PROVERBS WITH LITERARY MEANINGS IN ENGLISH -- 1001-1200
 
 

1001. One who blows on a fire swallows the smoke of the fire.

1002.  If a person did not kill a strong man in the thing that he did, he and the thing that he did [whatever his plan was] will go [perish] together.

1003. The body makes the journey and the journey affects the body.

1004. Tortoise says that if things get better for him they will get better for his in-laws.

1005. The way you can tell a good woman comes from the way she walks.

1006. In-law is the third relative.

1007. The tongue held the age [length of years] that it and the teeth lived.  [Igba nka=to live long]

1008. A woman is the friend of her counterpart.

1009. If a short person stirs up trouble in the market, he jumps up [in pride].

1010. One who leads the way does not wear a yam knife [needs a different type].

1011. One can not eat crab in secret.

1012. Use your tongue to count the teeth in your mouth.  [Try to figure a thing out for yourself.]

1013.  "If I had known" always brings up the rear.

1014.  Tortoise says that not having a tail has worked to his disadvantage.

1015.  The fear that affects the stomach  [drum carried on the stomach] leads the way.  [Not sure of this one.]

1016.  Trouble comes to the person who stirs it up.

1017.  Hunger causes one to accept what he has refused.

1018.  The husband is behind the beauty of the wife.

1019.  The toad moves in circles.

1020.  An important person will after a time become an ordinary person.

1021.  It is not the carrying out of many baskets of cocoyam [to the farm] that makes the planting.

1022.  Something caused the cocoyam to break open.

1023.  The thing that a person studied is what he should work at.

1024.  The market that one patronizes is the one whose starting-time he knows.

1025.  One tree does not make a forest.

1026.  The abüzü  [edible mole-cricket] knew what he was doing when he covered his pathway (with sand) and close the entrance to his burrow.

1027.  One person only does not eat food that was left over.  [It should be shared.]

1028.  When a deceitful person dies, a deceitful person buries him.  [It takes one to know one.]

1029.  When the chicken has not come out, it starts to cluck.  [Refers to special sound it makes when eggs are laid.]

1030. If I chew achala [probably a green vegetable] in the field, am I a cow?

1031.  Water is the life of fish.

1032.  If you are close to the ear, you can slap it.

1033.  Cleanliness does not mean looking to attract men.  [Agbo =  flirtatiousness]

1034.  One should not refuse food that is covered up.

1035.  The dog said that staring results in his being given his share.

1036.  Hunger causes one, after refusing food, to accept and eat.

1037.  When the child is burned, he learns something.

1038.  When the bachelor blows on he fire and sighs, one knows that he desires a woman.

1039.  The mother gives when one has desire; the father gives when the desire is gone.

1040.  A human being hears that he will be killed and runs away; a tree hears that it will be killed and stands in place.

1041.  When the child's hair is cut, he starts to -- .

1042.

1043.  If there is agreement to enter and to leave, it brings work.

1044.  If one fights a war with bow and arrow, it means flight.

1045.  It is not the same mouth used to borrow money that is used to repay it.

1046.  When a person suffers, he loses his possessions.  [It never rains but it pours.]

1047.  A thief steals from one who has something to steal.

1048.  The fly says that one who is afflicted by a sore is the one whose father's compound it will pass through.

1049.  We do not invite the one who eats our mother's breadfruit.

1050.  Eat a ram, because your father herds sheep.

1051.  A man who is a hard worker can still be daunted by a big job.

1052.  Does one use someone else's eye to see?

1053.  Let my own be my own.

1054.  Use your tongue to count the teeth in your mouth.

1055.  ------ does not know the sunshine.

1056.  When a child tries to act beyond his age, they teach him "what he does not know."

1057.  The fly wastes time buzzing around a pile of feces that is too much for it.

1058.  The stream does not swallow up the earth.

1059.  The goat starts to walk on the day it is born.

1060.  One who dips up water does not dip up a whole river.

1061.  If the river is too large, one uses a boat to travel on it.

1062.  The white cock has beautiful feathers.

1063.  If one falls purposely while laughing, it is fun.

1064.  It is where a person lives that he mends [repairs, as in roof thatch].

1065.  It is the market that one patronizes whose starting time he knows.

1066.  The tortoise says that he walks in a swaying manner;  the elephant walks in a lumbering manner .

1067.  When the elephant  starts to scratch, the tortoise wants to scratch too.

1068.  When a woman eats yam and goes to market, when she reaches the market her mouth [speech] is very sweet.

1069.  When the dance is coming, the deer is already breaking its legs.

1070.  One who likes to goes naked had better put on a loincloth.

1071.  People talk about a woman who drowned in the river, and you talk about the cloth she wore around her waist.  [Not recognizing something serious.]

1072.  If you knock on the door, do you ask who it is?  [Don't do someone else's job.]

1073.  The gun does not know who carries it.

1074.  One who owns a large amount of water uses a mouthful of water to wash his hands. [Stinginess.]

1075.  One who hears and repeats a curse of the king is really cursing the king himself.

1076.  When the child speaks beyond his (social) limits, he says that he spoke up fearlessly to the important person right to his face.

1077. "Come listen, my child," has something behind it.

1078.  One single palmnut does not get lost in the fire.  [As would too many.]

1079.  No matter what the conditions of one's home place, it is still important [predominates].

1080.  Bad company spoils a true heart.

1081.  When the snail crawls, it pulls its shell along with it.

1082.  I do not have a sack that holds the tortoise.

1083.  The one who is knowledgeable will be crowned a king.

1084.  One who calls his vehicle a dilapidated vehicle is wanting it to be used to carry ashes.

1085.  It came out  in front of the professional winetapper. [Unexpected event.]

1086.  It is I who bought good oil.

1087.  When an adult belittles himself he becomes like a child.

1088.  If one chews and lumps the food [in his mouth]  he swallows his cheek.

1089.  One who stays at home and knows what was bought at the market. [Know-it-all.]

1090.  One who knows who is killing him.  [You know where your problems  lie.]

1091.  If you ask about the dog's head, what are you going to do with its jaw?  [Why be so inquisitive?]

1092.  If one chases a goat out of the farm, it goes to the yam barn.

1093.  The snake does not bite the crab.

1094.  The black ant owns the top of the oil palm; the deer owns the great forest.

1095.  The staff of justice kills the yam, the staff of justice kills the cocoyam; "What have I done?" [innocence] kills the staff of justice.

1096.  If you tell a story that pleases a sick person, he says, " Sit me up."

1097.  The good day starts with sunrise.

1098.  They say that a blind person can be told that there is no oil in  the soup, but concerning salt and pepper, he will use his mouth to see it [he will know it by taste].

1099.  When  a woman marries in the rainy season, she does not lack her medicine pot.  [More frequent association with husband requires more remedies, such as for pregnancies, etc.]
 
1100.  Not having any alternative is what causes a poor person's yams to be used up.

1101.  Fire burns up the toad in the ground.  [Perhaps because its stomach rubs the ground?]

1102.  If the chicken drinks water and looks up, it is angry.

1103.  When the spirits are going to kill a person and go out into the road and see a corpse being carried toward them, they say that their journey ends there.  [They have seen the thing they were seeking.]

1104.  The chicken with a broken leg goes out for food very early in the morning.

1105.  What makes a chicken look fat is its feathers.

1106.  If the child tosses his father up, his (the father's) loincloth covers his (the child's) eyes.

1107.  If the [chicken-stealing animal, perhaps mongoose] carries the chicken to the ground, where will it stay to eat it?  [May refer to sacred chicken.]

1108.  Taking the goat to light the fire and taking the fire to put on the goat are the same thing.

1109.  If one is blamed for what he has done at the market, it means that he was not listening [to advice about buying for others]. [îta riri=to blame]
 
1110.  The debt that a strong man owes to the earth is death.  [Everyone must die.]

1111.  The hawk does not defile its own nest.

1112.   The thing that comes out of a person's mouth at night is what distresses him.  [meaning?]

1113.   When the conversation turns to money, a poor person closes his mouth.

1114.  No matter how fat the cow gets, it still gives birth to one offspring.

1115.  If you praise a goat, it breaks its leg.

1116.  The feet that run into a swamp eventually reap something good.

1117.  The old person says that if he runs for the goat and takes his bag with him, then he runs.

1118.  One who eats holds the bag; one who gives holds the things given [alms].

1119.  Fire is beautiful but there is no way to hold it in the hand.

1120.  One has good intentions if the weather permits.

1121.  If the wealthy man travels, he eats other things. [He must accept strange foods.]

1122.  No matter how dark it is, a woman does not put on her husband's garment.

1123.  The market that is formed [organized] around the tortoise trades deceitfully.

1124.  If the chicken uses its mouth to peck on food, let it also dip it in the soup.

1125.  If the dog eats yam and raises its eyes upward,  is it going to nod ---  ?

1126.  If the wife endures it she will get tiny legs.  [Meaning unclear.]

1127.  If a husband likes his wife, let people talk.

1128.  When a man knows his wife's heart, he gives her a door key.

1129.  Rather than take food and burn the teeth, let it stay on the fire until it is cool.

1130.  The child whose father sells  --  does not beg.

1131.  One who shows a child a snake in the night should also give him a knife to use in killing it.

1132.  The birds whose names children know are the hawk and the -- .

113    3.  When in-law and in-law are together from the start, it appears that they will plant yams together.

1134.  Where a woman and her husband are blind, there is one corpse there.

1135.  If a fearful person is splashed with water, he says that he is going to bathe.

1136.  If the monkey knew the dog's heart he would not chase him.

1137.  The mongoose went for a divination so he could kill the chicken, the chicken also went for a divination so he could avoid the mongoose, and the diviner told them that the one who is getting the divination should pay attention to it.
 
1138.   When the rain beats down on the hen, the baby chick says that the two of them are the same age.

1139.  If one sees a dog at night it looks as though it has grown horns.

1140.  When the fire burns the child, he  calls it one [lesson?].

1141.  Gathering together [of people] brings stinking gas .

1142.  The sheep tells its mother that she [the mother] has something  more to look at.  [Implies praise for the mother.]

1143.  Does one eat the shell of a crab in secret?

1144.  Food that touches the nerves has voodoo inside of it.

1145.  If the dog eats yam and cocoyam and still looks upward, is he telling you to go and carry wine to him?

1146.  If the dog falls down for his companion [in play], that does not mean cowardice.

1147.  If one roasts yam but does not stay nearby, his yam will not be done on time.

1148.  The children of a chicken owned by a thief will know a thief.

1149.  When meat is shared out at night [while recipients are absent], it is said that the eldest son has eaten.  [Those getting shares the next morning suspect that the son has been given a larger share.]

1150.  The wife of a traveler [someone who is away from home a lot] uses a worn knife to cook food.

1151.  A poor person has no good friend.

1152.  If life were a rope,  an enemy would cut it off.

1153.  On the day something serious is going to happen [the thing that  is going to happen in the water will happen], the crab will use its claw to fend off the knife.

1154.  One who grows a beard has someone who will blow fire for him.

1155.  If squatting were wrestling, who would challenge a  toad?

1156.  When the [kind of animal?] grows teeth, he bites to death the one who takes care of him.

1157.  If one is too afraid to talk to a chief,  he puts on a basket to talk to him.

1158.  If one prepares to go and clear the land, rashness will not be advisable.

1159.  One does not need a smart person to open early morning market.

1160.  I will not because of the existence of famine say that the head of cocoyam is better than the head of my mother.

1161.  When one sees  chimpanzees gathering together, he knows that all the short people are there.

1162.  If one takes away from a man something that makes him handsome, he is no longer handsome.

1163.  Being sent to the market to buy something but not finding it caused rain to beat down on the person who was sent to market.

1164.  Mr. "I know too much" does not recognize the fly he saw yesterday.

1165.  If the yam that breaks the ground becomes afraid, will it grow big?

1166.  Something that is sweet to the mouth kills the buttocks [results in diarrhea].

1167.  What a strong fighter gains is that people come to shake his  hand.

1168.  Scoop up sand and cover up feces, and then pick up apples.

1169.  If the finger takes a biscuit and talks, the one it tells knows.

1170.  The tortoise fell in a hole and said that all the earth was very low (deep).

1171.  If the bee denies and the wasp denies, who then stung the squirrel?

1172.  You shouted, "Thief, thief," and you also shouted, "No one should come out."  [Redundancy]

1173.  One who does something to someone and then does something even worse, let him blow his nose and blow out his eyes.

1174.  The wife who is living with her husband says that bad luck killed  her, but she does not know that people who really are killed by  bad luck do not talk about it.

1175.  No matter how the moon shines, darkness turns into night.

1176.  Pepper does not fight a shameful war.

1177.  If one pays the debt that he owes, he slings a good bag over his shoulder.  [Clear conscience]

1178.  The womanizer does not stay in the city of that land and be cold.

1179.  The caterpillar denied having feces, and feces are on its body.

1180.  If one does not lick his mouth, the harmattan licks it for him.

1181.  It's not the place where your eye is that Nwagbasøo is buried. [looking in wrong place]

1182.  The spirit-follower who believes in divination and who did not kill a fly and put his buttocks on the ground [part of ritual] does not believe that what the dibia says is correct.

1183.  "Omera" is the name of a person.

1184.  A bundle of firewood is not more (in number) than things that have rotted in the forest.

1185.  Indecision prevents the sick person from eating what he has gathered.  [dilemma]

1186.  The white eagle does not look dull.

1187.  Ululi  [probably an animal] said that one who is always walking should run a bit because he does not know when the need for running will arise.

1188.  The dog says that no one will see something to eat and turn away from it to look into the forest.

1189.  The dog says let no one call anything bad while he eats feces--what is worse than eating feces?

1190.  The tortoise used his claws to cut open the snake's hole and said, "Let a person do according to his capacity."

1191.  When a child wants to cry, you do not even poke your hand in his mouth [before he starts].

1192.  One who eats the testicle of a ram is subject [owes a debt] to hydrocele.

1193.  When a good person becomes wealthy, he and his brothers enjoy it together.

1194.  One who is sent on an errand should not speak in proverbs.  [Don't add explanations.]

1195.  A person who went to war and shot a large cow, if he saw a large person he would go and shoot him.  [He has shown that he had the capability.]

1196.  Indecision prevents a sick person from killing himself.

1197.  One who quotes a proverb should explain it because proverbs are baffling [obscure].

1198. The market where one trades is the one whose market times he knows.

1199.  It is where a person lives that he does his mending [of roof].

1200.  Ogeli may be very beautiful but she must have one flaw.
 
 

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