Igbo

Kpim-Kpim-Kpim! b onye ukwu n'ah! Ome nta ome imo, ya gwuo-nu ala lia onwe ya!

English
Bump-thump-scratch! It's all on a big man's skin! (Being "big" does not protect a man against the bumps and scratches of life) A man who believes that he can do everything, let him dig a grave and bury himself!

Oji s aga gh amagh na g b nw! A man who rushes into battle does not realize that battle entails death! aba osisi n'ile ahr n'iyi asi na ga ab enwe. Onye ite abgh onye ahia nwanyi ntebe dika ahia. na an n'elu nkw ehue nkw. Nwanyi ariria ebele anagh az z iyi. The riverside monkey is apt to be blamed for every twig found in the river. A pot trader whose fortunes are all invested in her clay pots isn't much of a merchant. (All she has to do is stumble once on a twig!) A wayward woman is like the weaver bird. She uses her perch on one tree to scout other trees. A woman who needs to borrow a calabash cannot count on going early to the stream Nkapi nd'agba abba dgh The skunk rat can get as fat and plump as he pleases. If his whole hind gbasaram. rya ndaa ann, agagh'm z leg costs one anini, I still will not buy it. ya. Agw nda aram, ap ada ara agw. Onye uwa nkta ikpegh, ere awa ya iri. dara dachiri z mpwa g ya. Alawa egbuta. Agwa j gbaa af, ghla omenala. Nwa ike kwere lia nna ya. bgh opara ngburu ya. While the wooden idols are tormenting me, the termites are tormenting them. When a poor man gets a little money, his thoughts go off in ten different directions. An udara fruit that falls on the side of the road is asking to be eaten. The big game often appears when the hunter has given up the hunt for the day. A bad habit that lasts more than a year may turn into a custom. Whichever son is able should bury his father. The first son did not kill him! (Note: The responsibility for burying the father usually falls on the first son. The proverb says that whichever son, first or last, is able to bury the father should do so. It need not be the sole responsibility of the first son alone!) Onye nji uwa gwr aj nvu ivu ya n'isi efu. Miri nmara ohu nmara onye np ya. s agbalagh akpi! A person who uses the world as his carrying pad will find himself carrying his load on his bare head. The same rain that drenches the slave also drenches the slave driver. A person can never run so fast as to run away from his backside!

Onye nn nkw-ka na ukwu ma w chara.

A person who underneath the tall palm tree is best positioned to tell on which side the ripe head is. teeth.

Ihie aghtara na gh eze anagh eju n. No one gets a mouthful of food by picking between another person's Onye mayi ndi igbu h onye ara ndi icha, ya amara nke b nke. digh ihie ohu nmere aghara ita ya ta. Ma kwfgh aka, asi na oruru amma. Ya nkw-aka, asi na lara miri na imi. Agw nloro ibe ya, d af ya n. When a drunk meets a mad man, he learns the difference between being merely drunk and truly mad. A slave boy is blamed no matter what he does: If he does not wash his hands, he is accused of being dirty. If he washes his hands, he is accused of wasting water. A snake that swallows his friend will have a tail sticking out of his mouth. killed his father may also kill him. The piglet has the same type of snout as her mother. A man has the same last name as his brother. (If your brother or best friend is a thief, you are most likely a thief also). Onye mbiakwutara an na ngsi amagh otu eji gbuo ya, ma b sia ya. Onye eze nkwere ejegh ak ugiri. Mbiara-mbiara abiagbula onye nwe l. Onye mbiara abia nlawa, aka nkpu-nkpu afkwala ya n'az. Nwata ngbere-egbere t'm nv, ma egbere-egbere tgwara ya. Agw nloro ibe ya, d af ya n. If a baby crawls up to me and pinches me, I will get on my knees and pinch him back. A snake that swallows its neighbor will have a tail sticking out of its mouth. A person who arrives at a feast when the cooked meat is being pulled out of the pot does not know what was endured by others to catch and cook it. A man with a missing tooth does not eat ugiri (fruit) with relish. A guest should not cause his host's demise. When the guest is ready to leave, his host should not have given him a hunch-back.

Ma nwata akpachagh anya ach ihie gburu If a young man is not prudent in seeking what killed his father, what nna ya, ihie gburu nna ya egbuokwa ya. nu nwa ezi b n nne ya Aha nwanne onye b Onye.

ONye nchr iri aw hr ke ndi okpokpo! If you decide to eat a toad, you should at least select one that is big! Anagh ele ihie ero nriri eri ero. Nwa nkita si: "Ndaara gi, ga adaaram, b egwu. Ma na ndaara gi, ga adafghram, b g!" Onye n'ach nwa kknwe ada. Nwakk nwe nwe-nwe s. dara ndachiri z mpiwa ndi ig ya. kw jia ag, ngbada abia ya gwo. Uwa di ka ara eghu. Ma adgh ya If you wish to eat a mushroom, you cannot consider what the mushroom fed on. The little puppy said: "If I fall down and roll over for you, and you fall down and roll over for me, then we are playing. However, if I fall down and roll over for you, but you do not fall down and roll over for me, then that's a fight!" A person who chases a chicken is due a fall. The chicken is a master of the dodged escaped. An udara fruit that falls by the roadside must want to be picked up and eaten. When the leopard has a broken paw, the antellope comes to collect an old debt. The world (or life) is like a goat's udder. It does not yile any milk,

ad nagh agba miri. In na okpu Ala ad isi na Kaman . Nkita si ka ya sobe ndi rijuru af. Ma osir fa na n , osi fa na ike. Onye mayi ndi igbu h onye ara ndi icha, ya amara nke b nke. Onye nkpkp nksuo ahia, asi ya lita t ka amara oke ha. Ihie ghara nwa ntakiri k enyekwala ya nv oji atu ya Anu na enwegh du chi ya na egburu iji. Ana eji nway-nway ara ofe ndi ku. Obi ma nyiri nkpr nwa isi. Ngwere si n.a ya amarala otu okpuru afo ya nnu. Ya nsi makpuwa ya na ala. Ntukwu ada agula ngwere, ma na du ekwegh ya. Amara akagh ngburu oke madu. Akaa anugh ngburu onye ogbede. Nku mba nwere nji eghere wo nri. Egbe bere, ugo bere. Nke si ibeya ebela, nku kwaa kwa ya!

unless you punch and squeeze at it. Swearing in the name of one god (Kaman ) while at the shrine of another god (Ala). The dog said that it is better to walk behind those who have had a lot to eat, because if something doesn't come out of them one way, it is bound to come out of them another way. When a drunken man meets a mad man, he learns the difference between being merely drunk and being truly mad. When a very short man causes the market to break up in a big fight, bystanders ask him to stand up so that they can see how short (or tall) he really is. What gives the child the itch has already given him the fingernails for scratching it. God swats flies for an animal that has no tail. The best way to eat hot (or peppery) soup is little by little. A calm spirit will enable a man to survive even a six-month jail sentence. The lizard says that he knows the condition of his underbelly. (And) the reason he has it pressed against the ground. The lizard would like to stand erect, but his tail will not permit him. Knowing (the truth) but not telling it is what kills old men. Hearing (the truth) but not heeding it is what kills young men. Whatever the type of firewood found in a place, it is usually good enough for the people of that place to cook with. Let the kite hawk have a perch, and let the eagle also have a perch. Whichever begrudges the other the right to perch, may he break a wing! (This is probably the most popular of all Igbo proverbs,

and one that best describes the Igbo philosophy of live and let live)
"Onye gbuwa achara, onye gbuwa! Onye akpola ibeya onye ukoni!" "Everyone cut the grass! Cut the grass! Let no one (despisingly) call the others 'Prisoners!'" (Adapted from a popular prisoners' work song,

this proverb essentially says, "We're all in the same boat! So let's get on with the work we have to do. And let no one despise the others!)
Onye mberira akwa ejegh (anagh) ebe "numa ekelam obi." Onye akpr-akp nri ejegh elobi nkalari. A guest mourner (at a funeral) does not wail as though his heart is broken. A person who happens by a neighbor's house at dinner time, and is invited to join the meal, does not swallow such large morsels as to break the string of pearls around his neck. (A person who drops by a neighbor's house and finds the neighbor eating is expected to eat modestly if the neighbor invites him to join the meal). > Ya nruruh, onukwagh na Ukwa nkwere. Efu uzo chu ufu s, alogharia n'ul maa When a once-beautiful piece of cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers that it was woven by Ukwa master weavers. One first drives off the fox, before taking the chickens home and

okuko ikpe. Nkita raah shi, eze ere-e eghu! pita gbafuo amagh ngbe oji gbaa ukwu aku. Di ete akachagh ihie huru n'elu nkwu. Onye evu evu aga ahia amagh na uz ndi anya. Af akagh ihie ori-ri.

blaming them for straying. Dog eats excreta, but goat gets rotten teeth! A man who shoots his arrows as he makes them does not realize when he has shot a whole sheaf. A palm tree climber is not expected to tell everything he sees from up above. A person who is being carried to the market does not realize that the way is long. All you can tell about a big belly is that the owner has had a lot to eat, not what he had to eat!