Tag Archives: proverb

Bί a bá ránni ni iṣẹ ẹrú: One sent on a slavish errand (on man’s inhumanity to man)


The Mido Macia Story courtesy of NEWSY reporting from multiple sources and giving a broader view


Yorὺbá nί “Bί a bá ránni nί iṣẹ ẹrú, a fi tọmọ jẹ”.  Ọlọpa tί o yẹ ki o dãbo bo ará àti ẹrú nί ìlú, nhuwa ìkà sί àwọn tί o yẹ ki wọn ṣọ.  Ọlọpa South Africa so ọdọmọkunrin ọmọ ọdún mẹta dinlọgbọn – Mido Gracia, mọ ọk`ọ ọlọpa, wọ larin ìgboro, lu, lẹhin gbogbo eleyi, ju si àtìm`ọle tίtί o fi kú.  Ọlọpa wọnyi hὺ ìwà ìkà yί nίgbangba lai bìkίtà pe aye ti lujára. Eleyi fi “Ìwà ìkà ọmọ enia sί ọmọ enia han”.   Ọlọpa South Africa ṣi àṣẹ ti wọn nί lὸ, wọn rán wọn niṣe ẹrú, wọn o fi tọmọ jẹ.  Sὺnre o Mido Macia.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Yoruba proverb says that, “One sent on a slavish errand, should deliver the message with the discretion of an heir”. Continue reading

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Originally posted 2013-03-02 00:25:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Ọwọ́ Ọmọdé Kòtó Pẹpẹ, Tagbalagba Ò Wọ Kèrègbè: The Child’s Hand Cannot Reach The Shelf, The Adult’s Hand Cannot Enter The Calabash

calabash

Only a child’s hand can reach into this type of calabash. The image is from Wikipedia.

Ọ̀rọ̀ Yorùbá sọ wípé “ọwọ́ ọmọde ko to pẹpẹ, tagbalagba ko wọ̀ kèrègbè”, èyí tí a lè túmọ̀ sí wípé, ọmọdé kò ga to pẹpẹ láti mú nkan tí wọn gbé si orí pẹpẹ, bẹni ọwọ́ àgbàlagbà ti tóbi jù lati wọ inú akèrègbè lati mu nkan, nitorina àgbà̀ lèlo ìrànlọ́wọ́ ọmọdé.

Ní ayé, oníkálukú ló ní ohun tí wọ́n lè ṣe.  Àwọn nkan wa ti àgbàlagbà lè ṣe bẹ̃ni ọpọlọpọ nkan wa ti ọmọdé lè ṣe. Láyé òde òní, ọmọdé le gbójúlé àgbàlagbà, ṣùgbọn ọ̀pọ̀lọpọ̀ àgbàlagbà gbójúlé ọmọdé láti kọ́ lílò ẹ̀rọ ayélujára.

Ò̀we yi fi èrè ifọwọsowọpọ laarin ọmọdé àti àgbà han nítorí kò sẹ́ni tí kò wúlò.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

A Yoruba adage goes that “although the child’s hand cannot reach the shelf, the elder’s hand cannot enter into the calabash”.  Literally translated, while the child or the young one is too short to pick up something placed on a high shelf, the adult’s hand is too big to pass through the neck of a calabash and needs the help of the child.

In life everyone has a role to play.  There are roles that can be handled by the adult and there are many roles that are better handled by younger or less experienced ones.  Nowadays, in as much as the younger ones are dependent on the adult, most adults are dependent on learning effective use of computers and the internet younger ones.

This proverb shows the advantage of cooperation between the young and the old, experienced and inexperienced, as no one is completely useless.

 

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Originally posted 2013-04-23 19:15:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Éyin ti ájà bá kọkọ ni: The Sad Case of Oscar Pistorius

At this point, pigmies living in the forests of central Africa have probably heard about the sad case of Oscar Pistorius. For this blogger, I think there are more important lessons to be learnt from this allegation of premeditated murder — other than just going about the possible downfall of such a prodigy.


Read the full story of Oscar Pistorius on CNN here

The old Yoruba saying goes that:

Éyin ti ájà bá kọkọ ni, ónilè ẹ lò fi n gè jẹ

Roughly translated, the saying means that the first set of teeth grown by the guard dog usually ends up being used to bite members of its owner’s household. This saying seems particularly well suited to the role of guns in society today. As a person who is still considering whether to own a handgun at home or not some time in the future, while living in America during this era of intense gun ownership debate, I am keenly aware of several pros and cons that have been put forward by many regarding gun ownership.

Continue reading

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