag that a young woman slings over her shoulder.

832.  The chicken says that the reason he lifts his face up after he drinks is that what killed his mother came from above.

833.  When one thinks about a porcupine [cane rat] he makes a bow and arrow.

834.  A chicken has beautiful feathers.

835.  It is hard to cure the madness that originates in the family .

836.  The poor person does not have dreams about rice.  [Rice is food for the elite.]

837.  Large sticks do not mean a good cooking stand.

838.  Deep water should be approached slowly.

839.  If the land is troubled it benefits the chiefs.  [They are consulted and enriched.]

840.  Akpakoro said that from the time that he and the sky finished fighting a war, his hand had not left his bow and arrow.  [He was prepared.]

841.  One does not cut off the tail of okra for no good reason.

842.  When the food is brought out, people will change their positions.

843.  When the chief agrees and the woman agrees, greetings become one and the same.

844.  One should not stay in the house to find something good.  [You must get out and work.]

845.  One fights back against a strong man by matching his stride.

846.  If you are called to come and eat, does that mean you are called to come and drink?

847.  The hawk said that it was not like a child in going to the doctor.  [It was a mature act.]

848.  Do not forget the bush that saved you in a bad year.

849.  If you get hold of the mother, then you can gather her belongings.  [Could refer to mother hen and baby chicks.]

850.  The sheep mixed in with the goats.

851.  When something is already discussed, talking is over.

852.  After talking for a while, action takes place.

853.  Something made the frog quiet.

854.  They saw a ram but they said not to bury the outstanding man.  [Ram considered inadequate for the occasion.]

855.  Breaking open the coconut.  [Nsugbe?]

856.  Shouts follow behind the tortoise.

857.  One cannot run away from the passage of time.

858.  What one  sees in  wine is wine.

859.  Rather than the evening rain beat down on a person, let  the morning rain beat down on him:  when the sun comes out, it will dry.

860.  When the spirit fills up his stomach, he doesn't know how to sing for his companions. [When things go well he doesn't sympathize with others.]

861.  The dress the woman wore to the dance caused her to be given a special seat.

862.  The hand that is suitable for you is the one you use to support your head.

863.  When one sees talk one sees its reply.

864.  When the market is in full swing no one recognizes his mother's voice.

865.  A person's neighbor is his brother.

866.  "Come and marry my daughter" does not mean that she will be given free.

867.  The day of a poor person does not break early.  [Night lasts abnormally long because of worries.]

868.  When the goat regurgitates (crumbs?), it jumps over the sacrifice.

869.  What a child does not know exceeds his understanding [is older than he].

870.  The venom of the snake is better than the venom of the python.  [less poisonous]

871.  When the head gives the opportunity, the shoulder takes advantage.

872.  The thing that a person uses against a man is what will be used against him.

873.  "I'll be right back" is giving an order concerning food.  [Don't touch the food.]

874.  Another town does not recognize a great person.

875.  Seeing each other is greater than food and drink.

876.  The patient dog eats the meaty bones.

77.  Arrogance leads the way, falling on the knees follows.  [Pride goeth before a fall.]

878.  Endurance is the goodness[or knife] of war.  [It is what wins wars.]

879.  One who chews palm kernels does not know when the stone [used for cracking them] is angry.

880.  Death is not like going on a journey.

881.  The chicken that has suffered greatly does not squeal with fright.

882.  One who sleeps alone goes to bed early.

883.  A traveler is like a person without a home.

884.  One who asks questions does not lose his way.

885.  One for whom things are going fine thinks that he has more sense than his companions.

886.  A foolish person does not know that his mother's oldest daughter is a guest.

887.  One who eats a person's jaw affects should feel of his own.

888.  One who is eating "just a little" should not see the bottom of the pot.

889.  The house rat told the bush rat that the ogili (soup flavoring) was on the shelf.

890.  The poor person's chicken goes out of the compound at night.  [Doesn't want to attract attention.]

891.  One tree does not make a great forest.

892.  One who does  things openly is better than one who does them in his heart.

893.  When rat and lizard jump into the water, the water on the lizard will dry but it will not dry on the rat.

894.  If the senior wife carries the water pot, she wishes that her husband were watching her.

895.  One whose brother does not know how to dance scratches his eyebrow.  [Gesture of embarrassment.]

896.  One who is not like his companions [in achievement] keeps to himself.

897.  If the chicken failed to cluck, how would she train her young?

898.  One whose house is burning does not catch rats.

899.  The old man passes wind with a lot of scratching.

900.  If one tells a child to catch a mole,  he should give him water to wash his hands.

901.  One who tethers a large cow should have a strong man [standing by].

902.  If the tree does not know how to dance, the wind shows it.

903.  Okra is not taller [or bigger] than the one who planted it.

904.  Another person does not know the illness inside the body.

905.  The blind should not lead the blind.

906.  A hot-tempered  person dies earlier than one who serves the deity.

907.  The poor person who has the sense to control himself will look like a wealthy man.

908.  One hand does not cover [dig sand, scrape over] a deep pit.

909.  If the monkey chews kola,  he should drink water.

910.  Sleep does not know the person who has too many troubles.

911.  "Carry and eat by yourself" is bad food (not given in a friendly way).

912.  A chicken's egg is good to make superior [daddy] tobacco.

913.  Where there is a person eating, there is also a person who is doing [the cooking].

914.  One should not use begging in training a child.

915.  A stubborn person lives in a land of stubborn people.

916.  Regardless of the size of the deity, two hands are used to carry it.  [mark of respect]

917. The dog that has traveled far eats feces with enough oil.  [finds the best things to eat]

918. The woman who has patience receives many good things from her husband.

919. If you accuse me of stealing a chicken, the I will steal a big one [a  cock].

920.  If a falling sound (pum) is heard in the back yard, something to pick up is there.

921.  A thief steals and a tale-bearer tattles.

922.  When one chews "cham cham" [chewing noise], if it is going to change to feces, let it change in my stomach.

923.  I who am earthworm break the ground without guilt.

924.  The animal that bites the dog to death bites a lot.

925.  When I go hunting,  the duiker climbs up high.  [I have bad luck.]

926.  Can you reach the dwelling of the spirits and start to look for beautiful people?  [They are already there.]

927.  For a long time it has been  said, the raphia palm wine intoxicates some people, but some do not see any wine to drink.  [Oversupply or poverty.]

928.  It is better to be in the company of relatives.

929.  The power that cures a person is like a tree that gives life.

930.  One who has no sense agrees with everything.

931.  One who stands firmly in righteousness will inherit [enjoy] life .

932.  Remembering a person of good behavior is a blessing.

933.  When the short person fell down on a hill he said that it hurt him and hurt the earth.

934.  One who plucks kola from his father's kola nut tree, his hand does not swell.  [He is not stealing.]

935.  The senior wife knows her husband.

936.  The vulture is not meat.

937.  The old woman did not tell me -- I'm asking, did I grow up with her?

938.  If one whose eye has been blinded shows arrogance, he is told to carry his blindness and go away.

939.  The sheep says that he stuffs himself with food because death is at hand.

940.  Another person saw a man with hydrocele and said that it was the way he told the man to be.

941.  If the old man breaks the palm kernels [on a stone] and fails to clean them up, his name remains on the stone.

942.  The woman who has a swollen stomach does not know when she is pregnant.

943.  If the chicken takes a piece of fufu, let him dip it in the stew.

944.  The corpse does not know that it is being mourned.

945.  If one who digs up a large --  it does not mean a decrease in productivity .

946.  If  the small bird were not innocent, the wind would carry it away.

947.  It is better that the chicken carry the corpse of the dog;  if the dog carried the corpse of the chicken, people would say that he [the dog] killed it.

948.  After the grasshopper flies around, it falls to the toad [to eat].

949.  One does not  run around  --   .

950.  Nothing happens in the nest that the hawk does not know about.

951.  When the young man has filled his stomach, he thinks that nothing else is happening in the world  -- .  [The world is finished.]

952.  One who is a good friend to a person will kill him.

953.  One who chops firewood can not chop the ground; the ground does not split open .

954.  When a heavy rain falls on the town people do not know why it comes.

955.  When the old woman fills her stomach [lives comfortably], she remembers the things she did in her youth.  [She feels like reminiscing.]

956.  If one starts to praise the lizard, it breaks its waist.

957.  When a man kills a leopard, people look at him and they look at the leopard he killed.  [Causes surprise and admiration.]

958.  Where there is a dead body, both criers and laughers will be found.

959.  If a poor person is thrown into the river, he says that he is wanting to bathe.

960.  Hurry up, come quickly, is not an invitation.

961.  One who did something bad goes along listening.  [To see if people are discussing it.]

962.  If the millipede dies in the yam barn it is not hunger that killed him.

963.  If one kills an animal that defiles [is harmful to] the earth,  he should first kill a he-goat.

964.  The someone is dancing on the road, someone is playing for him in the bush.

965.  When the dog wants to die, he does not perceive the smell of feces.

966.  When the chicken finishes eating something that is at the base of a large oil palm tree, let it take a rope and climb up.

967.  Old people start by scratching their buttocks and then they pass wind.

968.  When an adult stays at home all the time, he eats up the children's soup.

969.  To roast a stone in the fire is easy, but to pluck it out is difficult.

970.  If I chase the dog away from the feces, is it I who will eat it?

971.  If there were no more rats in the bush, the musk shrew would become king.

972.  What the chicken saw and cried out about, the goat saw and was silent.

973.  Of the wild animal runs swiftly  he will be shot swiftly.

974.  The musk shrew says that if someone does not know that its mother has died, he should look in its mouth.

975.  When the rich man passes wind,  people say that he has sneezed.

976.  To the extent of a woman's legs, she will put them on her husband.

977.  If one does not see a place to rest the hands, one rests them on the knees.

978.  One should not send a rat to market with pumpkin seeds.

979.  If a person does not make use of his mouth, it closes up [becomes overgrown].

980.  The hand that invites the harmattan, let it also gathers its firewood.

981.  If one does not know what to say, he speaks a proverb.

982.  The toad says that as he is weak,  his brother the  big frog is always talking about it.

983.  The goat says that no one who continues to chew his cud becomes weak.

984.  When something causes a spectacle,  people come to look.

985.  After chasing away an animal, then you come and start to blame the chicken.

986.  One who is being held [against his will] does not know what to say.  [He is under some kind of restraint.]

987.  If a child  is carried quickly while he is asleep, when he awakes he will always know his mother.

988.  The day that the rain beats down on the monkey, it thinks about building a house.

989.  It is adagada [something edible?] which is the important part of the soup.

990.  When a person  is cutting out larva and nibbling, when the handle of the knife breaks he will not fail to be angry.

991.  Chickens were around before the tortoise was taken for a ritual sacrifice.   [The chicken was purposely ignored--it was not an oversight.]

992.  One who touches something rotten smells his hand.

993.  If I use my eye to admire someone else's, is my own at the back of my head? [Why worry about the other person when I have the same qualities?]

994.  One who is covetous puts on an elephant-sized bag.

995.  One does not bring a yam to go to yams.

996.  One should not use excessive force in cutting up a frog.

997.  The cow does not know its friend when it is in the bush that has okasi [green vegetable favored by cows] in it.

998.  If you look a child in the eye, you give him a name.

999.  One looks for something big should sling two bags over his shoulder.

1000. The cow does not know the value of its tail until it cuts it off.
 
 

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